Fibromyalgia Specialists By Mike Leuthen

Fibromyalgia specialists may be rheumatologists, neurologists, pain management specialists or acupuncture, massage, and hypnotic therapists.

While a general practitioner may be the first to suspect fibromyalgia, doctors who diagnose the syndrome follow a set of guidelines created by the American College of Rheumatology in 1990.

In order to make a final diagnosis of fibromyalgia, doctors examine a patient for tenderness or pain at 11 of 18 different points throughout the body. These are sometimes called tender points but fibromyalgia specialists use the term trigger points to refer to areas on the body where intense pain is felt, or when pressure applied to them can cause pain in different parts of the body.

Pain at tender points and pain that has been ongoing and widespread for at least three months are the only guidelines that fibromyalgia doctors can use to make the diagnosis.

Lab tests and X-rays will all come back normal. It is not unusual for people to consult a number of doctors before a fibromyalgia specialist familiar with the condition can finally give a name to the pain that the person has been feeling for months and sometimes for years.

While pain is the primary symptom associated with the syndrome, sleep disturbances occur in 90% of people with fibromyalgia.

Doctors then must attempt to treat the sleep disturbances, as well. Deep sleep is necessary for muscle tissues to regenerate and repair normal damage done on a daily basis.

Some fibromyalgia specialists believe that muscle pain occurs in patient's with the syndrome, because of sleep disturbances, since that the muscles are deprived of the complete regenerative process.

These fibromyalgia doctors may focus on treating the sleep disturbances by prescribing different medications or therapies that can allow the patient to get a good night sleep.

Some fibromyalgia specialists believe that the pain itself associated with the condition causes the sleep disturbances.

As such, such fibromyalgia doctors primarily focus on efforts to relieve the pain.

In this perspective, the problem is viewed as a vicious circle or sorts:

meaning the pain makes it difficult to sleep and the lack of sleep, in turn, engenders more pain, which, in turn, makes it harder to sleep. The key is to break the cycle.

Researchers are unclear at this time about which comes first. Most fibromyalgia doctors attempt to treat both the pain and the sleep disturbances, but then there are typically other symptoms as well, which means that some people who suffer from fibromyalgia find themselves taking numerous prescription medications, which themselves can create a host of problems!

One product that may not be mentioned by fibromyalgia specialists, but that has been recommended by patients who suffer from the syndrome is mangosteen.

The mangosteen is a fruit that grows mostly in southeast Asia and has recently been introduced to the rest of the world in the form of a health drink.

Mangosteen juice may not have come to the attention of most fibromyalgia doctors yet, but some people who suffer from the condition have found that it reduces their pain and increases their ability to sleep, as well as reducing their need for prescription medications.

This is because the mangosteen contains natural Cox-2 inhibitors and anti-inflammatory constituents that can help to mitigate pain.

Although not a fibromyalgia doctor per se, Dr. J Templeman, M.D., has dealt with many patients who suffer from the condition.

Dr. Templeman states: "Although no intervention has ever helped even 45% of my patients, in my experience, mangosteen can bring relief, either partial or complete, to over 60% of sufferers."