4 Therapies to Relieve Your Fibromyalgia Symptoms

Fibromyalgia causes chronic pain for over 4 million adults in the United States. Beyond the widespread pain, the condition can cause severe fatigue that makes it difficult to adhere to daily responsibilities. The condition’s complications can affect your mental and emotional well-being, often co-occurring with depression, anxiety, and memory loss. 

Pain Management Associates LLC is your go-to pain management practice in Greenbelt, Maryland. Led by medical director Haddis Hagos, MD, and Brent Earls, MD, the practice offers the latest treatments in pain management care for people with fibromyalgia and a host of other chronic pain conditions. 

Our experts at Pain Management Associates LLC strive to give you the best possible care to reduce fibromyalgia flares, which can cause symptoms like pain, fatigue, brain fog, and light sensitivity. Fortunately, innovative procedures in our office can prevent pain signals from reaching your brain and ultimately improve your well-being. 

Here, we’ll talk about four leading fibromyalgia treatments available today in our office:

1. Trigger point injections

People with fibromyalgia often experience concentrated pain in specific areas called trigger points. Trigger points are tight, painful knots in your muscles that are sensitive to touch or pressure. Trigger point injections target these points, loosen the underlying muscle, and alleviate pain. 

Typically, trigger point injections contain a small amount of local anesthesia for immediate pain relief. They can also contain corticosteroids and other substances. In the case of dry needling, a type of trigger point injection procedure, nothing is injected and the needle alone loosens the muscle. 

2. Spinal cord stimulation

A spinal cord stimulator is an implanted device that emits a low-level electrical current into the epidural space around your spinal cord. The purpose of this device is to mute the pain signals traveling through your spinal cord toward your brain. 

While experts don’t quite understand how spinal cord stimulation effectively reduces chronic pain, they do know that the electrical currents replace the sensation of pain with an alternative (and much more tolerable) tingling sensation. 

Many people find success in managing pain-causing conditions like fibromyalgia with spinal cord stimulation, but it isn’t an ideal choice of treatment for everyone. Keep in mind you’ll need to undergo minor surgery to implant the device and a trial period to make sure it’s a good fit. 

3. Occipital nerve stimulation

Occipital nerve stimulation is a treatment for painful conditions that are challenging to manage. Like spinal cord stimulation, occipital nerve stimulation uses an implanted device to deliver low-level electrical currents. Occipital nerve stimulation targets the occipital nerves located at the base of the skull on the back of your neck. 

4. Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS)

Though it’s not a conventional option, TENS is becoming increasingly common as a nonpharmaceutical treatment for fibromyalgia. A pocket-sized device connected to electrodes on your skin sends mild electrical currents to the painful area, which causes a tingling sensation. Your brain favors this sensation over fibromyalgia pain, thus becoming distracted and causing you less discomfort. 

A TENS unit emits its signals incrementally or in patterns so your brain doesn’t get used to the sensation and override it. TENS units can also prompt your brain to release more endorphins, which reduce pain naturally.

Pain Management Associates LLC can help you explore nonpharmaceutical treatments for fibromyalgia to reduce your symptoms. To learn more about our services, call us at Pain Management Associates LLC or request an appointment online today.