Getting Help

While fibromyalgia is a chronic, sometimes debilitating disease, a variety of treatments are available to help alleviate the pain. The important thing is to find a health care practitioner who understands pain management. Some questions to ask your provider include:

How many cases of fibromyalgia have you treated?
What is your philosophy of pain management in terms of medications and alternative therapies?
What types of medications do you generally prescribe?
What types of non-drug therapies do you use?
Where do you refer patients who need additional treatment?

Here are some places and people that can help manage fibromyalgia pain:

Comprehensive Pain Center

Such centers provide multi-modality, interdisciplinary treatment and can be helpful in the management of the chronic pain of fibromyalgia as well as many other types of chronic pain.

Pain Medicine Physician

Pain medicine has become a medical specialty in recent years. Pain medicine physicians specialize in treating many different pain conditions. Depending on background and interest, many treat fibromyalgia. Be sure to ask about their experience and interest in treating fibromyalgia and whether they incorporate a variety of therapeutic (multi-modality) approaches.

Professional Groups

The following are professional organizations that can help you locate health care professionals or facilities that are knowledgeable about fibromyalgia pain management.

Fibromyalgia-related:

The Arthritis Foundation
P.O. Box 7669
Atlanta, GA 30357-0669
(800) 283-7800
www.arthritis.org

General pain-related:

American Academy of Pain Medicine
Journal: Pain Medicine
4700 West Lake
Glenview, IL 60025
(847) 375-4731
Fax: (847) 375-6331
http://www.painmed.org

American Chronic Pain Association
P.O. Box 850
Rocklin, CA 95677
(916) 632-0922
http://www.theacpa.org

American Pain Society
Journal: Pain Forum
4700 West Lake Avenue
Glenview, IL 98105
(847) 375-4715
http://www.ampainsoc.org

Other health-related:

American Academy of Medical Acupuncture
5820 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 500
Los Angeles, CA 90036
(323) 937-5514
http://www.medicalacupuncture.org

American Medical Association
515 North State Street
Chicago, IL 60610
(312) 464-5000
http://www.ama-assn.org

American Nurses Association
600 Maryland Ave., SW, Suite 100 West
Washington, DC 20024-2571
(800) 274-4ANA (4262)
http://www.nursingworld.org

American Psychological Association
750 First Street, NE
Washington, DC 20002-4242
(202) 336-5500
http://www.apa.org

North American Society of Acupuncture and Alternative Medicine
816 Frederick Road
Catonsville, MD 21228
Fax: (410) 788-1452
http://www.nasa-altmed.com

North American Society of Homeopaths
1122 East Pike Street, Suite 1122
Seattle, WA 98122
(206) 720-7000
Fax: (206) 329-5684
http://www.homeopathy.org