I'm going to see the doc and he wants to determine if I have fibro. I've heard that the test for the trigger points can be rather painful, I'm wondering what I should expect. How painful is it?

Jerry

There are two kinds of "points" that are often interchanged or confused with each other.

tender points -
http://www.fpnotebook.com/Rheum/Exam/TndrPnt.htm
http://fibro-myalgia.com/63/tenderpoints/

and trigger points -
http://www.fpnotebook.com/Rheum/Exam/TrgrPnt.htm
http://www.healthybodyball.com/triggerpoint.html

But either way they need to be palpated and pressed to be checked and that will cause discomfort.

[A tender point is verified in a physical examination in which approximately nine pounds of pressure are applied by touch and the patient acknowledges that pain is felt. ]
http://www.disabilitysecrets.com/fib...r-trigger.html


you can do a test press on a few of your locations and see how much it hurts you - I'm sure everyone is different.

I get trigger points and I do have tender points at the hips but no other fibro symptoms.

After two years of fighting TOS, i was just dx'ed today with fibro on top of it. I had seen a rheumy a few weeks ago that told me i had it, but I always like to run this stuff through my regular pain management doc before i believe it for sure. SO, i had two exams, neither of them any more bothersome than any other thing i do that causes me to hurt. If you are a chronic pain sufferer, it is really no big deal, they apply a bit of pressure and ask if it hurts. If it only takes a light touch to make you hurt that is all they will apply.


good luck, whichever you are hoping for.

Johanna