rTMS Therapy for Fibromyalgia

Fibromyalgia is a syndrome that consists of a set of symptoms, most notably the widespread pain in multiple parts of the body. The pain is chronic and causes severe discomfort to the individual, often leading to impaired functioning. It is estimated that 2 – 8% of the population can be affected (this refers to the American population, where the studies were conducted), mostly women (8:1).
Fibromyalgia commonly includes a wide range of additional symptoms:

• Dizziness
• Excessive fatigue from daily activities, occasionally leading to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
• Sleep disorders, with the most common disturbances occurring during the the slow wave sleep (SWS), which is said to have a rejuvenating role
• Irritable bowel, stomach pain
• Headaches (tension, migraines)
• Dry mouth
• Dry skin
• Rhinitis
• Difficulty swallowing
• Dysuria or increased urination
• Dysmenorrhea, premenstrual worsening of the symptoms

At the same time, a characteristic aspect of the syndrome is the so – called “fibro fog” or “fibrillation”, which refers to the cognitive impairment that accompanies fibromyalgia, including concentration difficulties, a subjective sense of working memory loss, difficulty in expression or difficulty finding the right words, difficulty drawing patterns and more.

Fibromyalgia has been found to frequently co-occur with depression and anxiety disorders. In such cases, treatment of depression or any other underlying disorder may cause improvement in fibromyalgia symptoms, or even help achieve full remission of fibromyalgia. Of course, there are also cases of fibromyalgia alone, without comorbidity. Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) is a new therapeutic approach for fibromyalgia.
It is a non – invasive, non – pharmaceutical method which utilizes a magnetic field to improve painful symptoms of fibromyalgia as well as co-existent emotional symptoms. rTMS is gradually being established as a leading treatment of depression and there is a growing body of research on rTMS and fibromyalgia. It is a safe method, free of the common side effects of medications, and can be implemented as an alternative to them. In addition, rTMS may be applied in cases where traditional treatment methods have failed, or in conjunction with other treatments.

Get diagnosed; don’t allow fibromyalgia to be an obstacle in your life anymore.