It’s one of the new age syndromes and to many, fibromyalgia is a little hard to swallow but try telling that to those people who experience a diminished quality of life because of it.

Whether you believe fibromyalgia is real or not, it’s difficult to make any assumptions unless you really understand it and how it affects the human body and psyche. It affects too many people to not be taken seriously.

It’s become one of the most frustrating conditions of the past decade. Almost like a stealth ailment which can reduce someone to bouts of pain on some days yet, like a magician’s disappearing act, it will vanish without a trace on other days.

The problem with taking fibromyalgia seriously is that many still consider it may be like a hypochondriac - someone complaining about ailments all the time but never finding a solution to their problems. But the truth is, it’s real and unless you’ve experienced fibromyalgia then you really are not qualified to pass comment on it’s validity.

This article is not meant to refute the doubters but only to give them a little idea about this syndrome and that those affected by it, really really do have claims to be suffering from something which affects their quality of life.

Explaining Fibromyalgia

Fibromyalgia is considered a syndrome. In a nutshell, it involves a collection of signs and signals that occur in unison. It’s a tough call isn’t it but as we mentioned earlier, you’ve really got to experience fibromyalgia to appreciate it is real.

The word fibromyalgia is Latin and is broken down into three syllables:

- fibro or fibrous referring to the soft body tissues under the skin, around the joints and tendons

- my or myo pertaining to muscle

- algia which refers to pain - pain in the supporting body tissues including those tissues and muscles surrounding the knees and shoulders

Further confusion surrounds what is known as generalized fibromyalgia as opposed to localized pain in the tendons referred to as tendonitis, bursae referred to as bursitis and muscles referring to muscle strains.

These conditions may be more from a result of under use, excessive use or even misuse. They can also be secondary to conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis. Now you may be able to appreciate why putting this type of ailment in the fibromyalgia basket can lead to doubt in the minds of those who have never experienced it.

But the reality is, there are people who suffer from a constant battle to maintain normal daily activities and being educated on fibromyalgia rather than dismissing it as real, can only help those you are close to who suffer from it to deal with it.