Burning From The Inside Out: Life With Fibryomyalgia

Abstract

Comfort is a concept many people take for granted, until it suddenly vanishes. In everyday life, it is not the norm to recognize and appreciate the feeling of being comfortable. Nothing is more uncomfortable than being in pain. Every day, up to 67 million Americans experience the effects of chronic pain, showing that this suffering is an unending symptom that needs more understanding and concern [1]. Chronic pain is debilitating, defeating, and presents differently in each and every person affected by it. The wide variety of chronic pain makes diagnosis and treatment quite difficult. In many cases, this mind numbing pain comes from a neurological disease characterized by musculoskeletal pain known as fibromyalgia. Fibromyalgia is a largely misunderstood and complex disorder that results in hyperalgesia, an increased sensitivity to pain meaning our brain and spinal cord process painful and nonpainful signals thus amplifying painful sensations. Other symptoms include fatigue, sleep disturbances, memory issues, and mood disorders [2]. The solution seems clear: to provide maximum comfort to someone suffering from chronic pain so that they may return to doing what they love. To accomplish this a personalized treatment plan must be established. For people diagnosed with fibromyalgia, comfort is seemingly unattainable without a perfect treatment plan. Unfortunately, the history of fibromyalgia pain management has not been so simple. For decades, many healthcare professionals have neglected to properly manage pain due to subjective beliefs, and some have gone even further by gaslighting patients by denying the existence of fibromyalgia [2]. Claims of chronic pain are reduced to symptoms of other problems, thus extending the pain and damage. The scientific community does not fully understand the mechanical complexities of chronic pain, but this does not mean that just because something is not understood, it can be denied existence. If fibromyalgia presentation vastly fluctuates among the people affected by it, then how are effective treatment plans devised to reduce pain and increase one’s quality-of-life?