| Objective: To present and discuss two cases of fibromyalgia and their response to chiropractic therapy. Clinical Features: Two female patients presented with widespread bilateral pain of over three months duration with no demonstrable related pathology or neurological abnormalities. The history and examination of tender points revealed that they satisfied the diagnostic criteria for fibromyalgia. Intervention and Outcome: Both cases were monitored for fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) symptom levels: Tender Point Count (TPC), Total Myalgic Score (TMS) and Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) scores for pain, fatigue, anxiety, stiffness, tiredness, depression and sleep. Other outcome measures were assessed as part of the Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQ) and the Clinical Health Assessment Questionnaire (CLINHAQ) survey. Monitoring was done at baseline and after five weeks and ten weeks of treatment. Treatment consisted of spinal manipulative therapy, soft tissue therapy, and lifestyle and ergonomic advice where indicated. Spinal manipulative therapy consisted of standard high-velocity, low-amplitude chiropractic adjustments to areas of joint dysfunction. The soft tissue therapy consisted of deep tissue massage to the paraspinal muscles. Conclusions: The cases studied indicate that patients with fibromyalgia syndrome may benefit from chiropractic therapy consisting of spinal manipulation, soft tissue therapy and adjunctive advice. For these cases, optimal improvement was achieved after approximately 12 treatments over five weeks, and beyond that, further improvement is only marginal at best. This abstract is reproduced with the permission of the publisher; full text by (print only) subscription.
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