Various hypotheses account for the manifestations of fibromyalgia syndrome, including immunogenic, endocrine, and neurological mechanisms. Treatments for fibromyalgia are directed toward symptomatic relief without the benefit of targeting known, underlying pathology. It was observed that the common factor among partially effective therapies is a vasodilatory effect. This is true both of conventional treatments, unconventional treatments such as intravenous micronutrient therapy, and lifestyle treatments, specifically graduated exercise. The pain of fibromyalgia is described in terms suggestive of the pain in muscles following extreme exertion and anaerobic metabolism. These characteristics suggest that the pain could be induced by vasomotor dysregulation, and vasoconstriction in muscle, leading to low-level ischemia and its metabolic sequelae.
Vasodilatory influences, including physical activity, relieve the pain of fibromyalgia by increasing muscle perfusion. There are some preliminary data consistent with this hypothesis, and nothing known about fibromyalgia that refutes it. The hypothesis that the downstream cause of fibromyalgia symptoms is muscle hypoperfusion due to regional vasomotor dysregulation has clear implications for treatment; is testable with current technology; and should be investigated1.
In neuromuscular pain such as fibromyalgia the mediate cause of pain is muscle shortening and/or spasm under the control of neuromuscular junctions or trigger points. This muscle shortening and/or spasm results in focal ischemia (lack of blood supply) to intramuscular nerves and blood vessels and also produce a traction effect on pain sensitive structures such as tendons, bones and joints. Electrical Twitch Obtaining Intramuscular Stimulation (eToims® Twitch Relief Method), is a new anatomical and physiological approach to treat neuromuscular pain such as myofascial pain and fibromyalgia. It is a markedly innovative discovery in medicine as common pain therapies do not attempt to stimulate the neuromuscular junctions of muscles which mediate the pain processes.
Very brief electrical stimulation applied to neuromuscular junctions to elicit characteristic twitches which are brisk focal muscle contractions, produces active local muscle exercise and stretching which, in turn:
- ends traction on selective pain producing structures,
- ends pain producing local muscle anoxia, by increasing intramuscular influx of blood carrying oxygen, and
- ends pain producing accumulation of local muscle tissue wastes, by increasing efflux of fluids carrying these wastes.
- ends pain producing accumulation of local muscle tissue wastes, by increasing efflux of fluids carrying these wastes. eToims® Twitch Relief Method mobilizes tissues from inside the muscle by electrically stimulating neuromuscular junctions, essentially providing a form of scientific massage from within the muscle. Simply put, eToims® attempts to restore to “normal”, changes found in involved pathologic muscles associated with neuromuscular pain with pain relief through twitch elicitation.
1. Katz DL. Greene L. Ali A. Faridi Z. The pain of fibromyalgia syndrome is due to muscle hypoperfusion induced by regional vasomotor dysregulation. [Journal Article. Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural. Research Support, U.S. Gov’t, P.H.S.] Medical Hypotheses. 69(3):517-25, 2007.