Living with fibromyalgia doesn’t just mean dealing with chronic symptoms; it means constantly chasing after a cure for your pain and fatigue. If you’re one of the 4 million adults struggling under the weight of fibromyalgia pain, you know exactly how frustrating that chase can be. Fortunately, there’s an expert pain management specialist ready to help you find relief from your worst symptoms.
Dr. Raul Lopez and his team at West Texas Pain Institute specialize in accurately diagnosing and treating your fibromyalgia. Dr. Lopez’s years of experience have equipped him with a wide variety of treatment options he can tailor to exactly fit your needs.
Fibromyalgia is a complicated condition that’s not widely understood by most medical professionals. It’s tricky to diagnose because it’s a collection of symptoms rather than a single disease and the symptoms can be warning signs of other medical issues. That’s why it’s important to see a fibromyalgia specialist like Dr. Lopez who can correctly diagnose your symptoms.
The most common symptoms of fibromyalgia besides chronic, widespread, or localized pain are:
Fibromyalgia takes its toll on both your physical and psychological health and can be accompanied by secondary conditions like irritable bowel syndrome, severe headaches and migraines, and neurological disorders.
Nailing down an exact cause of fibromyalgia is a difficult task, but there are a few common sources of your pain.
Fibromyalgia typically stems from a malfunction in the way your brain processes your body’s pain signals. Your brain receives messages all day long from the different chemicals and neurons throughout your body. When your brain misreads those pain signals, you wind up feeling chronic pain and fatigue.
Symptoms usually appear after a significant physical trauma, surgery, infection, or period of psychological stress. Sometimes your fibromyalgia pain is a result of genetics and sometimes there’s no known cause at all.
An extensive review of your symptoms, a physical exam, and some blood work can help Dr. Lopez determine what’s causing your fibromyalgia and create an effective treatment plan.
Unfortunately, there is no known cure for fibromyalgia, but there are plenty of effective treatments, therapies, and lifestyle modifications to ease your pain, boost your energy, and reduce your worst symptoms.
Here are a few of Dr. Lopez’s treatment options.
Medication is an effective way to manage your symptoms. There are many prescriptions available on the market today, each with its own unique blend of chemicals that help regulate your body’s hormones and ability to process pain.
Dr. Lopez prescribes the best medication based on your exact needs and can help you manage your prescriptions safely.
Physical and massage therapies are excellent alternatives or companions to medication. These therapies can help you find relief from your pain by strengthening your muscles, relaxing your body, and improving your circulation.
A large part of escaping your chronic symptoms is maintaining a healthy lifestyle. If your body is in good shape and bolstered by vitamins and minerals, it has a better chance of warding off unwanted pain signals and boosting your energy levels.
Dr. Lopez can give you expert guidance on supplementing your diet, adding regular exercise into your daily routine, and supporting your body with healthy habits.
Fibromyalgia doesn’t just stop at making your muscles ache; it often attacks your mental health as well. Chronic pain can leave you feeling depressed and anxious which can actually worsen your already agonizing symptoms.
This means that treating your fibromyalgia means addressing your psychological symptoms as well as your physical ones. Talk to Dr. Lopez about all your symptoms so he can get you the psychological support you need.
Perhaps one of the most advanced fibromyalgia treatments is platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injection therapy. The injection is a concentration of platelets extracted from a sample of your own blood. Platelets are your body’s natural healers. They show up at the site of an injury or inflammation to reduce swelling and speed up the healing process.
PRP is a great treatment for fibromyalgia pain because it addresses the source of your pain and reduces it naturally and safely. PRP is an especially attractive treatment option if you’d like to avoid prescription medications.
Depending on your specific circumstances, Dr. Lopez also adds hot and cold therapies and spinal cord stimulation to your treatment plan.
Although there isn’t a cure for fibromyalgia, it doesn’t mean you have to suffer a lifetime of chronic pain and fatigue. Dr. Lopez is well-equipped with treatments and therapies to give you the pain-free life you’ve been dreaming of.
If you’d like more information or want to get started with a consultation, call our friendly staff or schedule an appointment online today.
