There are times when a health problem causes visible symptoms. If you break your arm, you’ll likely have noticeable swelling and discoloration. But what happens when your condition is invisible?
What do you do when the cause of your symptoms is hard to understand and even harder to treat?
That’s the reality for 4 million American adults living with fibromyalgia. Fortunately, Dr. Lana Moshkovich and our team at Nirvana Naturopathics understand fibromyalgia and its peculiarities, and we offer a natural solution for many of your symptoms.
Here’s what you should know about how to spot fibromyalgia and how acupuncture can ease your symptoms.
We characterize fibromyalgia as widespread musculoskeletal pain that’s typically accompanied by other symptoms, including fatigue, sleep disturbances, and memory and mood issues.
Though the exact cause isn’t quite understood, most believe that fibromyalgia stems from errant nerve signals affecting the way your central nervous system (your brain and spinal cord) processes and determines what real pain is and what isn’t.
It’s possible that fibromyalgia begins after a certain event, such as physical trauma, surgery, infection, or severe stress. In other cases, fibromyalgia onsets over time with no trigger event.
Fibromyalgia also often sets off other conditions, including headaches, temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorders, and irritable bowel syndrome, as well as mental health issues like anxiety and depression.
Typically, doctors treat fibromyalgia with a course of prescription medications that relieve pain, address mental health problems, and even prevent pain-related seizures. Physical therapy, occupational therapy, and counseling are other effective strategies.
If you’re looking for a more natural way to address fibromyalgia or if you’d like to supplement your current treatment plan, acupuncture is a safe, conservative, and effective option.
About 3,000 years ago, ancient Chinese healers discovered that the human body has flows of energy or life forces called qi. Your qi travels through various pathways in your body. If it becomes blocked or imbalanced, health problems inevitably ensue.
To address this problem, acupuncturists carefully inserted thin needles into various points on the body. The needles reboot the flow of energy, and as a result, you feel less pain and see your conditions improve.
It may seem mysterious, but science backs up this ancient technique. Our bodies do experience physiological imbalances at the hands of various health problems, and acupuncture techniques are effective in restoring balance quickly and naturally.
Most often, people see an expert acupuncturist like Dr. Moshkovich for allergies and even cosmetic issues. But most often, our patients come to us to find relief from chronic pain, including fibromyalgia-related symptoms.
The thought of letting someone stick needles in your body might sound frightening, but acupuncture is an incredibly safe and surprisingly pain-free experience.
During your treatment session, you lie comfortably on an exam table while we carefully insert the fine-point needles into specific locations on your body. You shouldn’t feel any pain, but you may notice a dull, aching sensation once the needle hits the right spot.
Dr. Moshkovich may spend some time manipulating the needles after she’s inserted them, but then you relax for 10-20 minutes with the needles in place.
Acupuncture is effective, but it can’t deliver results overnight. We often recommend patients receive more than one treatment to get the most out of acupuncture.
Are you ready to see how acupuncture can work for you? Don’t hesitate to request an appointment online or over the phone at our Deerfield, Illinois, office today.
