Fibromyalgia Trigger Points: A Constant Source of Pain

Although the causes of fibromyalgia are unknown, its sources of pain, called “trigger points,” are not. These are multiple tender points on the body. In making a clinical diagnosis, a physician confirms the presence of fibromyalgia trigger points on at least eleven out of eighteen parts of the body. These painful areas are typically located in the fibrous tissues of the neck, shoulder, chest, hip, knees and elbows. Many rheumatologists who treat this syndrome do not distinguish between the terms “fibromyalgia trigger points” and “fibromyalgia tender points,” while others believe they are not the same. Regardless of the medical terminology used, those affected know only that many parts of their bodies ache with an unrelenting chronic pain.

Targeting Fibromyalgia Trigger Points

Many say that the worst part of this complex syndrome occurs when the trigger points associated with fibromyalgia are in a “flare up.” This is known to happen during times of stress, illness, sleep deprivation, changes in barometric pressure, and fatigue. When the trigger points “flare” in fibromyalgia patients, the pain can be so intense that it prevents the sufferer from working and doing the normal activities of life. A vicious cycle is created when pain from the trigger points creates inactivity, and this inactivity makes the pain even worse.
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Although many other symptoms of fibromyalgia complete the diagnostic picture, it is most often the trigger point pain that brings the patient to the attention of a physician. In most cases, the patient presents with complaints of areas of intense pain that comes and goes, becoming worse under certain life circumstances or health crises. Patients are asked to show the physician where these areas of pain are located.
Fibromyalgia trigger points are often painful to the physician’s touch, especially those in the chest, neck and shoulders. A thorough diagnostic interview by the physician also identifies other classic symptoms of fibromyalgia such as sleep disturbance, oral thrush, irritable bowel, excessive dryness of the mucous membranes, and chronic fatigue.
Usually the patient does not associate these symptoms with the pain of the trigger points and may not understand why the physician is asking about symptoms other than muscle and joint pain. However, an astute physician who is acquainted with fibromyalgia trigger points and their connection to the syndrome as a whole “connects the dots” and makes the clinical diagnosis.
Since none of the symptoms of fibromyalgia are outwardly visible, including trigger points, even after 150 years of study this syndrome has mystified medical researchers. Since it cannot be seen in lab tests or any other type of definitive diagnostic method, the question as to whether or not fibromyalgia is “real,” is still open for debate among physicians. It is not at all debatable for those who endure it every day of their lives.

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