How Is Fibromyalgia Diagnosed?
A Fibromyalgia patient is likely to have visited their physician countless times before the correct diagnosis is made, because many of the symptoms of Fibromyalgia are comparable to those seen in other conditions. Before a proper diagnosis can be made, all other illnesses and conditions must be ruled out.
To make matters more frustrating, there are no specific diagnostic laboratory tests that definitively prove the existence of Fibromyalgia. As a result, many unexperienced and/or stubborn physicians still believe that the pain is all the patient’s head.
For a diagnosis of Fibromyalgia, a patient must present two specific criteria; widespread pain and the presence of tender points. For pain to be considered widespread, it needs to affect the four quadrants of the patient’s body; left, right, top, and bottom. As for the tender points, they are located in 18 parts of the body. At least 11 of them need to be tender to the touch in order for a diagnosis of Fibromyalgia to be made.
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