People around the world are becoming increasingly aware of natural remedies and alternative medicine.
However, this does not change the attitude of Big Pharma to enforce their drugs on an open-mouthed public despite their numerous and well-documented, harsh side-effects.
The almighty health benefits of cannabis are becoming increasingly accepted in mainstream society and are being bolstered by numerous recent studies.
The Foria Relief Company has even invented a vaginal suppository, based on aromatic cocoa butter, which is a perfect substitution for Vicodin, Midol, and Ibuprofen. It effectively treats menstrual cramps by relaxing the muscles. Additionally, it does not lead to psychotropic properties.
It is produced from pesticide and additive-free cannabis. Therefore, their active ingredients are used in a process without microbials and are combined with exact doses; 60 mg of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and 10 mg of cannabidiol (CBD).
The pain is blocked by the THC, which inhabits the pleasure areas of the brain’s cannabinoid system. CBD relaxes the muscles, treats the spasms, and has a favorable effect on inflammatory mechanisms within the body.
According to a woman who tried the vaginal suppository, it relaxed her clenched and cramped muscles and soothed the pain in her midriff. She explained that she felt the area below the waist to the thighs “as if floating in some other galaxy”.
Yet, this amazing remedy is only sold in California and is still not approved by the FDA. However, if you decide to use it, make sure you consult your doctor beforehand, even though there have been no complaints from people who have tried it.
Fibromyalgia Awareness Month may not be until May, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t make the most of every opportunity for people in the fibro community to share their stories and raise awareness of this often misunderstood illness.
Sharing facts aboutfibromyalgia on social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook can help educate the public about what it’s like to live with the condition. To help you get started, we’ve put together some basic fibro facts, with help from chronic illness.
Fibromyalgia is considered a condition rather than a disease because there are no specific causes or recognizable symptoms. A syndrome is a collection of symptoms and medical issues that occur together but cannot be attributed to an identifiable cause.
There is no cure for fibromyalgia. Treatment is centered on managing the symptoms of the syndrome and making life more comfortable for those who live with fibro.
While men and children can develop fibromyalgia, 90 percent of sufferers are women.
Diagnosis usually occurs in young women between the ages of 20 and 50, but as a person gets older they are more likely to develop fibromyalgia.
By the age of 80, around 8 percent of people meet the criteria of fibromyalgia from the American College of Rheumatology.
Widespread pain is the number one symptom of fibromyalgia. People living with the condition will have tender spots in various places on their body and will feel pain much more than those without the condition.
A woman who has spent the past eight years in constantpain is hoping the specialist treatment will help her to rebuild her life.
In 2016 Emma Parslow Cope was diagnosed with the long-term condition fibromyalgia which causes an increased sensitivity to pain, exhaustion, headaches and problems with mental processes.
The 27-year-old, who lives in Thetford, said the condition has had an enormous impact on her life. She has had to leave her job and it has put a strain on her relationships with family and friends.
Miss Parslow Cope describes the pain throughout her body as like a “burning sensation” and she suffers from fatigue and has trouble sleeping.
She is now hoping to raise £10,000 to cover the costs of seeing a specialist at the Fibro Clinic in London and any treatment, medication and accommodation needed.
Miss Parslow Cope said: “I am desperate to get help so I can get myself in a state of managing so I can then do some volunteer work to build my life up.
“The specialist should be able to put me on a programme and understand me as a person. I hope they should be able to give me treatment to help me get some sort of proactive life back.”
A keen sportswoman, in 2010 Miss Parslow Cope hurt her hip during a college football match.
She believes it was this injury which led to the fibromyalgia but she was not diagnosed for six years.
On December 31 last year the former West Suffolk College student said she tried to take an overdose because of the condition.
“I just did not want to be here anymore,” said Miss Parslow Cope who attends the Fibromyalgia Bury St Edmunds support group run by fellow fibromyalgia suffer Brett Robertson. “It just takes over your head.”
