If you suffer from muscle pain, feel irritable, and can't shake that feeling of fatigue, you may be one of the thousands of undiagnosed people suffering from Fibromyalgia - a disease that is often misunderstood and only recently diagnosed.
Fibromyalgia is the diagnosis of whole-body pain, said Dr. Jeff Albright, a chiropractor with Rocky Mountain Wellness at 405 S. Wilcox St. #105 in Castle Rock. It affects the fibrous connective tissues and soft tissues in the body, and can be very debilitating when full-blown.
"There are set guidelines for the diagnosis, but there are trigger points that are associated with it." Albright said. "The problem is that it's not understood by a lot of practitioners... although it's getting to be more well-known. The actual diagnosis came about seven or eight years ago."
Dr. Albright will be the speaker at a free workshop on Fibromyalgia, scheduled for 12 noon on April 16th at the conference room at 405 S. Wilcox. "We want to help people understand what it is, how it affects you and what can be done to get relief," he said.
Fibromyalgia is more prevalent in women than in men. Studies show that 90 percent of patients diagnosed are female, Albright said. The disease is characterized by generalized pain in the neck, shoulders, arms, lower back and legs. But there's tons of associated symptoms that go along with it, including sleep problems, digestive problems and irritability and fatigue.
"There's a lot of things that have been tried and are in the works (to treat Fibromyalgia) including medication and physical therapy," Albright said. "Chiropractors have been getting more involved and have been successful in dealing with it." Albright added that studies show Chiropractic & Acupuncture in addition to medication have been more effective in treating the disease than just medications alone.
"There are lifestyle changes that need to be made with the patients to treat the disease and that's what most people don't realize, including diet, exercise and supplementation," he said. "We want to educate as many people as we can about what's going on."
Albright said the free seminar is for anyone who has been diagnosed with Fibromyalgia or has any of the symptoms, that would like to know more about what they can do to get over these problems.
Seating is limited to the first 10 people to sign up for the workshop and reservations are required. If you would like to attend, or would like more information, contact Rocky Mountain Wellness by calling
303-929-2115.