Medical Terminology Made Simple: Fibromyalgia

As a service to people who are thinking of entering the medical and medical support professions, StraighterLine is continuing the series of short posts on medical terminology. Each post will define one medical term.

Today’s medical term is . . . Fibromyalgia

If you imagine normal aches and pains and then multiply them by a factor of 20, 50, 100 or more, you’ll have a pretty good idea of how Fibromyalgia feels. And the disease is even more unpleasant than that. If you have it and something presses on certain parts of your body, the pain can be intense. Perhaps due to the chronic pain, Fibromyalgia is linked to depression, fatigue and sleep-deprivation. Women between the ages of 25 and 60 are most likely to suffer from it.

If you know someone who suffers from Fibromyalgia, you know how devastating it can be. Some sufferers don’t even like to talk about it so they endure the pain in silence, believing that other people will see them as hypochondriacs for complaining about pain.

There are many treatments for the condition, however, including common pain medications and a growing number of prescription drugs. Many sufferers also report that acupuncture, exercise, massage and dietary changes can help alleviate symptoms.

The good news is that applying some of those remedies some sufferers are able to reduce their symptoms and enjoy relatively pain-free lives.

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