She is now hoping to help raise awareness of the condition – which her twin sister Louise was also diagnosed with this year – which she says is misunderstood.
She said: “I want people to be behind fibromyalgia suffers. I want people to understand and the more people who are aware of it and understand it the better.
“I am tired of people saying it is not real because I am living with something which is severe and nasty 24 hours a day.”
A license to treat chronic pain with medicinal cannabis has been granted here for the first time, it has emerged. A 3-month agreement was given the green light by the Department of Health to use Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) people in constant agony.
THC is the principal psychoactive constituent of cannabis. It is currently illegal to use medicinal cannabis here – but medical consultants can apply for the license on a case by case basis. A three-month license can be granted on foot of an application made directly to the Minister for Health under section 14 of the Misuse of Drugs Act.
Under guidelines from Chronic Pain Ireland, the THC would NOT be consumed via smoking. A patient would ideally take it by vaping or in their tea. Under the strict terms, a medical professional would administer a starting dose, monitor the patient, and adjust the dose accordingly, they say. Patients will be placed under constant medical supervision.
Last February, Health Minister Simon Harris announced that he would implement a Health Products Regulatory Authority recommendation that cannabis–based products be made available to some patients with multiple sclerosis and epilepsy, and those suffering nausea in chemotherapy.
However, chronic pain was not included in Mr. Harris’ plan. It was on this basis that Chronic Pain Ireland applied to the minister for a license, for one of their members, along with their medical consultant.
There were no formal application guidelines from the Department of Health, so Mr. McLoughlin created one from scratch. This is now available on Chronic Pain Ireland’s website.
The application included how THC would be administered, details of the patient’s medical consultant, and what dosage they would potentially start on.
The patient can take the medicinal cannabis either through tea or by vaping.
“Some people are desperate due to chronic pain,” said Mr. McLoughlin. “I personally know of people who use cannabis for chronic pain. Some say it works, some say it doesn’t. But you must always go to your doctor.”
Professor of pharmacology and therapeutics David Finn, who is also the co-director of the Centre for Pain Research at NUI Galway, said the granting of the license was an “important development”.
“This is a very interesting and important development which demonstrates a recognition by Irish medical professionals and the minister for health of the potential therapeutic value of medicinal cannabis for the treatment of chronic pain,” said Prof Finn.
“Chronic pain is the most researched indication for cannabinoids, and the majority of clinical studies, meta-analyses, and systematic reviews conclude that cannabis or cannabinoids can be effective in alleviating certain types of chronic pain.
“Approximately 20% of the Irish population suffers from chronic pain, and up to 40% of patients report that the management of their pain is inadequate, either due to the limited efficacy of existing treatments or unacceptably high levels of side-effects.”
Solidarity-People Before Profit Alliance TD Gino Kelly has been a longtime campaigner for legalizing cannabis for medicinal purposes and brought forward an opposition bill towards this end.
The Cannabis for Medicinal Use Regulation Bill 2016, is now entering its third stage of debate and will go before the Oireachtas health committee early next year. “The tide has now turned. It is a significant day for people with chronic pain in Ireland,” said Mr. Kelly.
It started as a dull ache right above the base of my spine.
There was no injury, no clear cause — just pain that seemed to come out of nowhere. At the time, I thought it would go away in a few weeks. I didn’t know it would turn into a four-and-a-half-year-and-counting odyssey of experimentation to battle lower back pain that simply refused to retreat.
I tried everything. I dove into twice-a-week physical therapy, daily exercises, regular walking breaks, and meditation. I bought a sit-stand desk. Nothing worked. After several months, if anything, my pain was worse.
This health problem, coincidentally, arose just as a career shift made improving US health policy my focus. After working as a consultant for hospital systems and insurance companies, I accepted a position at the federal agency that runs Medicare and Medicaid. My work focused on designing new ways to pay health care providers to reduce waste and provide higher-quality care.
