As there is no definitive test for Fibromyalgia, the first line of investigation essentially tests for all other possibilities. Generally, this type of testing takes place over many months, sometimes even several years.
Fibromyalgia Medical Assessment
Fibromyalgia symptoms are similar to other known diseases and conditions such as irregular thyroid, vitamin deficiencies, acute injury, Mononucleosis, Multiple Sclerosis, Lupus, Cancer, and accidental chemical poisonings. To ensure that symptoms such as fatigue, pain, and muscle weakness are not related to any other treatable condition, individual testing must take place. This may include multiple blood tests, urine tests, x-ray, ultrasound, and MRI examinations as well as examination by and consultation with a number of specialists including neurologists.
Once tests affirm that none of these conditions are present, then doctors continue a similar process for psychological testing. Conducted by a variety of specialists such as Internal Medicine specialists, Physiatrists, and Psychologists, these tests are meant to rule out mental or emotional disorders. In this way, post traumatic stress disorder, mental illness, and hypochondria are ruled out as potential causes of these symptoms.
Fibromyalgia Trigger Points
When this first line of testing proves fruitless, then the possibility of Fibromyalgia is explored. This second line of investigation is deceptively simplistic. It involves a short assessment of tenderness in 18 (9 pairs) Fibromyalgia trigger points along the right and left sides of the body. Essentially, the specialist taps on each of the location and notes pain, tenderness, and the presence of tightly knotted muscles in these locations. The test itself takes less than half and hour and results are known immediately.
Localized Fibromyalgia pain tends to radiates from these 18 trigger points located at specific muscle groups along the neck, shoulders, and back as well as the joints of the arms and legs. Often Fibromyalgia sufferers will notice that pain, swelling, or irritation will occur in one trigger point area and then move down the muscle group into another. Therefore, knowledge of the location of these Fibromyalgia trigger points is useful not only for diagnosis but also for symptom management purposes.
Location of the Fibromyalgia Trigger Points
Trigger points are located in the following locations:
- The base of the skull
- On either side of the neck just under the jaw line.
- Where the shoulder and collar bone meet in the back.
- Following the collar bone inward to the spine.
- The bump where the collar bone and shoulder meet in the front.
- The muscle connection at the elbow.
- Along the edge of the buttocks and back, midpoint of each cheek.
- Along the outside of the leg, below the buttock line.
- The inside muscle of the knee.
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