If you or someone close to you suffers from either fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) or chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), you’ll know the significant impact it can have on quality of life and the ability to carry out everyday activities.
While fibromyalgia causes widespread pain, chronic fatigue causes severe exhaustion. Both conditions can also cause difficulties with memory, digestive challenges, insomnia, anxiety, depression and more. What makes these conditions more distressing is that the collection of symptoms cannot be medically explained – doctors cannot find a precise cause for fibromyalgia syndrome or chronic fatigue syndrome (also known as myalgic encephalomyelitis).
Both conditions are thought to be triggered by either an injury, acute episode of stress, or infections like Covid or Epstein Barr Virus. But most people would recover from these within a few days to weeks. So, why do some go on to develop long-term conditions like fibromyalgia or chronic fatigue?
Emerging scientific research shows an undeniable link between your mind and body. The chronic debilitating symptoms you’re experiencing are real – they’re not ‘in your head’, which some may have you believe. Instead, they’re in your brain, triggered by nervous system activation which stimulates your sympathetic nervous system into a state of fight or flight.
Pain is felt in the brain, rather than your bodily tissues – which send the message to your brain that they’re experiencing pain.
Fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue are psychophysiological disorders (PPD)
Psychophysiological Disorders (PPD) is the clinical term for mind-body symptoms. Our entire brain is connected and communicates through neural pathways (like highways between cities). These pathways form the basis of our habits of thinking, feeling, and behaving. They create every sensation we feel in our body. One of these neural pathways is called the danger-alarm system, that alerts us to potential danger. It’s designed to keep us safe, to keep us alive. It serves an importance purpose.
But, when a child grows up afraid, in a highly stressful environment, the body and brain’s system become more sensitised to threat, real or perceived. Later, when the child or adult is exposed to even ordinary levels of stress, these systems may respond automatically – as though the person is under extreme stress. They may experience the heart pounding, rapid breathing, or shut down completely.
While other responses include fatigue (chronic fatigue syndrome), difficulty managing emotions, explosive anger, anxiety, depression and insomnia, and irritable bowel syndrome, pain is the brain’s most common response to threat.
When danger signals disappear, your body should ideally return to a state of relaxation and calm. But, if your danger alarm mechanism is being activated longer than it should or in response to perceived threats, your brain can generate chronic pain and other symptoms, keeping you stuck in a constant state of alarm.
The symptoms of fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue don’t appear due to tissue damage, rather due to overactivation of your danger-alarm system. Unfortunately, the more we focus on our symptoms, such as fatigue or pain, the more our brain receives a signal that there is something wrong with us. It directly activates the danger response and the vicious cycle continues until it becomes a learnt and engraved pathway in the brain that is triggered more and more frequently.
Know this: all tissues heal and scars don’t hurt. If you’re experiencing pain or other debilitating symptoms that persist more than three months after an acute injury, it is almost always linked to mind-body symptoms. Chronic pain, migraine, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue and pelvic pain syndromes are just a few of the very real chronic conditions that can be diagnosed as PPD.
