Fibromyalgia Health Center

Symptoms of fibromyalgia are similar to symptoms of other muscle, joint, and gland diseases. Fibromyalgia is diagnosed only after other diseases with similar symptoms are ruled out.

First, a detailed history and thorough physical examination are done. Blood work and radiological tests, such as x-rays, may be done to make sure patients do not have a:

• hormonal imbalance
• muscle disease
• nerve disease
• joint disease
• bone disease
• infection
• cancer

Electrical nerve and muscle testing known as EMG, or ElectroMyoGraphy, and NCV, or Nerve Conduction Velocity, may also be done to check the muscles and nerves.

There are currently no diagnostic laboratory tests for fibromyalgia; standard laboratory tests fail to reveal a physiologic reason for pain. Because there is no generally accepted, objective test for fibromyalgia, some doctors unfortunately may conclude a patient's pain is not real, or they may tell the patient there is little they can do.

A doctor familiar with fibromyalgia, however, can make a diagnosis based on two criteria established by the American Academy of Rheumatology or ACR:

1. A history of widespread pain lasting more than 3 months.

2. The presence of tender points.

Pain is considered to be widespread when it affects all four quadrants of the body; that is, you must have pain in both your right and left sides as well as above and below the waist to be diagnosed with fibromyalgia.

The ACR also has designated 18 sites on the body as possible tender points. For a fibromyalgia diagnosis, a person must have 11 or more tender points.

One of these predesignated sites is considered a true tender point only if the person feels pain upon the application of 4 kilograms of pressure to the site. People who have fibromyalgia certainly may feel pain at other sites, too, but those 18 standard possible sites on the body are the criteria used for classification.