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Fibromyalgia Monthly Newsletter
Fibromyalgia Newsletter – August 2005
Brought to you by: Jane Oelke, N.D., Ph.D.
DoctorOelke@aol.com
What Causes Fibromyalgia Pain?
We now know that the real pain of fibromyalgia comes from hypersensitive pain responses in the nervous system. The normal nervous system pain pathways have become so stressed that they over respond to any touch or movement in the muscle.
Normally, our nervous system passes pain signals across synapses or gaps between nerves, by chemical reactions using glutamate and substance P. These two chemicals act like little electrical sparks that move the signal to the next nerve. So when you touch a hot plate your nervous system sends this pain signal immediately to your brain to let go of the plate.
Hypersensitive pain responses come when too much substance P crosses this synapse or gap between your nerves, and the signal to the next nerve is too strong, and you over react to the signal that goes to your brain.
Neurotransmitters Affect Your Nervous System Response
Serotonin, a neurotransmitter often lower in fibromyalgia patients, helps reduce hypersensitivity to pain. Serotonin is needed to pass the hypersensitive nerve signal to an inhibitory nerve that releases a chemical called enkephalin, one of our body’s natural painkillers. Enkephalin reduces the amount of substance P, another neurotransmitter, released by the incoming pain nerve, thereby reducing the hypersensitivity to pain.
How Does This Hypersensitivity Happen?
The nervous system can become traumatized from stressful events, like accidents, surgery, or long-term suppression of emotional pain. That is why many times, fibromyalgia pain begins after a car accident, an illness, or after an emotional event. Various traumas will cause intense pain signals to the brain. Over time these repetitious signals will cause more glutamate and substance P to be released into the nervous system, greatly intensifying the pain response.
People with Fibromyalgia tend to have about 3 times more substance P in their nervous system. This excess substance P affects not only these pain specific pain signals but also other nervous system responses, which then affect metabolism and energy levels.
This is Why Massage Is Recommended for Fibromyalgia
There are nerves close to the skin that can be used to decrease the amount of substance P in the nervous system. By gently massaging or rubbing tender areas you can reduce the intensity of your pain response. As you gently get the nerves desensitized on the skin, the substance P levels will go down internally also. So when you work with a massage therapist that understands how gentle massage can release substance P, you can help reduce your hypersensitivity to pain.
In an article from Massage Magazine in 2002, they explained that after receiving massage twice weekly for five weeks, fibromyalgia patients experienced improved mood and sleep, and their levels of substance P, a neurotransmitter in the pain fiber system, decreased, along with the number of tender spots throughout their bodies. Source: Touch Research Institute. Authors: Tiffany Field, Ph.D., Miguel Diego, Christy Cullen, Maria Hernandez-Reif, Ph.D., William Sunshine and Steven Douglas. Originally published in the Journal of Clinical Rheumatology, April 2002, Vol. 8, No. 2, pp. 72-76.
Herbs that Reduce Pain Responses
Cayenne pepper, yes that hot pepper used to spice up our meals, can be used to reduce substance P levels in our nervous system. Topical pain-relief creams, such as Sombra, are commonly recommended to reduce substance P in the body. By rubbing this cream on your skin you are able to reduce the level of substance P stuck in your nervous system creating hypersensitivity. Sombra contains Capsaicin, standardized from cayenne pepper.
Jane Oelke, N.D., Ph.D.
Natural Choices, Inc.
"Building Your Health Naturally"
DoctorOelke@aol.com
www.NaturalChoicesForYou.com
www.NaturalChoicesForFibromyalgia.com
1-888-893-7225
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