整骨療法如何舒緩纖維肌痛和慢性疲勞
心靈和身體之間的聯繫
纖維肌痛綜合症（FMS）和慢性疲勞綜合症（CFS）都是原因不明的疾病。纖維肌痛引起廣泛的疼痛，而慢性疲勞則引起嚴重的疲憊。兩者有許多臨床常見的共同病症，如憂鬱症、焦慮症、睡眠障礙、疲勞無力、頭痛、顳顎關節障礙症、麻痺刺痛、大腸急躁症、善忘、無法專心等，這些症狀會大大降低了患者的生活品質。這兩種情況到目前為止醫學上都無法解釋。相信是由受傷、急性壓力或感染（如Covid或Epstein Barr病毒）引發的。大多數人都會在幾天到幾週內恢復過來。但有些人的症狀卻會持續很久。近年的科學研究證明，我們的身心之間存在著緊密的聯繫。很多慢性衰弱症狀都是由心理引發的。
纖維肌痛和慢性疲勞是心理和生理障礙
心理生理障礙（PPD）是心身症狀的臨床術語。我們的大腦由很多神經通路連接和交流着。這些路徑構成了我們思想、感覺和行為習慣。其中一個重要的神經通路被稱為”危險警報系統”，提醒我們要注意潛在危險, 確保我們的安全。
但當一個人兒時在高度緊張或害怕的環境中成長時，身體和大腦系統對真實的或感知的威脅就變得很敏感。日子久了, 當他遇到壓力時, 身體的神經”危險警報系統” 就會作出自我保護反應。出現心跳加促，呼吸急促甚至自行關閉身體某些機能。疼痛是大腦對威脅最常見的反應。其他反應包括疲勞（慢性疲勞綜合徵）、難以管理情緒、憤怒、焦慮、抑鬱和失眠，以及腸易激綜合症。
正常情況下, 當危險信號消失時，身體很快便能恢復到放鬆和平靜的狀態。但是，當身體的危險警報機制被激活過久, 大腦就會產生慢性疼痛和其他症狀，使我們陷入持續的警報狀態中。
纖維肌痛和慢性疲勞的症狀都不是由組織損傷而引致的，而是由於身體的危險警報系統被過度激活。當我們越關注身體的症狀，如疲勞或疼痛，大腦就越收到身體有問題的信號, 從而再激活危險反應, 做成了惡性循環。
一般傷口癒合後是不會感到痛楚。但如果傷口癒合後, 身體的疼痛或其他症狀仍然持續三個月以上，就很可能與心身症狀有關。慢性疼痛、偏頭痛、纖維肌痛、慢性疲勞和盆腔疼痛綜合症都是屬於心理生理障礙（PPD）。
整骨療法如何幫助治療心理生理障礙
John Hopkins hospital的研究人員報告，有40-80%的慢性疼痛患者被誤診為結構性組織問題。慢性疼痛錯誤地向大腦發出了信號，並激活了危險警報系統，導致更多的身體疼痛和功能障礙出現。
IMI的整骨治療師受過專業的疼痛科學培訓, 能夠識別身體的疼痛是否與結構性原因如骨折或韌帶撕裂有關, 或是患有PPD。了解疼痛的根源對治療有很大幫助, 可以大大減少疼痛幅度。
Dr. Howard Schubiner 是密歇根州Providence Hospital的心身醫學項目負責人。他對45名患有纖維肌痛的婦女進行研究，他發現那些學習了一種叫做 “情感自我意識 “技術的人, 她們的疼痛在六個月内明顯減少。 46%婦女的疼痛嚴重程度大幅減少了30%甚至更多。而那些被分配到等待治療的人, 疼痛嚴重程度並沒有改善。
整骨治療師能透過手工治療技術來放鬆我們的神經系統，抑制危險警報系統的反應。在緩解疼痛和舒緩疲勞的同時為大腦重新充電。但如果你慢性症狀不斷復發，單靠整骨醫師的技術來放鬆神經系統是不足夠的。由於PPD與大腦的結構變化有關，重新訓練我們的大腦是一個關鍵。需要患者積極的參與，才能得到改善。
專業整骨治療師會通過”傷痛後處理技術”去指導您有效地應對壓力，包括冥想和其他正念練習。幫助您以有節奏的方式恢復運動和鍛煉，以避免症狀發作。如有需要, 整骨醫師還會轉介客人給心理健康治療師提供專業支援。
你有壓力嗎？
21世紀的現代生活，忙碌的上班節奏、長期缺乏睡眠和運動加上反覆的疫情對我們生活帶來不便都會被大腦認為是壓力來源和威脅。此外，某些人格類型，如高成就者、喜歡取悅他人的人及容易憂慮的人都比較容易有慢性疼痛和疲勞。所以我們的大腦很容易在沒有意識的情況下受到壓力。
幸運的是，我們的大腦和神經網絡非常靈活。它可以根據身體面對的各種壓力和經歷，來調節神經線，以控制肌肉和手腳協調的功能。這種能力稱為「神經可塑性」。專業的整骨治療師能夠幫助你了解身體的疼痛問題，並給予指導, 使神經系統從危險警報狀態轉向放鬆。如果你或身邊的人正受到慢性疼痛、疲勞等不適情況困擾，請與IMI聯絡。我們會採取綜合的治療方法，以確定慢性病的根本原因，並製定個人化的治療方案去解決你所有健康方面的問題。
