What Does A Rheumatologist Do for Fibromyalgia by Dr. Adil

Fibromyalgia is a prevalent chronic neurological condition that provokes extensive painful sensations and irritating inflammation. This is not always constant and can affect any part of the individual’s body. Individuals with fibromyalgia are often exhausted yet find it hard to sleep.

Fibromyalgia is most prevalent within females; however, it is not unheard of in males. The condition is most predominant within middle-age; however, it has been known to occur in teenagers and the elderly too. In people with conditions that affects the osseous matter, the joints or musculature have an increased risk too.

Currently, there is no known curative alleviation of the condition. In most instances, the condition is best treated by a variety of both holistic and pharmaceutical methods. The best treatment method for the individual will often be determined by your primary care physician or a rheumatologist.

What Does A Rheumatologist Do for Fibromyalgia?

Everybody that suffers from fibromyalgia at one point or the other will have to see a rheumatologist, this is mainly due to the excessive pain and fatigue that the condition can cause. Fibromyalgia often causes similar symptoms to that of many forms of arthritis and because of that, a rheumatology appointment will be needed for fibromyalgia. In most of the cases, a rheumatologist detects the disease and rules out other rheumatic conditions. After this, you may need to see a rheumatologist sporadically but long term care will be provided with your General Practitioner, fibromyalgia neurologist, Pain Team and Therapists.

What Does The Treatment involve?

There are many treatments available for fibromyalgia that include both pharmaceutical and complementary treatments.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy

One of the treatments that are available is a form of therapy called cognitive behavioural therapy, otherwise known as CBT and often referred to as the talking therapy. This concentrates on comprehending how feelings and actions influence discomfort and manifestations. This therapy along with other methods such as mindful practices will assist individuals in gaining knowledge on how to decrease discomfort in order to minimize the discomfort felt. The practice of mindfulness is a form of sensual reflection that encourages current time and situation consciousness. This method, when used to reduce stress, has been found to cause a considerable enhancement of the manifestations that are caused by fibromyalgia.

As well as the cognitive behavioral therapy there are other holistic treatments that can be implemented and utilized for fibromyalgia, these can include seeing a chiropractor, going for massage therapy or receiving acupuncture. However, the evidence base for using these for symptoms is minimal.

Physical Exercise

Another holistic non-pharmaceutical method for treating fibromyalgia is that of incorporating the use of physical exercise. This should be incorporated into your treatment regime along with any pharmaceutical assistance and individuals would probably furthermost gain from the exercise of an aerobic nature as well as incorporating activities such as yoga. This low-intensity exercise will help with relieving painful symptoms.

Medications

Medical treatments for fibromyalgia vary. In America, three medications have been acknowledged as a suitable treatment for the chronic condition. These medications have a variety of different functions. Two of the medications that are used for treatment are duloxetine and milnacipran, these assist in regulating symptom levels and relieving suffering as well as changing some of the chemical activity within the brain such as norepinephrine and serotonin.

Other medications that can be utilized for aiding the treatment are amitriptyline and cyclobenzaprine. Another drug that has been approved for treating the chronic condition is Pregabalin, this essentially works by impeding excessive exertion of the nerve cells that are responsible for the conveyance of pain. As with every medication on the pharmaceutical market these medications will have side effects, however, they are often mild if felt at all.

When treating the chronic condition, it is highly advocated that opiate sedative-based pharmaceuticals are avoided. This is because studies have shown that pharmaceuticals of this type are not beneficial for the condition and can in fact increase suffering. For short bursts of relief, medication such as tramadol could be used, but medications such as ibuprofen and paracetamol have no effect whatsoever on pain but can effectively treat the triggers of the pain.

As with any illness, it is essential that risks and catalysts for the conditions are tackled such as sleep disturbances, anxiety, and depression. Most of these conditions should be handled by your medical team. But for certain conditions treatment by a sleep specialist, psychologist or psychiatrist may be needed. It has been proven that a lot of medications that were mentioned above for aiding in suffering can also aid in improving sleep disturbances and mood. Patients suffering from this condition should avoid pharmaceutical medications to aid in sleep such as zolpidem.

Conclusion

Since fibromyalgia can cause chronic pain and fatigue similar to arthritis, individuals with these symptoms see a rheumatologist. So, in most of the cases, a rheumatologist detects the disease and rules out rheumatic diseases.