What is 'fibromyalgia'?

What is 'fibromyalgia'?

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Fibromyalgia is a chronic condition where patients have pain in the muscle areas, but it's not associated with muscular changes that you can see pathologically. It's like having irritable bowel syndrome, but of the soma or of the muscles. There are certain criteria that you have to have, but they must have symptoms for at least 3 months, and it has to be chronic widespread pain meaning that you have to have pain in all 4 quadrants of the body. So, right side of the body, left side, above and below the diaphragm, and somewhere along the axial skeleton. So whether it's neck, mid-back or lower-back, they have to meet these certain criteria. They also have to have 11 out of 18 tender points, or when you apply a certain amount of pressure at these pre-defined tender points, that the patient will experience pain.