MUSCLE AND SKELETAL PAIN: FIBROMYALGIA: GETTING HELP

While fibromyalgia is a chronic, sometimes debilitating disease, a variety of treatments are available to help alleviate the pain. The important thing is to find a health care practitioner who understands pain management. Some questions to ask your provider include:

1. How many cases of fibromyalgia have you treated?

2. What is your philosophy of pain management in terms of medications and alternative therapies?

3. What types of medications do you generally prescribe?

4. What types of non-drug therapies do you use?

5. Where do you refer patients who need additional treatment?

Here are some places and people that can help manage fibromyalgia pain:

· Comprehensive pain center. Such centers provide multi-modality, interdisciplinary treatment and can be helpful in the management of the chronic pain of fibromyalgia as well as many other types of chronic pain.

· Pain medicine physician. Pain medicine has become a medical specialty in recent years. Pain medicine physicians specialize in treating many different pain conditions. Depending on background and interest, many treat fibromyalgia. Be sure to ask about their experience and interest in treating fibromyalgia and whether they incorporate a variety of therapeutic (multi-modality) approaches.