Fibromyalgia 18 Tender Points Chart
Pain must be experienced in at least 11 of the specified tender points when touched with a force of 9 pounds or less.
Fibromyalgia 18 tender points chart. People with fibromyalgia often feel different types of pain in their bodies. Tender points are areas of. These 18 points 9 pairs tend to be painful when pressed and may spread pain to other body parts. It s been 20 years since the american college of rheumatology acr published the criteria for the classification of fibromyalgia.
But updated guidelines for 2010 did not require counting tender points in order to make a fibromyalgia diagnosis. The american college of rheumatology included counting tender points in their 1990 fibromyalgia diagnostic criteria establishing that 11 of the 18 tender points had to be present and cause pain for at least three months. Doctors often check for certain tender points on the body when it comes to diagnosing fibromyalgia. These pressure points are located at the following nine points of bilateral muscles.
Fibromyalgia fm is a long term condition that causes widespread pain throughout the body. Fibromyalgia tender points are located in clusters around the neck chest. The 18 tender points associated with fibromyalgia occur in symmetrical pairs from the back of your head to your inner knees. The primary difference between tender points and trigger points is that trigger points can produce referred pain that is they can.
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 american college of rheumatology has charted 18 tender points. They have issued the following guidelines to doctors for diagnosing fibromyalgia.
Diagnosing fibromyalgia with tender points there are 18 tender points throughout the body each about the size of a penny. As with any diagnostic criteria especially those that cannot be based on a blood. Doctors used to use tender points to help them form a diagnosis.