Post-traumatic fibromyalgia can be caused by car accidents and other traumatic events. Chiropractors at the MidCity Injury Clinic in Columbus, Ohio, explain that “fibromyalgia is a common condition that causes pain in the muscles. The pain is severe and involves many muscles, as well as tendons, ligaments, and other soft tissue areas. Different areas Tenderness at specific locations called ‘tender points’ are characteristic findings, especially after a car accident.”
Many people living with fibromyalgia can trace their symptoms back to a traumatic event, such as a car accident. Understanding the link to trauma can help bring some relief.
I have seen hundreds of patients after a car accident and many of these patients trace their fibromyalgia symptoms back many years ago when they were in a collision in their cars. Often it can take weeks or years to understand the link between that traumatic event and fibromyalgia pain. If that’s you, you’re not alone: Many people with fibromyalgia date their condition to a traumatic event.
“Contemporary thinking is that if you are a genetically predisposed individual, then trauma to the head and neck can precipitate the onset of fibromyalgia,” explains Kim Jones, PhD, associate professor at Oregon Health & Science University in Portland. She adds that people whose fibromyalgia symptoms start with trauma might have developed the condition later anyway; many have a family history of chronic pain.
Although many experts associate fibromyalgia symptoms with injuries affecting the head and neck, traumatic triggers for fibromyalgia can be much more widespread. “Any type of trauma or stressful event, such as major surgical procedures, being sent to war, certain types of infections, all trigger fibromyalgia, and most of them are not associated with any spinal trauma,” says rheumatologist Daniel Clauw. , MD. , professor of medicine and director of the Chronic Pain and Fatigue Research Center in the department of anesthesiology at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
Traumatic experiences that correlate with fibromyalgia include: Emotional trauma. Certain viruses, such as hepatitis C and HIV, perhaps a childhood separation from his mother that lasted more than six months, or even living through a war.
Linking trauma to relief: For some people, understanding the traumatic trigger can lead to hope for relief. “We just didn’t see the other car and we didn’t hear it, and we crashed”, 8 months later the bruises and fractures may have disappeared, note that the continuous and widespread quality of his pain was unusual.
I remember one patient in particular who said, “I had pain that felt like it was coming out of my forearms and thighbones,” she says. “I kept telling the doctor that this is pain radiating from my bones.” But neither she nor her doctor could rationally explain how the car accident contributed to her pain. A year and a half after the accident, she finally received her fibromyalgia diagnosis. Always a self-described type A personality and naturally active, this patient says that she overcame many of the symptoms of fibromyalgia when they first appeared. However, she was seeking relief through fibromyalgia treatment.
In a whiplash event, such as a car accident, this causes the head to accelerate faster than the cervical spine and then snap back. Although people’s perception is that their posture is more or less normal, the event locks the head and neck in a forward position, resetting the body’s response to trauma in some people so that their central nervous system continues to react on a daily basis. , as if under threat. Trauma also affects the cervical spine, creating ongoing stress on the body.
Unfortunately, not everyone whose fibromyalgia is triggered by trauma will find relief in the same way that many people do with medication, chiropractic care, or other remedies. Doctors advise all people with fibromyalgia to be careful about believing claims of quick and easy relief from chronic trauma-related pain. He also advises asking for any evidence, such as the results of clinical studies or x-rays before and after, to back up any doctor’s or clinic’s claims.
Many doctors point out that even though experts are increasingly aware of the correlation between trauma and fibromyalgia, many doctors are unaware of this link. But if you think a traumatic event might be the trigger for your pain, it’s worth investigating further.
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