New Findings for the Cause of Fibromyalgia Pain

New Findings for the Cause of Fibromyalgia Pain

Recent Research Shows New Information

*** Information is taken directly from “The Guardian Express” and was submitted by Rebecca Savastio on June 20, 2013.  The original article title is, “Fibromyalgia Mystery Finally Solved! Researchers Find Main Source of Pain in Blood Vessels” ***

Fibromyalgia’s Major Pain Points

Contrary to what many have believed, that Fibromyalgia pain stems from the brain, new findings for the cause of fibromyalgia pain is showing that the main source of the pain appears to be something completely different.

For many years, many doctors wrongly believed that the disease was “imaginary” or psychological, but scientists have now revealed that the main source of pain stems from a most unlikely place — excess blood vessels in the hand.

New Findings for the Cause of Fibromyalgia Pain

This newest discovery may lead to new treatments and perhaps even a total cure in the future, bringing relief to as many as 5 million Americans thought to have the disease. To solve the mystery of Fibromyalgia pain, researchers zeroed in on the skin from the hand of one patient who had a lack of the sensory nerve fibers, causing a reduced reaction to pain. They then took skin samples from the hands of Fibromyalgia patients and were surprised to find an extremely excessive amount of a particular type of nerve fiber called arteriole-venule (AV) shunts.

Up until this point scientists had thought that these fibers were only responsible for regulating blood flow, and did not play any role in pain sensation, but now they’ve discovered that there is a direct link between these nerves and the widespread body pain that Fibromyalgia sufferers feel.

The breakthrough also could solve the lingering question of why many sufferers have extremely painful hands as well as other “tender points” throughout the body, and why cold weather seems to aggravate the symptoms. In addition to feeling widespread deep tissue pain, many Fibromyalgia patients also suffer from debilitating fatigue.

Neuroscientist Dr. Frank L. Rice explained:

“We previously thought that these nerve endings were only involved in regulating blood flow at a subconscious level, yet here we had evidences that the blood vessel endings could also contribute to our conscious sense of touch… and also pain,” Rice said. “This mismanaged blood flow could be the source of muscular pain and achiness, and the sense of fatigue which are thought to be due to a build-up of lactic acid and low levels of inflammation in fibromyalgia patients. This, in turn, could contribute to the hyperactivity in the brain.”

Current treatments for the disease have not brought complete relief to the millions of sufferers. Therapies include narcotic pain medicines; anti-seizure drugs, anti-depressants and even simple advice such as “get more sleep and exercise regularly.” With these new findings for the cause of fibromyalgia pain, perhaps patients can look forward to an eventual cure.

The announcement of these new findings has the potential to unlock better future treatments.  Perhaps the mystery of Fibromyalgia has finally been solved.

By: Rebecca Savastio