Fibromyalgia Specialist

Nearly 5 million Americans suffer from fibromyalgia pain, and almost 90% of those individuals are women. Dr. Shawn Roofian, director and pain management expert at the Ketamine Medical Institute in the Los Angeles area, offers an effective, cutting-edge therapy for those suffering from this painful, often debilitating syndrome. Ketamine infusion therapy helps provide long-lasting pain relief for fibromyalgia symptoms, even when other treatment methods fail. Call either the Beverly Hills, Tarzana, California offices, or schedule a consultation online to learn more.

 

Fibromyalgia Q & A

What is fibromyalgia?

Fibromyalgia is a chronic syndrome that causes both pain and psychological symptoms for those who deal with it on a daily basis. Fibromyalgia symptoms are easy to misdiagnose as arthritis or several other conditions that include inflammation and chronic pain. Unlike arthritis, fibromyalgia involves inflammation of your soft tissue, like muscles and ligaments, rather than joints.

What are the symptoms of fibromyalgia?

Symptoms of fibromyalgia vary, but commonly include the following:

• Widespread pain and discomfort throughout your body
• Fatigue
• Jaw stiffness and facial pain
• Stiff joints when getting out of bed
• Headaches and neck pain
• Difficulty sleeping
• Tingling or numbness in your extremities
• Restless leg syndrome
• Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
• Extreme sensitivity to temperature
• Trouble concentrating
• Feeling of painful, overworked muscles
• Muscle twitching

It’s also common for women to have painful periods, urinary issues, depression, and anxiety. For many women, the signs of fibromyalgia don’t appear until later in life, after age 45.

How is fibromyalgia treated?

Most of the time, the approach to treating fibromyalgia involves medications and self-care with an emphasis on minimizing symptoms and improving your general health and well-being. There has not been a single effective treatment that works on the multiple physical and psychological issues that are typical of fibromyalgia. Instead, you typically need to take pain relievers and antidepressants and potentially go to physical therapy or psychological counseling.

While more traditional methods may offer short-term relief from fibromyalgia symptoms, ketamine infusion therapy may be a more enduring option. Ketamine is a different kind of medication that other types of pain relievers. It works by interfering with the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors in your brain and causes the central pain center of your brain to “reboot.”

Ketamine infusion therapy also helps symptoms of depression and anxiety, so you can get relief from many of your fibromyalgia issues with just a few treatments. Dr. Roofian is a leader in the field of ketamine infusion therapy and customizes a treatment protocol that works for your specific condition. You receive the medication intravenously over the course of a few hours, and pain relief is often long-lasting, even beyond your last treatment session.

To learn more about this cutting-edge, non-opioid pain medication for fibromyalgia, call the Ketamine Medical Institute office nearest you in Beverly Hills, Tarzana, California or schedule a consultation online.