Chiropractic Care for Fibromyalgia Controlling pain can be a never-ending challenge when you have fibromyalgia. Medications don’t always completely relieve symptoms or may cause side effects that make you feel worse. Chiropractic care decreases your pain and may even reduce fatigue and improve headaches. Fibromyalgia and Pain Everything hurts when you have fibromyalgia. Pain is hard to treat because you never know where you’ll experience it next or how long a flare-up will last. Unfortunately, pain isn’t the only symptom of fibromyalgia. If you have the condition, you may also experience: Stiff Muscles and Joints Sleep Problems Headaches Jaw Pain Tingling and Numbness in Hands and Feet Gastrointestinal Problems Irritable Bladder Migraines Fatigue Memory and Concentration Problems Anxiety Depression Although inflammation may seem like a likely reason your joints and muscles hurt, that may not always be the case. In fact, the condition might be related to an issue with the nervous system, according to the American College of Rheumatology. Pain involves a complex relationship between your brain and your nerves. Your nerves constantly send information to the brain via the spinal cord. Some messages help the brain identify the position of your limbs and keep you from falling. Others make it possible to feel heat from a hot oven and help you avoid a burn. Nociceptors, nerve cells responsible for pain stimuli, also send signals to the brain. The brain determines if the stimuli are painful and decides how much pain you’ll feel. If there’s a problem during any part of this complex process, you may feel pain even if you haven’t injured yourself. How Chiropractors Treat Fibromyalgia Chiropractors commonly treat conditions that affect the nerves and understand how nervous system problems may play a part in fibromyalgia symptoms. Improving the function of your nervous system with chiropractic could help you control and decrease common symptoms. Pressure on your nerves could be making your fibromyalgia symptoms worse. It’s difficult for signals to travel back and forth to the brain when nerves are compressed. If the nerves to your stomach are compressed, you might experience indigestion or other stomach issues. Pressure on the nerves that serve your soft tissues could increase the pain you feel in your muscles. Tight muscles or tissues or subluxations are possible causes of increased pressure on the nerves. A subluxation occurs when a vertebra in your spinal column becomes misaligned. Chiropractors offer several treatments that could ease your symptoms, including: Spinal Manipulation. Spinal manipulation involves adjusting the position of misaligned vertebrae with an activator or quick, hands-on movements. Realigning the vertebrae eliminates pressures on the nerves, improves range of motion, and may ease pain and other fibromyalgia symptoms. Australian researchers noted the positive effects of chiropractic in a study published in the Chiropractic Journal of Australia. A woman who received spinal manipulation treatments during the study reported less pain and fatigue, better overall health, and improved sleep quality after the treatments. Massage and Soft Tissue Manipulation. Chiropractors use these therapies to gently relax sore muscles and tissues. Massage and soft tissue manipulation ease pain, reduce stiffness and tender spots, and improve flexibility. These therapies can also be helpful if tight neck and shoulder muscles contribute to your headache pain. Chiropractic treatments prompt the body to release endorphins and serotonin, hormones that naturally ease pain. The hormones also help you feel relaxed, which could improve sleep quality and duration. Regular visits to the chiropractor will help you keep your symptoms under control. As part of your treatment plan, your chiropractor may also recommend exercises that will ease pain and stiffness and strengthen your muscles. Ready to find out if chiropractic can reduce your fibromyalgia symptoms? Contact our office to schedule a visit with the chiropractor. Sources: American College of Rheumatology: Fibromyalgia, 2/2023 https://rheumatology.org/patients/fibromyalgia Chiropractic Journal of Australia: Chiropractic Treatment for Fibromyalgia, 3/13/2018 https://www.cjaonline.com.au/index.php/cja/article/view/193 CDC: Fibromyalgia, 5/25/2022 https://www.cdc.gov/arthritis/types/fibromyalgia.htm National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Disease: Fibromyalgia https://www.niams.nih.gov/health-topics/fibromyalgia

How Your Chiropractor Can Help with Degenerative Disc Disease

Wondering why you have a nagging pain in your back or neck? Your symptoms could be caused by changes in the discs in your spine, the rubbery structures that cushion the your vertebrae. Over time, spinal discs may break down, or degenerate, due to aging or injury. Chiropractic treatment offers an effective way to reduce pain, stiffness, and other degenerative disc disease symptoms.

