Upper Cervical Management of Primary Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Excerpts from the article published by
Today's Chiropractic. May 2000.
by Willim Amalu, DC.
The current scientific literature offers little with regard to published studies on chiropractic management of primary fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome.1 Reported here are clinical observations of 23 successive cases, along with a case presentation. Improvement in symptoms of 92 to 100 percent was achieved in both these syndrome subsequent to corrections of aberrant arthrokinematic function of the occipito-atlanto-axial complex.
A causal relationship between biomechanical faults in the upper cervical spine, abnormal central neurophysiologic processing, and subsequent peripheral neuropathophysiology, is suggested as the possible genesis of these two syndromes.

INTRODUCTION
The initial patient profile of fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) includes a history of widespread pain of at least three months' duration, both above and below the waist and including both sides of the body. The pain is described as deep aching, radiating, gnawing, shooting or burning. The overwhelming characteristic of fibromyalgia is long-standing pain at defined tender points. This disorder can appear in patients of all ages with an overall incidence of 9:1,000. FMS, however, has an increased frequency in women with the greatest incidence in the ages of 20 to 50 years.2-3