Fibromyalgia
is a chronic, achy muscular pain that has no obvious physical cause. It may involve any area of the body. It may cause pain that is burning, throbbing, shooting or stabbing. The stiffness is generally greater in the morning than at any other time of the day, and may be accompanied by strange sensations in the skin, insomnia, irritable bowel syndrome or TMJ (temporomandibular joint syndrome).
Fibromyalgia tends to affect women more than men. It is distinguished by nine pairs of specific spots where muscles are abnormally tender to the touch: the lower vertebra of the neck, at the insertion of
the second rib, the upper part of the thigh, the middle of the knee, the muscles connected to the base of the skill, the muscles of the neck, back and mid-back, the side of the elbow, and the upper and outer muscles
of the buttocks.
Most people also experience a sleep disorder known as alpha-EEG anomaly, in which deep sleep periods are interrupted by waking-type brain activity. Other sleep disorders that may accompany fibromyalgia are
sleep apnea, restless leg syndrome, bruxism (grinding the teeth), and sleep myoclonus.
In most cases, the symptoms increase in intensity and may be triggered by a number of different factors. Many who suffer from Epstein-Barr virus or chronic fatigue syndrome often find they also develop
fibromyalgia.
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