What Causes Degenerative Disc Disease?

Years of moving, twist, bending, running, and jumping take a toll on your spinal discs and can be a factor in degenerative disc disease. One-third of people aged 40-59 have moderate to severe degenerative disc disease, according to research from Hebrew SeniorLife’s Institute for Aging and Boston Medical Center. Unsurprisingly, this rate increases in people 60 and older.

Water inside the discs helps keep them plump and healthy. As the water content decreases with age, the discs become flatter and don’t provide quite as much cushioning when you bend, lift, or move.

Cracks and tears in discs are more likely to happen as discs flatten and dry out. Herniated discs can occur if the inner, jelly-like center of the disc protrudes through a tear in the tougher outer layer. Bulging discs press on nerves, triggering pain.

Aging isn’t the only factor in degenerative disc disease. The condition may also be caused by obesity. Excess weight stresses every part of your body, including your spine. Although losing weight is always helpful, the damage may already be done if you were overweight or obese for several years.

Your discs could also degenerate due to an injury or fall, smoking, or your job. If your work requires frequent twisting or heavy lifting, you may be more likely to develop degenerative disc disease. Has a family member of yours been diagnosed with the condition? If so, you may be at increased risk for back or neck pain due to degenerative disc disease.

Degenerative disc disease symptoms range from mild to severe and can come and go. Symptoms may include:

• Back or Neck Pain
• Neck or Back Stiffness
• Trouble Bending or Twisting
• Numbness and Tingling in Arms or Legs, Depending on the Location of the Problem Disc
• Sciatica

Chiropractic Treatments That Relieve Degenerative Disc Disease Pain

Your chiropractor offers several treatments that will reduce pain and stiffness, including:

• Massage Therapy. Massage loosens tight tissues and reduces inflammation in your back or neck. This therapy also boosts the production of natural hormones that ease pain and encourage relaxation.
• Spinal Manipulation. Spinal manipulation realigns the vertebrae in your neck or back, improving mobility and decreasing pain and stiffness.
• Flexion-Distraction Therapy. Conducted on a special moving table, this therapy stretches the spine, improves blood flow to the discs, reduces pressure on the discs and tissues, and decreases bulging if you have a herniated disc.
• Ultrasound Therapy. Ultrasound therapy creates heat that soothes and relaxes deep tissues and improves blood flow while relieving pain.
• Trigger Point Therapy. Trigger point therapy targets the hard knots in the muscles that can develop due to degenerative disc disease. Your chiropractor applies steady pressure that loosens and stretches the tight fibers in the muscle.

Chiropractic care may significantly improve your pain and quality of life, as illustrated by a report in the Journal of Chiropractic Medicine. The report detailed the effects of chiropractic care on a 74-year-old man with low-back pain and loss of feeling in his legs.

After two weeks of activator-assisted spinal manipulation treatment, the man reported that his back pain was gone. Activator-assisted spinal manipulation treatment involves using a small, handheld activator to realign the vertebrae.

Do you need help with your degenerative disc disease symptoms? Contact our office to schedule an appointment with the chiropractor.

Sources:

Hebrew SeniorLife: One-Third of People Aged 40-59 Have Evidence of Degenerative Disc Disease, 5/18/2018

https://www.hebrewseniorlife.org/news/one-third-people-aged-40-59-have-evidence-degenerative-disc-disease

Journal of Chiropractic Medicine: Chiropractic Management of a Veteran with Lower Back Pain Associated with Diffuse Idiopathic Skeletal Hypertrophy and Degenerative Disk Disease, 12/2012

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3706700/

WebMD: What Is Degenerative Disk Disease?, 10/25/2023

https://www.webmd.com/back-pain/degenerative-disk-disease-overview

American Chiropractic Association: Neck Pain

https://www.acatoday.org/patients/neck-pain-and-chiropractic/