Fibromyalgia 18 Tender Points Chart
Fibromyalgia fm is a long term condition that causes widespread pain throughout the body.
Fibromyalgia 18 tender points chart. They have issued the following guidelines to doctors for diagnosing fibromyalgia. This criteria requires pain in all four quadrants of the body for at least three months and moderate pain sensitivity at a minimum of 11 of the 18 predetermined tender points. These pressure points are located at the following nine points of bilateral muscles. The primary difference between tender points and trigger points is that trigger points can produce referred pain that is they can.
Doctors often check for certain tender points on the body when it comes to diagnosing fibromyalgia. Pain must be experienced in at least 11 of the specified tender points when touched with a force of 9 pounds or less. As with any diagnostic criteria especially those that cannot be based on a blood. The american college of rheumatology has charted 18 tender points.
People with fibromyalgia often feel different types of pain in their bodies. Diagnosing fibromyalgia with tender points there are 18 tender points throughout the body each about the size of a penny. It s been 20 years since the american college of rheumatology acr published the criteria for the classification of fibromyalgia. Fibromyalgia tender points are located in clusters around the neck chest.
Doctors used to use tender points to help them form a diagnosis. Tender points are areas of. These 18 points 9 pairs tend to be painful when pressed and may spread pain to other body parts. Along with widespread deep muscle pain it s common to feel multiple tender points too.
These tender points are sometimes confused with trigger points which are associated with chronic myofascial pain. Fibromyalgia a chronic pain disorder is often characterized by pain in multiple tender points. The 18 tender points associated with fibromyalgia occur in symmetrical pairs from the back of your head to your inner knees.