Fibromyalgia and Whiplash
I was talking to a friend a while ago. I mentioned how impressed I am with people with fibromyalgia. I told her they work hard and try to avoid pain killers. The friend, who just became a doctor, said she couldn’t stand people with fibromyalgia. She told me, all they do is whine, and want quick medical fixes for their pain. Each person’s pain threshold and severity of pain is different so this isn’t a judgement call. However, it is interesting that people deal with health issues in a variety of ways.
Fibromyalgia is according to WebMD (http://www.webmd.com/fibromyalgia/guide/fibromyalgia-diagnosis-and-misdiagnosis#1) : Fibromyalgia is a syndrome with multiple symptoms that commonly occur together, including widespread pain, decreased pain threshold or tender points, incapacitating fatigue, and anxiety or depression.
Because we can’t evaluate whether someone has fibromyalgia or not we’re going to discuss it from the point of view of working with clients that have been told by the medical field that they have fibromyalgia.
Generally there are specific areas that hurt the most or get irritated the quickest. The major one seems to be the neck and mid trap/rhomboid area (which is also where most whiplash effects). I have had someone who said their pectoral (chest) muscles are the most affected. Often you can’t touch a person in certain areas because it hurts too much (Taylor will explain this from a Massage Therapist point of view).
Whiplash (again according to WebMD: http://www.webmd.com/pain-management/guide/pain-management-whiplash) is: Whiplash, also called neck sprain or neck strain, is injury to the neck. Whiplash is characterized by a collection of symptoms that occur following damage to the neck. In whiplash, the intervertebral joints (located between vertebrae), discs, and ligaments, cervical muscles, and nerve roots may become damaged.
Again, we cannot evaluate someone and say whether they have whiplash or not. We may see symptoms and ask a client to see a professional. A while ago Wendy Perry MPT CAFCI, Registered Physiotherapist did a workshop called: Post Injury Headaches And Neck Pain. Wendy pointed out that healing whiplash can be difficult because the position of the impact and the head on impact have to be determined.
My experience is that there seems to be similarities between people with fibromyalgia and those with whiplash. The body tightens or swells to protect the spine and organs. With whiplash it can last years or indefinitely. In fibromyalgia, it’s as if someone kept their body under stress for so long that it no longer knows how to de-stress.
Twhealthhumor is going to go bi-weekly for a while so ‘keep an eye open for Taylor’s explanation of the differences between massage treatment for whiplash and fibromyalgia’
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