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The human body is amazing, really. I've been reading Fibromyalgia and Chronic Myofascial Pain: A Survival Manual (2nd Edition) by Devin J. Starlanyl and Mary Ellen Copeland. The book is really well written and I'm learning a lot. I still have a few chapters to go, though. There are so many processes that go on in the human body that I'm in awe. The more I learn about the body and the many processes our bodies go through each day the more I'm amazed that with all that can go wrong, anyone is healthy. Considering the many processes my body does each day I'm amazed that I'm this healthy!
I've been reading about chronic myofascial pain (CMP). CMP is an actual disease, unlike fibromyalgia,, which is a syndrome, or collection of symptoms. A disease has a specific cause. There are so, so many places in the body that can form myofascial trigger points (TrP). A TrP is different than a fibromyalgia tender point.
CMP is common, which surprised me. I'm amazed at how many TrP can exist. I think the best thing I've learned about CMP is that you can make it go away. Yay! I'm still reading on how to make them go away. I want to get a couple more books on it from Amazon. This is good news, though. I kinda feel like it gives me hope, you know?
In the first drawing you can see how the contraction knots form in normal muscle fibers. I thought it really showed it well. The second drawing I'm not as familiar with, but it shows a bunch of possible TrP that can occur in the back.
I still really don't have a doctor for my fibromyalgia. I would like to see Dr. K out toward Kansas City, MO but for some reason he said he would only see me that once. He wanted me to go to see a doctor specializing in EDS (which I will) but that still leaves no doctor to take care of my fibro...which is definitely a problem. After we get the car fixed I hope to be able to make an appointment with him. I'm trying to get into physical therapy but no doctor wants to write the script. I can't help but get a bit angry that the doctors go home each night and get up each day without being disabled by pain. When I leave their office they don't have to deal with me anymore. I don't get a break from the pain. I am trying not to be angry, though. Anger isn't productive. Besides, with the car not running I couldn't get to physical therapy anyway. I really, really hope that we can get the car running again soon!
Picture 1 from Amazon.com, Picture 2 from Tandem, Picture 3 from Trisoma
I was diagnosed with Fibro before it was really understood - you know when lab rats were exchanged for human guinea pigs. Because I don't have insurance it's hard for me to get treatment, however, it forced me to go back to college and take a few courses in Human Biology and spend a lot of time with the nursing faculty. You are absolutely right, our bodies go through a whole lot. It's fascinating!
ReplyDeleteWalking and using heating pads have really helped me with the fibro as well as the RA. If you have a YM/YWCA close by see if you can get into their aquatics program. One word - AWESOME, even if I'm the youngest in the group. (lol)
Stay encouraged!