Fibromyalgia is all in your head – The top misconception is that people think fibromyalgia isn’t a real medical problem or that it is “all in your head.” Definitely not, just because fibromyalgia is an invisible illness with no discernible cause, it can be easy to dismiss fibromyalgia sufferers and their reports of pain. Many people can’t believe that someone who looks healthy could actually be in debilitating pain.
Only women develop fibromyalgia – no men can have it as well although women have a higher rate of diagnosis.
Diet can heal fibromyalgia – if it was that easy there would be very few people suffering from the condition. While diet and other lifestyle choices may relieve some of the symptoms for those who live with fibromyalgia, there is no one-size-fits-all approach — what may work for one fibro sufferer may have no effect on another. To date, research which shows any one particular diet or treatment is helpful to those living with fibromyalgia is often conflicting and patients often have to try multiple different treatments, diets, and alternative therapies to find out which works best for them.
Fibromyalgia isn’t a real disease – apparently, this misconception has a grain of truth. Diseases have specific and traceable causes. Since fibromyalgia does not have a set of causes that lead to diagnosis, it is not technically a disease. However it is a condition and is also known as a syndrome, fibromyalgia is classified as a disorder because it is a collection of symptoms that occur together.
Fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) are the same conditions. People with fibromyalgia may also be diagnosed with chronic fatigue, but the connection doesn’t necessarily go both ways. In fact, many of those with CFS may have no pain at all, just unrelenting fatigue. They are completely different disorders that happen to share some symptoms.
People with fibromyalgia should avoid exercise -Joints that ache and muscles that hurt due to fibromyalgia are like rusty gates that need oil. Proper exercise can help fibromyalgia patients slowly and carefully smooth out those pain.
Fibromyalgia is not serious – it may not be a life-threatening condition but it is certainly a life-changing one.
The pain is not real – In people who have fibromyalgia, the brain and spinal cord process pain signals differently. As a result, they react more strongly to touch and pressure, with a heightened sensitivity to pain. It is a real physiological and neurochemical problem. The power of the mind is a real factor in pain perception. For example, studies have shown that anxiety that occurs in anticipation of pain is often more problematic than the pain experience itself. In that sense, the mind has a negative impact on symptoms.
Information source from Pain Doctor, and Fibromyalgia New Today, and the Mayo Clinic.
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