18 Point Fibromyalgia Test
They have issued the following guidelines to doctors for diagnosing fibromyalgia.
18 point fibromyalgia test. These are not to be confused with trigger points which cause pain in another part of the body when pressed. Pain must be experienced in at least 11 of the specified tender points when touched with a force of 9 pounds or less. But fibromyalgia symptoms can come and go so a person might have 11 tender spots one day but only eight tender spots on another day. Tender points are defined by the acr as 18 bilateral points on the body nine on one side and nine on the other where pain can be felt immediately beneath the skin when pressed.
When a doctor tests tender points for pain she will also check other non tender places on your body called control points to make sure you don t react. These 18 points 9 pairs tend to be painful when pressed and may spread pain to other body. Diagnosing fibromyalgia with tender points there are 18 tender points throughout the body each about the size of a penny. Doctors often check for certain tender points on the body when it comes to diagnosing fibromyalgia.
The 18 tender points associated with fibromyalgia occur in symmetrical pairs from the back of your head to your inner knees. In the past at least 11 of these 18 spots had to test positive for tenderness to diagnose fibromyalgia. Ibs sometimes coincides with fibromyalgia. Fibromyalgia tender points are located in clusters around the neck chest.
The american college of rheumatology has charted 18 tender points. The 18 tender points or trigger points used to diagnose fibromyalgia are scattered all over the body. 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. These tender points are quite small but a good doctor knows how to locate them.
See pictures explaining symptoms muscle pain fatigue tests causes and treatments in this webmd slideshow.