Through my work, I realized just how massive the chronic pain problem is in the US. Defined as any pain lasting longer than three months, chronic pain afflicts more than 50 million Americans each year and has a net economic impact of around $600 billion. Lower back pain alone is the most common cause of disability for Americans under 45.
It struck me that policy and business leaders tackling the problem-focused almost entirely on what not to do: avoid excessive imaging studies, avoid invasive treatments and surgeries. Especially avoid opioid painkillers.
Given how common my problem was, I was surprised at how little research and policy was focused on what could be done to fix my pain.
It is certainly true that US clinicians went overboard on opioid prescribing, with horrifying repercussions. I am not going to argue here that opioids are a good treatment option — they appear not to be in most cases — or minimize the devastating effects of opioid addiction.
However, a full response to the opioid epidemic must go beyond reducing opioid use: We need to find ways to reduce pain through better treatment. Policymakers need to put more focus and public dollars toward understanding pain, and patients need to be supported in their pursuit of pain treatments that work.
Every day at work, I was learning about innovative programs to improve health outcomes for populations with chronic illnesses such as diabetes and hypertension. There was nothing similar for pain management. Chronic pain seems to be something that few doctors, let alone administrators and policymakers, really understand and know how to treat.
My own journey to find relief made the problem deeply personal. In the absence of clear knowledge and robust treatment options, patients like me are forced to spend a lot of time, energy, and money experimenting with different remedies.
I received an MRI to figure out the source of my back pain — it showed nothing. I am one of the 85 percent of low back pain patients whose pain is “nonspecific”: Doctors cannot pinpoint a cause. Of the many treatments that exist, there is not a definite winner. I tried various medications, several physical therapy regimens, and creams and injections of all sorts. I tried a small patch that sends high-frequency electrical pulses to suppress nerve activity, a treatment that actually helped a bit.
Desperate to exert control in the absence of effective treatments, I funneled my energies into remaking my office workstation. I was lucky to be able to work from home often, a privilege many lacks, so I had complete control over my environment. With the help of a specialized vendor, I fashioned a workstation that allowed me to either walk on a treadmill or lie on my side while working on two large side-by-side monitors.
My closet was full of the flotsam of tried-and-failed ergonomic cushions, massaging implements, and foam rollers. I rarely invited people over, dreading I would have to explain my bizarre apartment setup.
Eventually, I took a short trial of opioid painkillers. The pills were moderately effective but made me very tired. That, coupled with a fear of building tolerance, caused me to stop taking them after a few weeks. Fortunately for me, my pain is relatively low-intensity. The trade-off is different than for someone experiencing more pain. The crucial point is that — for me, anyway — painkillers were simply another treatment with a unique set of risks and benefits. My issue was, and remains, managing pain, not managing opioids.
Throughout my adventure of trial and error, coverage decisions from my insurance companies often seem random. Many treatments — for instance, massage or prolotherapy injections, in which a sugar solution is used to stimulate tissue repair — have been denied, on the grounds that the evidence of effectiveness is weak.
Yet other treatments with similarly weak evidence behind them, like steroid injections, are covered. I understand the reluctance to pay for a treatment that is unlikely to be effective, but this process of experimentation is all I have. I’m lucky to have the means to spend tens of thousands over the years out of my own pocket. Others don’t have that option.
On my quest to figure out why there seem to be so few good solutions to chronic pain, I discovered that less than 1 percent of National Institutes of Health research funding is dedicated to pain research.
Dr. Edward Michna, a pain specialist who works with the American Pain Society, ties this to the stigma around chronic pain. (The American Pain Society previously received funding from pharmaceutical companies that sold opioid painkillers.) “Even before opioid use became an epidemic, funders and politicians equated pain management with addiction treatment, and they ran away from funding it,” he said.
He pointed to a pervasive belief that these patients were exaggerating their pain to receive disability benefits and, in modern times, to get high on painkillers. “With some notable exceptions, it simply wasn’t an issue they wanted to get involved with.” It would be easy to dismiss his views as biased in favor of big pharmaceutical companies, but as someone who is in pain and wants help, his words resonated with me.
