Acupuncture for Fibromyalgia

How Chinese medicine understands fibromyalgia

Fibromyalgia has no single match in Chinese medicine. The pain is usually treated as a form of Bi syndrome spread through the muscles, and the tiredness, poor sleep and low mood are read as part of the same pattern rather than separate problems.

The common patterns are:

• Liver Qi stagnation. Pain that moves around and flares with stress, tension in the neck and shoulders, irritability, and an unsettled gut. Treatment aims to move Qi and ease tension.
• Qi and Blood deficiency. Aching, tired muscles that feel worse with effort, pale skin, and exhaustion. In Chinese medicine the muscles are not being nourished well, so treatment builds you up.
• Heart and Spleen deficiency. Light, broken sleep, worry, poor appetite and fatigue. Treatment focuses on sleep and digestion.
• Damp obstruction. Heavy, stiff limbs, foggy thinking and symptoms that are worse in damp weather. Treatment clears the heaviness.

Most people have a mix, often deficiency underneath with stagnation on top. That is why treatment tends to change as you do.

If exhaustion, rather than pain, is your main problem, the chronic fatigue page may fit you better.

What treatment involves

Your first visit at the clinic in Keswick starts with a lot of questions: where it hurts, how you sleep, your energy, digestion, mood, stress and what makes things flare. I look at your tongue and take your pulse. The first appointment is 75 minutes, including the diagnosis and first treatment.

Acupuncture is usually the main treatment. With fibromyalgia it generally starts gently, with fewer needles and light stimulation, and builds only as you are comfortable. Points are chosen for your pattern, not only where it hurts, and I treat the whole body at every treatment. The aims are to help with pain, sleep and tension.

Gentle tuina massage can ease tight muscles, with pressure kept light. Light cupping may be used on the back if you tolerate it. Chinese herbal medicine can be added where sleep and energy are part of the pattern: a formula written for your pattern and dispensed at the clinic, checked against any medicines you take.

Fibromyalgia fluctuates, so progress is judged over weeks rather than after a single visit. Plan on 5–10 treatments to judge progress. Research on acupuncture for fibromyalgia is still developing.

Between visits

• Move a little every day. Gentle walking, water exercise or tai chi, started small and built up slowly, tends to suit fibromyalgia better than bursts of effort.
• Pace yourself. Spread tasks across the day and week, and stop before you are exhausted, even on good days.
• Protect your sleep. Keep regular bed and wake times, a cool, dark room, and screens off an hour before bed.
• Keep warm. Cold often makes symptoms worse. A warm bath or heat pack can ease aching muscles.
• Look after your mood. Pain and low mood feed each other. Talk to your doctor about support such as counselling.

When to see your doctor first

Fibromyalgia should be diagnosed by a doctor, because other conditions can look similar. See your doctor promptly if:

• You have not been assessed, or your symptoms have changed. Blood tests can rule out thyroid problems, anaemia and inflammatory conditions.
• You have swollen joints, a rash, fever or unexplained weight loss.
• You have new weakness, numbness, or trouble walking or with balance.
• Your pain is concentrated in one area and getting steadily worse.
• You feel hopeless or have thoughts of harming yourself. Call or text 9-8-8 in Canada at any time, or call 911 in an emergency.