Most people associate fibromyalgia with old age. However, in truth, it can affect even the younger ones. Take, for example, 21 and 26 years old Mandy Cascun and Cristabel Cutajar. Their story in The Malta Independent on their fibromyalgia experience as college students has resonated with many youngsters who experience fibromyalgia and neck pain. 

Both students have been struggling with their symptoms since childhood. However, they only got their diagnosis later in life. They shared that they struggled with exhaustion and lethargy while moving from one place to another at the university or attending long hours of lectures. Cascun and Cutajar also noted that they experience a long list of other symptoms like pain, headaches, and brain fog.

Getting to Know Fibromyalgia In Young People

Fibromyalgia is a widespread problem affecting at least 2.7 percent of the world's population. This condition is also quite tricky to diagnose due to the lack of a standard test. In most cases, doctors have to rule out possible causes of the symptoms before finally concluding that a patient has fibromyalgia. This is the very reason why Cascun and Cutajar only got diagnosed with fibromyalgia a decade after their first symptoms appeared.  

If you or a young family member suspects having fibromyalgia, you should consult with your physician as soon as possible. This way, you can cope with some of the condition’s symptoms, such as:

• Frequent headaches that last for several hours
• Widespread dull muscle aches that last for more than three months
• Sleeping problems such as lack of sleep or trouble staying asleep
• Fatigue or restless legs syndrome
• Abdominal cramps due to diarrhea or constipation
• Anxiety and depression
• Difficulty concentrating or memorizing things

The doctor might recommend undergoing diagnostic procedures such as X-ray examination or blood tests to narrow down other possible causes of the symptoms. 

What to Prepare For Your Doctor’s Appointment

When scheduling an appointment with your physician (off or on-campus), it’s a good idea to prepare a detailed description of the following:

• The specific symptoms that you observe
• Frequency and severity of the attacks
• Pre-existing health conditions
• Medical background or previous illnesses
• A brief background on your family’s medical history
• Questions about your symptoms or other concerns

Coping with Fibromyalgia and Neck Pain When You’re a Student

If you're like Cascun and Cutajar, who also experience difficulty in school due to fibromyalgia, you can try using a few techniques to cope better. For starters, you might find it helpful to seek counseling. It helps you ease your mind, most especially when the painful episodes recur frequently. Seeking counseling therapy also comes in handy in combating the mental health impacts of fibromyalgia, such as depression and anxiety. 

If you have fibromyalgia and neck pain, it might help to try graded exercise therapy. Patients with pain disorders like fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) tend to use this approach to restore strength and minimize pain. It’s a highly controlled approach that involves doing gradual movements until the body fully recovers. 

Other Common Remedies for Fibromyalgia

Besides counseling and graded exercises therapy, you can also try other ways to cope with fibromyalgia, such as:

• Taking medications like antidepressants to improve mood, ease fatigue, and promote sleep or anti-seizure drugs to lessen pain
• Managing stress levels and keeping your emotions in check
• Working on your sleep hygiene by limiting exposure to screens before bedtime and sticking to a consistent sleeping schedule
• Aiming to stay physically active to help your body release natural pain relievers and to relax stiff and sore muscles
• Trying alternative procedures like deep breathing, yoga, and guided meditation

You can also deal with fibromyalgia and neck pain by seeking the help of an upper cervical chiropractic place. It’s one of the most popular procedures used to manage the symptoms of fibromyalgia today.

Long-term Remedy for Fibromyalgia in Students

Being a student does come with several challenges. On top of that, you need to think about various things like course requirements, daily class schedules, and extra-curricular activities. The last thing you want to deal with is a recurring or severe health condition like fibromyalgia. 

Fortunately, if you do have fibromyalgia, you might be able to live a normal life with the expertise of an upper cervical care doctor. Similar to the remedies above, upper cervical chiropractic aims to provide effective and reliable relief from fibromyalgia and its symptoms.  

This approach involves examining the neck alignment and restoring the position of the bones that shifted. Unfortunately, when you have a neck misalignment after an accident, physical trauma, or sports injury, you become increasingly susceptible to a long list of health problems, including fibromyalgia and neck pain.

The problems tend to happen due to the pressure applied by the displaced bones to neighboring tissues like nerve roots and the brainstem. So, if you think you have neck misalignment or hope to try a sustainable way to eliminate or reduce fibromyalgia symptoms, we suggest upper cervical care. 

It’s a gentle and holistic approach to healing the body. It’s also scientifically proven to help patients who have debilitating conditions such as fibromyalgia. 

The procedure aims to ease the bones back into place after several careful adjustments. Once your restore your neck alignment, you can potentially reduce or eliminate your pain disorder. 

Get in touch with a local upper cervical chiropractic practitioner to learn more about the procedure and how it can help you cope.

to schedule a consultation today.