Understanding Fibromyalgia

FIbromyalgia (FM) is a chronic musculoskeletal pain condition that affects more than 20 million Americans.  Several factor contribute to the prolonged duration of FM pain, including previous trauma, infections, and stress. Inherited factors account for close to 50$ of the variance.

Besides chronic pain, fatigue is extremely common among FM patients. Many patients experience their fatigue as worse than their overall pain. Sleep abnormalities are common in FM and often require treatment.

There are effective therapies available for FM. They include aerobic exercise, medications, and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for pain and for sleep (CBT-I).

The Center for Musculoskeletal Pain Research at the University of Florida is actively pursuing new ways to better understand the cause of FM and also to test new treatments.

For more information about our studies, please contact us at

painresearch@medicine.ufl.edu or

call us at 352-265-8901