The 18 Tender Points of Fibromyalgia

How Can You Tell if You Have Fibromyalgia?

Your doctor will ask about your pain symptoms and then press on a series of anatomically-defined soft tissue body sites called "tender points." There are 18 tender points on the body that will usually be highly sensitive to pressure in people with fibromyalgia as specified by the American College of Rheumatology criteria. People who do not have fibromyalgia are much less tender to pressure applied at these tender points.

These 18 sites are used for diagnosis cluster around the neck, shoulder, chest, hip, knee and elbow regions. In more indepth studies, over 75 other tender points have been found to exist, but are not used for diagnostic purposes.

While the symptoms associated with Fibromyalgia fluctuate from person to person, there is one common symptom that all agree on - they ache all over. The pain can feel like a deep bone ache, pains and needles, or a stabbing or burning pain. Muscles may feel like they have been pulled or overworked. There are times this pain is mild, others when it is so severe that it becomes unbearable.

Along with pain, many Fibromyalgia sufferers report headaches, poor sleep, fatigue, depression, and irregular bowel habits. Many others simply describe their symptoms as "flu-like."

Tender Points vs. Trigger Points

Trigger points cause problems such as earaches, dizziness, nausea, heartburn, false heart pain, heart arrhythmia, tennis elbow, and genital pain. Trigger points are sometimes the cause of sinus pain and congestion. Trigger Points: The point itself may or may not be tender. Trigger points refer pain to other areas. Trigger points should be at the top of the list during any examination for fibromyalgia and chronic pain.

Fibromyalgia tender points are characterized by allodynia (a state where a normally non-painful stimulus elicits a painful perception). Muscular dysfunction, either mechanical or metabolic, can lead to a state of sensitization of the nociceptive sensory inputs into the spinal cord altering the neurochemical balance important for nociceptive control. Fibromyalgia tender points are located at nine bilateral locations. When the doctor applies pressure to these points, a pain response will be felt sharply by patients with the condition. Fibromyalgia tender points and trigger points are not same. The major difference between fibromyalgia tender points and trigger points is that trigger points are not static like tender points, rather they are floating and can be found anywhere in the body.

Trigger points, or tender points, are used to diagnose fibromyalgia. People who have fibromyalgia experience abnormal sensitivity when light pressure is .