Young Teens and Fibromyalgia

When the medical community speaks about fibromyalgia, in almost all cases they are speaking about adults who have experienced the chronic illness. Highlighted by constant tiredness, body aches and constant joint pain, fibromyalgia tends to be a life-long illness that causes physical pain for the sufferers. But rarely is fibromyalgia thought of when it is a young teen complaining about the same set of symptoms.

This lack of diagnosis is one of the biggest challenges for young people with fibromyalgia today. Doctors tend to consider the body ache, joint pain and lack of sleep as part of the growing process for any teen. Oftentimes, the diagnosis is late in being delivered, which makes it more difficult to deal with. However, there appear to be some symptoms that are more prevalent when a young teen has fibromyalgia. Outside of the symptoms of body ache and joint pain, young people have a tendency to have fewer tender points. Whereas in an adult there will be pain to the touch in specific areas on the body, teens tend to not have as many of these spots. Therefore, tender points are not normally part of the diagnosis of the disease in younger ages. But teens do tend to have much more of an issue with stomachaches. The prevalence of the stomach issues is now considered a common issue for this disease. Additionally, teens also suffer often from lack of sleep.

Fibromyalgia presents itself much the same between adults and teens with the above exceptions. The challenge is to get a doctor who is open minded enough to even look at fibromyalgia as a potential cause of the issues being experienced.