Fibromyalgia Tender Points

Author: J. Flowers Health Staff

There are eighteen fibromyalgia tender points within the body. These are points that are extra sensitive to pain for people that have fibromyalgia. This is a complex condition that is hard to diagnose, but it affects nearly 2% of Americans each year.

What is Fibromyalgia?

Fibromyalgia is a chronic pain disorder that affects the bones, muscles, tendons, and joints. It is the second most frequent condition that impacts the muscles and bones (Bruce, 2019). Fibromyalgia is made up of several different symptoms that tend to fall under three categories: widespread pain, cognitive issues, and chronic fatigue. Fibromyalgia is a very difficult condition to pinpoint because there is no test for it.

What Causes Fibromyalgia?

One of the main reasons for this disorder is because doctors are not sure what causes fibromyalgia. There have been some links to certain genes, and the condition does happen genetically in clusters, but it does not pass down directly from parent to child. Some things that make someone more susceptible to developing fibromyalgia are as follows:

Being a woman
Having arthritis or other diseases dealing with pain
Having depression or anxiety
Physical or emotional trauma/PTSD
Lack of exercise
Family link

Signs of Fibromyalgia

Fibromyalgia affects the nervous system and the brain, causing people to have a lower pain tolerance. Many people will experience digestive issues, sleep issues, chronic pain especially in specific tender points, and cognitive difficulties.

First Signs

One of the earliest signs of fibromyalgia is fatigue. Fibromyalgia causes a lot of sleep issues such as non-restorative sleep, restless leg syndrome, and other sleep disorders. They will also experience muscle twitches and cramps, and they will struggle with numbness or tingling inside of their extremities.

The individual might experience some memory issues and mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety. Many of the symptoms will continue to worsen over time, and eventually, they will interfere with day-to-day activities.

Fibromyalgia Pain Points

One way that doctors tend to check for fibromyalgia is by putting pressure on the tender points. Fibromyalgia causes people to have lower pain tolerance, making things as simple as brushing up against a person, a waistband, or even a shirt tag feels very painful. These tender points are in the shoulders, back and front of the neck, arms, knees, hips, and lower buttocks. Although doctors aren’t sure why these areas are sensitive for people who have fibromyalgia and not others, they do know that it has something to do with spasm.¹

Cognitive Difficulties

A person with fibromyalgia will face some cognitive difficulties as well. People who have fibromyalgia have “impairments in working, episodic, and semantic memory that mimic about 20 years of aging.”² These cognitive difficulties are most likely caused by brain abnormalities in areas that deal with pain. Someone who is developing fibromyalgia will most likely start having issues with memory and seem like they are in a fog. This issue is known as fibrofog, which also causes a person to have issues with switching between tasks and paying attention.²

Symptoms of Fibromyalgia

Fibromyalgia affects numerous functions of the body. Because it targets the nervous system, its effects can be felt in several different areas. The main issues people are going to face are pain and fatigue. However, there are numerous ways that digestive issues, sleep issues, numbness, and cognitive difficulties will affect the person, especially if it goes untreated.

Chronic Pain Symptoms

Fibromyalgia is a chronic pain disorder. The pain is widespread, which means it is felt on both sides of the body and below and above the waist. Something that would normally be painless for a person becomes extremely painful for people with fibromyalgia. The condition also causes spasms, twitches, and cramps which can all lead to more severe pain for the person.

Fatigue

This condition affects sleep patterns. Because the pain is chronic and doesn’t ever fully go away, it can cause issues with maintaining sleep. Fibromyalgia ends up having very similar symptoms to chronic fatigue disorder. Many times, it can coincide with sleep apnea and restless leg syndrome. Additionally, people might struggle with nonrestorative sleep.

Numbness

People might also struggle with numbness within their arms and legs. Many people compare this numbness to the feeling they get when their foot falls asleep or right afterward when the blood comes rushing back in. This numbness might happen more frequently and last longer.