Fibromyalgia Vs. Myofascial Pain Syndrome

Since 1990, when the medical board of Rhumatology came out with their guidelines for Fibromyalgia, thousands of people have been told they have Fibromyalgia. Fibromyalgia was a diagnosis that was created out of a number of observations to allow doctors to classify people who had chronic pain and had been thought to have problems with pain regulation, sleep patterns and tender points throughout the body.

Many of these people actually have something called myofascial pain syndrome, where the pain is because of mechanical malfunction in the feet, pelvis and secondary straining throughout the upper and lower body joints due to body asymmetry. While this is largely misunderstood in the healthcare community, these patients respond well to treatments such as myofascial release treatment, Active Release Techniques ® (a style of myofascial release) and treatments such as Graston Technique as well as manipulative therapy as performed by chiropractors.

Many of them are helped by improving their body mechanics and then exercise. Many sufferers are helped by foot orthotics which helps align the body while you walk.

People with true Fibromyalgia that is systemic in nature seem to respond to exercise, do respond to myofascial treatments however, their pain and symptoms can be unpredictable and there is a clear pain regulation problem, whereas the symptoms are often out of proportion to the physical findings.