Pain is often a symptom of an underlying condition, which means that research into those conditions will ultimately alleviate pain. Cancer-related pain will probably improve if we find better treatments for cancer in general. But for tens of millions of Americans like me, our pain cannot currently be explained by a separate disease. We need more than just 1 percent of government funding devoted to pain research specifically.
Some researchers are beginning to embrace the theory that pain itself is a type of independent disease. They speak of “central sensitization” — the idea that in some people, for reasons yet unknown, the central nervous system changes over time to experience heightened pain. This isn’t New Age hand waving: It’s real science that demands further study.
Another important question for both researchers and health care providers in improving how we match patients to treatments. Often, when treatment ends up working, it remains unclear why it worked for a given patient and not for another, similar patient. When we say a treatment like prolotherapy injections has limited scientific evidence, that usually means that in trials, few saw benefits above placebo. If we could figure out what is different about those few who did see real benefits and identify them, the same treatment becomes more useful.
The opioid crisis — as grave as it is — threatens to overshadow these important issues. Right now, states and governing bodies are focused almost exclusively on reducing opioid prescriptions rather than finding alternatives. The National Committee for Quality Assurance, which sets quality standards for health plans, has a new measure that effectively penalizes providers who prescribe patients opioids over a certain dosage amount. Some states, like Maine, put in place caps on opioid doses.
It’s too early to tell how many patients who legitimately need opioids are having trouble accessing them as a result of these policies. But anecdotes from patients and clinicians suggest some people are suffering. Two small-business owners in Maine are suing the state over rules that require long-term opioid users to lower their dosages.
That policy was an understandable reaction to the fact that 313 people in Maine died from opioid overdoses last year. Yet we have to acknowledge the lack of good options for treating chronic pain. We should also recognize that while evidence behind opioids is weak and they are highly risky, some patients have been well-served by them.
Improving how we apply existing treatments also requires workforce training. A 2011 study found that US medical schools allotted an average of nine teaching hours to painmanagement. (The average for Canada was 19.5 hours.) Clinicians across all specialties should receive better training.
It’s so important that celebrities with fibromyalgia come forward to help enlighten the public and promote awareness of the disease. They give a voice to fibromyalgia sufferers and promote awareness in ways that typical patients can’t.
Here are just a few of the stars that have spoken out about fibromyalgia over the years:
Michael James Hastings Also known as Captain Mike on the TV series The West Wing, Hastings was diagnosed with FMS around 30. Not only has he been able to raise awareness but he has helped raise millions of dollars for those organizations that are working towards finding more effective treatments and a cure.
Sinead O’Connor The “controversial” Irish singer with a shaved head, Sinead O’Connor took three years off from music in 2003 to deal with her FMS and spend time with her kids.
Jo Guest Jo Guest was a successful model in the 1990s and was very popular in England. She continues to stay optimistic even though FMS has taken its toll on her body. She says her husband is her support system and she’s hopeful not only that a cure would be found, but that she could resume her modeling career.
Morgan Freeman Known for his many roles in Hollywood blockbusters (including The Dark Knight Rises and Shawshank Redemption), Freeman has also been an outspoken spokesperson for fibromyalgia.
Mary McDonough Also known as Erin Walton from the popular TV series The Waltons, it took 10 years before McDonough was diagnosed with lupus and fibromyalgia. In her book Lessons From the Mountain, she touches on her years of pain and her diagnoses.
Florence Nightingale An English army nurse and Red Cross pioneer, Florence Nightingale’s best known for her role in modern nursing and hygiene practices. Although she displayed the symptoms of FMS and chronic fatigue, there was no name for it back in the late 1800s.
Susan Flannery Flannery made the role of Stephanie Forrester on the soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful famous. She took a medical leave in 2007 to deal with her fibromyalgia. Even though she’s returned to the show, she still struggles with her symptoms, and like all patients, takes it day by day.
