What is fibromyalgia?

Fibromyalgia is a condition where people experience widespread pain. Pain is musculoskeletal, so pain in muscles, aches in joints even when you are not moving, whilst other symptoms include fatigue, sleep and memory issues, tension headaches, TMJ, IBS, anxiety and depression.

Statistics show fibromyalgia affects more women than men and researchers believe the condition affects the way their brain and spinal cord process painful and non-painful signals, causes people suffering with fibromyalgia to have heightened painful sensations.

Fibromyalgia is a debilitating disorder which disrupts every day life. The pain, fatigue, and poor sleep quality many patients experience force them to give up work, stop being able to do everyday tasks, which leads them to becoming frustration, anxious and depressed.

Many of the symptoms align with chronic fatigue syndrome and ME, and fibromyalgia is now bracketed alongside these other debilitating conditions.

What causes fibromyalgia?

It is thought the onset of fibromyalgia begins after a traumatic event, like a physical trauma, surgery, infection or psychological stress. Yet, a number of these events over a person’s life can cause a gradual development of symptoms over time, rather than a single triggering event.

Researchers also believe repeated nerve stimulation causes the brain and spinal cord to change over time, increasing the amount of chemicals in the brain and causing an adverse reaction to the brain’s pain receptors which interpret a person’s pain.

This disruption alters existing sensitivity with the brain’s pain receptors, making them hyper-sensitised and causing the overreaction to both painful and non-painful signals causing fibromyalgia patients to suffer constant pain.

All the above is research taken from sources independent to The Perrin Technique, but back up Dr Raymond Perrin’s theory and underpins his developed diagnosis and treatment The Perrin Technique.

The Perrin Technique was designed for ME/CFS, but using its diagnostic protocol with other diagnostic tools developed specifically for fibromyalgia, The Perrin Technique diagnoses fibromyalgia proactively, rather than by a process of elimination.

The Perrin Technique is an active diagnosis, considering every symptom you experience and all aspects of your health and medical history. Patients are physically examined to assess lymphatic build up and physical issues, commonly found in fibromyalgia patients.

The Perrin Technique’s thorough consultation, comprehensive case history and physical examination, provides a diagnosis of fibromyalgia before outlining a prognosis and bespoke treatment plan.

Dr Perrin’s hypothesis detects similarities in physical signs in ME/CFS and fibromyalgia

There may be a number of different causative factors for patients to develop fibromyalgia, but many of the symptoms are shared between patients of different backgrounds.

Dr Perrin’s theoretical model on how ME/CFS is caused relates to fibromyalgia as well, and provides a clear outline on its causes based on years of research. The model is a general guide to explain the causes of these conditions and the triggers involved.