Fibromyalgia and Head Trauma

Understanding Their Connection

Chronic pain often feels like it should have a clear physical reason, but there’s increasing evidence that fibromyalgia might be linked to both physical and emotional trauma.

Fibromyalgia is a long-term condition that causes widespread pain and tenderness in your muscles and joints. It can happen to anyone at any age, but it’s more common in older adults and women.

We don’t fully understand why fibromyalgia happens, and it’s not classified as an autoimmune disease, nor is it a joint or muscle problem or caused by inflammation.

Right now, it’s thought that fibromyalgia makes your body extra sensitive to pain. Some studies suggest that how your body reacts to stress or trauma might play a role in the condition.

Could Trauma Trigger Fibromyalgia?

We don’t fully understand what causes fibromyalgia, but both physical and emotional trauma might play a role.

A review of 51 studies from 2018 found that many people with fibromyalgia said their symptoms seemed to start after they went through some kind of emotional or physical trauma.

The data wasn’t strong enough to make any solid conclusions, but experts observed that emotional trauma seemed to be more…