Rosie Hamlin Hamlin was a singer with Rosie and the Originals; their most famous song was “Angel Baby.” She stopped performing in 2005 due to advanced fibromyalgia. She passed away on March 30 of this year at the age of 71.
Especially people busy with very common, most people “feel like beaten” a disease that has no sense to say that beyond sharing with you: Fibromyalgia. According to experts, “the era of the disease.”
quite negatively affect the quality of life that permeates every aspect of our lives, even though it is very common with this disease, we will protect your mystery.
Still in good condition, despite the fact that all these appearances
The first data about the diagnosis, the person starts from a place of pain to be expressed that spread throughout the body.
This pain; normally flammable, is described as sızlayıc. Sleep disorders; sleep a lot, sometimes insomnia: sleep is not supported with the mood of the person begins to deteriorate as a result. sometimes with burning pain, in addition to the above symptoms may be accompanied by a sense of imbalance.
Fibromyalgia can cause depression and social isolation. This effect is caused by the tension of the FMS with great physical and psychological. This reduces the strain on our working hours can lead to loss of jobs and still our income.
Fibromyalgia, despite the prevalence of rare cause disease is still not completely understood.
However, it has been reported that seen in humans in the most sensitive and susceptible personality made.
Fibromyalgia, one of the most common diseases mixed with other disorders; because many other performances are very similar to the symptoms of the disease. There are also specific laboratory tests to diagnose the disease. At this point, people critical of the accuracy of these tests are performed in the complaints.
(That’s why it is often confused with other diseases). When these symptoms occur at the same time, the likelihood of developing the disease or illness omen is too high.
put people diagnosed with fibromyalgia; three months should follow the complaints and symptoms.
At least 12 points (region of the head-neck neck, chest, shoulders, head, the outer side of the elbow, the inside of the shoulders, waist–hipcrossing point outside the outer side of the hip, knee, interior, etc.) be sensitive to pain, a basic requirement. The people complain when it comes to this, that the tests are done at this point is very important.
Women changing hormonal systems (menstruation, menopause), stress, and anxiety that occurs, causing the power to deal with the situation. In this case, it is preparing the appropriate field in the recurrence of the disease and settlement. Women in menopause and highlighted the effectiveness of the stress hormone cortisol disease studies also support this.
Menstrual periods of women, in addition to physiological factors such as changes in menopause and hormonal balance; The lack of habit of sports overload the body home, do excessive cleaning or frequently changing factors such as the location of the house is preparing the ground for fibromyalgia. In addition, environmental factors such as exposure to cold and heat differences can be counted among the causes of fibromyalgia.
Enjoy it affects a person’s life, motivation and reduces efficiency. The statistics of fibromyalgia in the United States, as it leads to job loss, then the cost of the highest-ranking in patients with heart disease who received second place. economy, ie business life and adversely affecting fibromyalgia ‘disease was’ daily life can also be said.
First, we must apply the right direction for the diagnosis of fibromyalgia in rheumatology. However, because it is a complicated disease, your doctor may want the opinions of other experts.
not a single expert treatment of fibromyalgia; multidisciplinary way. they need treatment to receive the support of many branches. especially in physical and rehabilitation, psychologists, therapists, and physiotherapists to get professional help therapy required. When queries are necessary to get support from other medical specialties.
Fibromyalgia patients may have different cerebral blood flow parameters compared with the general population, according to a recent study. Researchers say these changes could be linked to clinical pain parameters and emotional factors.
The study titled, “Altered cerebral blood flow velocity features in fibromyalgia patients in resting-state conditions,” was published in the journal PLoS One.
Fibromyalgia is a chronic disease characterized by widespread musculoskeletal pain, an abnormal pain response from normally non–painful stimuli, and excessive sensitivity to painful stimuli in many tender points. Several brain areas are activated in response to painful stimuli, and previous studies have shown that the brain networks during rest are altered in patients with chronic pain conditions compared with the general population.
