The Facts about Fibromyalgia and Ineffective Sensory Processing

This fact is very well known to fibromyalgia sufferers that discomfort and pain can easily be triggered by some sensory experiences like sound, touch, and light. Sometimes, you may feel the softest noise as the sound of pans and pots banging around the kitchen sink. The question arises are these sensory overloads a symptom of fibromyalgia? Here are some facts:

Although there are a lot of scientists and doctors that have been doing research on the causes of fibromyalgia, still no definite evidence is there of how fibromyalgia is caused. Not knowing the cause feels so frustrating, so researchers continue to search for the answers.

It was in a study that people with fibromyalgia have an altered central processing response to multi-sensory stimulation. This means that when all the sensations strike the brain, instead of getting interpreted correctly, all the sensation wires get crossed and puzzled. For instance, a person having fibromyalgia may feel dizzy while having a conversation with someone in a passenger seat of a moving car or a person may not be able to handle the conversation from two tables over while dining out with friends.

This research was based on the data of 60 people out of which 35 were fibromyalgia patients who were set up on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) devices and tested for sensorial responses. All of the fibromyalgia patients showed irregular responses to the stimulations.

This could provide some evidence that these neurological irregularities might be a cause of fibromyalgia pain. It could be also shown to the doctors who believe that fibromyalgia is all in the head and nothing else. There is a long history of fibromyalgia in which doctors trying to blame the psychological disorders.

The building blocks of discovering the complexities of this mysterious disease are important research like this study. But we do know now that fibromyalgia is real and can cause a lot of symptoms and discomforting pain from many sensations. If we get to know why this happens, it will help us understand more about pain.