18 Points Used to Diagnose Fibromyalgia

Diagnosing fibromyalgia can be tough. Pain is highly personal, so one person’s “I hurt all over” isn’t necessarily the same as another person’s “I hurt all over.” That’s why doctors often check for certain tender points on the body when it comes to diagnosing fibromyalgia. These 18 points (9 pairs) tend to be painful when pressed, and may spread pain to other body parts.
fibro-diagram

Credit: fmaware.org

prev1 of 10

Where does it hurt?

Diagnosing fibromyalgia can be tough. Pain is highly personal, so one person’s “I hurt all over” isn’t necessarily the same as another person’s “I hurt all over.”

That’s why doctors often check for certain tender points on the body when it comes to diagnosing fibromyalgia. These 18 points (9 pairs) tend to be painful when pressed, and may spread pain to other body parts.

American College of Rheumatology guidelines suggest that people with fibromyalgia have pain in at least 11 of these tender points when a doctor applies a certain amount of pressure. Find out if your pain seems to match up.

Next: Back of the neck

Previous
Next
» View All

Health's Top Stories

Get a weekly look at the most popular stories on Health.com.

Hot Topics on Health.com

strong-healthy-bones

11 Foods for Healthy Bones

Maintaining great bone-health is essential to your mobility and quality of life. A diet high in calcium and vitamin D will help ward off thinning causes by Osteoporosis, and these foods are loaded with them! Read More

More Popular Stories on Health.com

Add your comment

The rules: Keep it clean, and stay on the subject or we might delete your comment. If you see inappropriate language, e-mail us. An asterisk * indicates a required field.

500 characters remaining

Advertisement
Advertisement