“One of the techniques that have been recently proposed to evaluate the dynamics of brain activation associated with painful stimuli is Transcranial Doppler (TCD) monitoring,” the researchers wrote. “It is a non-invasive ultrasound diagnosis technique that analyzes the [blood flow] variations in the brain by measuring cerebral blood flow velocities (CBFV) in main cerebral vessels.
The study enrolled 15 women with fibromyalgia and 15 healthy women to investigate whether fibromyalgia is associated with changes in the brain, namely blood flow, during a five-minute, eyes-closed resting period. Researchers analyzed the anterior and middle cerebral arteries of both brain hemispheres in participants.
Researchers also observed that women with fibromyalgia had significantly higher levels of depressiveness and anxiety than women without fibromyalgia, as well as significantly higher scores of pain intensity. CBFV changes were found to have a significant association with clinical pain parameters and emotional factors.
“All the obtained results are in accordance with previous studies that have demonstrated the relationship between negative emotional factors and activation of brain areas that are related to pain. Therefore, our results would confirm that the complexity and the frequency features of CBFV are linked with other factors such as the depression levels, the state, and trait anxiety, and pain indicators of the participants,” researchers wrote.
Nonetheless, given the study’s limited number of participants and the fact that they were all women, the team emphasized that “the results should be confirmed with a large population of different age ranges and ethnicities, making it possible to analyze the influence on the results of other related factors.”
It’s not uncommon for the effects of fibromyalgia pain medications to wane over time. But what can you do about it? Here are seven different treatment options to explore.
If you are one of the approximately five million Americans with fibromyalgia, you know that pain can be severe, unpredictable, and exhausting. It can be constant for a period of time and then get better for a while — but it tends to just keep coming back.
Additionally, a painkiller that worked before may stop working, and what works for some symptoms may not work for others. Pain management needs to be constantly adjusted and may require a team of specialists who are familiar with fibromyalgia.
Common pain symptoms of fibromyalgia include stabbing, burning, shooting, or throbbing pain in any area of the body. Pain is usually worse in the morning. People with fibromyalgia may have tender areas on their neck, shoulders, back, or legs that are painful when touched.
And fibromyalgia pain can become even worse with physical or emotional stress. Common stressors that may make your fibromyalgia pain worse include a traumatic event, such as a car accident, repetitive physical traumas, or a physical illness.
Getting this pain under control is not easy. But it is possible.
Switching to a new fibromyalgiapainmedication is easier if you taper one medicine gradually before starting a new one. Always follow your doctor’s directions carefully and never stop a medication on your own.
Important options for treating fibromyalgia include finding the right pain medication, getting the proper psychological support, trying complementary therapies, and finding the right treatment team. If your fibromyalgia treatment is not working, ask your doctor to help you explore these options:
Pain medications. There are a number of medications now approved for fibromyalgia pain, including pregabalin (Lyrica), duloxetine (Cymbalta), and milnacipran (Savella). The narcotic-like painkiller tramadol (Ultram) has also been effective for fibromyalgia. “Switching between medications may be necessary and can be made easier with samples or vouchers to decrease the financial cost for the patient,” advises Dr. Abeles.
Sleep management. People with fibromyalgia often have trouble getting enough sleep — and lack of sleep can make fibromyalgiasymptoms worse. Make sure you avoid caffeine and stick to a strict sleep schedule. Ask your doctor if a sleep aid medication might help.
Social and psychological support.The stress of living with a chronic painful disease like fibromyalgia can make your symptoms worse. Research shows that increasing social support reduces fibromyalgia symptoms, such as pain. You may benefit from a fibromyalgia support group. Professional counseling to help you develop coping skills and better manage your symptoms has also been shown to be helpful.
Exercise.Exercise is an important part of feeling better if you have fibromyalgia. Studies show that exercise can help you improve your fitness level, feel better about yourself, and reduce the number of painful pressure points in fibromyalgia.
