The Latest Treatments for Fibromyalgia Look Promising for Sufferers

Fibromyalgia is being studied constantly. Its effects are felt by approximately 5 million Americans, yet there is no cure and very few effective long-term treatments. Until recently, it wasn't even recognized as a real condition. The advances being made in the field of fibromyalgia research and treatment are great, but they are certainly not moving as fast as most sufferers would like them to.

Treatments for fibromyalgia and its symptoms are being researched and developed every day. Some of the latest treatments for fibromyalgia that have been studied and publicized include antidepressants, muscle relaxants, sleep therapy, acupuncture, and massage.

Some Exciting New Developments

Antidepressants may be an effective treatment even if the patient does not suffer from depression in addition to fibromyalgia. Somehow, the antidepressants affect the pain receptors in the brain and act to reduce the amount of pain felt by the patient. This is one of the most exciting in the latest treatments for fibromyalgia, because antidepressants are widely available and have already been studied extensively.

Muscle relaxants are another one of the latest treatments for fibromyalgia that have been in the public eye lately. The doses of muscle relaxants for fibromyalgia are nowhere near as large as the doses given usually with these medications, but the effect has been very promising. Muscle relaxants may prove to be a very useful tool for treating fibromyalgia in the future.

Some of the other latest treatments for fibromyalgia include acupuncture, massage, and sleep therapy. Sleep therapy is an interesting treatment because it suggests that there is a link between inadequate sleep and the pain felt by fibromyalgia sufferers. Since the body uses sleep as a time to heal and repair itself, this may suggest that fibromyalgia sufferers can experience a relief of their symptoms with improved quality of sleep.

A treatment similar to sleep that has been mentioned by researchers lately is meditation. Since there seems to be a link between fibromyalgia and stress, meditation can help to relieve some of that stress and therefore reduce the pain felt by the fibromyalgia patient. Relaxation can also help to improve the quality of sleep and provide more time for the patient's body to heal.

There are many other treatments being researched every day. The latest treatments for fibromyalgia are often discussed in medical conferences, and you can bet that at any given time, there are research studies being carried out around the country that will attempt to shed some light on this elusive and complicated condition.