Acupuncture. One survey found that about 20 percent of people diagnosed with fibromyalgia and treated at a university-based clinic tried acupuncture within a two-year period. Some studies have found that acupuncture can help relieve fibromyalgia pain, but other reports say the effects are not long-lasting and the treatment doesn’t help with the fatigue or sleep problems common with fibromyalgia.
If you are being treated for fibromyalgia and your pain medications are not as effective as in the past, you have options. Remember that it is common for people with fibromyalgia to try different types of medications and other management strategies. It is also important to make sure you have a sympathetic, knowledgeable team of experts to help you manage your fibromyalgia symptoms.
Fibromyalgia is an unpredictable disease that requires a flexible treatment plan. One of the best things you can do is to educate yourself about fibromyalgia so that you can work closely with your treatment team and be a good advocate for yourself.
It is rather common for patients to complain of suffering chronic fatigue along with all the pain of fibromyalgia, but it seems to me that too often perhaps doctor and patient neglect to discuss the pain of Temporomandibular Joint Disorder (TMJD), which is also seen commonly in fibromyalgia patients.
Perhaps this is because the patient and doctor think it is a dental problem, better left to a dentist. Unfortunately, many dentists think TMJD is at least in part a muscularproblem, better left to the patient’s medical doctor. The reality is that the many patients suffering from fibromyalgia unfairly end up facing the facial pain of TMJD alone.
TMJD can cause a patient to experience nausea, headache, dizziness, and difficulty chewing due to jaw pain. By some estimates, 90% of fibromyalgia patients experience facial and jaw pain; many of these same patients are thought to suffer from TMJD. You can see how it might be difficult to make a diagnosis.
TMJD affects the functioning of the jaw, but it can also result in muscle pain throughout the head and neck. A person suffering from TMJD can suffer a range of problems, from headaches to a “locked” jaw. When coupled with the problems seen in fibromyalgia, TMJD can be almost disabling. This is all the more concerning when data shows that over 75% of people with fibromyalgia also suffer from TMJD.
There is a school of thought that divides TMJD into two types:
1. Joint TMJD, caused by damage to the cartilage or ligaments of the temporomandibular joint. This can in turn be the result of a prior injury, dental problems, or grinding of the teeth. This can present as popping or clicking of the jaw joint, the inability to open the mouth very wide, TMJ pain, and headaches.
2. Muscular TMJD, which more commonly affects the fibromyalgia patient. This affects the muscles used to chew and move the face, neck, and shoulders. Muscular TMJD can be caused by a lack of sleep, muscular trauma, and stress. It can present as headaches, and difficulty with opening and closing the mouth.
Stress has a major impact on both fibromyalgia and TMJD. Stress can cause some to clench or grind their teeth, causing continued stress on the muscles and the TMJ, making both joint and muscular TMJD worse. Stress must be brought under control: lifestyles may need to be changed, and medications may be necessary to relax the facial muscles, lessen the pain, and relieve the sleeplessness.
Massage can certainly be of great value in such cases. Dental intervention is needed for those with missing teeth, and an orthotic occlusal plate can help to stabilize the bite and bring balance to the muscles of the jaw and head and neck areas. As with so many illnesses, a multi-disciplinary approach is best-and often most appreciated by the patient.
Unfortunately, as with so many things in medicine, the economics of properly caring for the TMJD patient becomes a barrier for so many patients. This is not surprising, in light of the two types of TMJD discussed above.
Insurance companies often do not cover the cost of treating TMJD claims for the following reasons:
1. They see the two types of TMJD as representing a controversy about both the causes and treatments of TMJD.
2. There is not a large amount of scientific validation of TMJD therapies.
3. The perceived conflict regarding whether TMJD is a medical or a dental problem results in a tug-of-war between medical and dental insurance companies, resulting in a situation where neither insurance group feels it is their responsibility to pay.
Talk to your insurance company and your doctor regarding the best treatment. For those with concomitant fibromyalgia, the treatments for fibromyalgia will offer at least partial relief. And I cannot stress enough the importance of getting stress under control when it comes to refractory TMJD. Work with your doctor, your therapist, yourself.
