Fibromyalgia is generally associated with pain and many other symptoms. The pain is chronic and overwhelming.
When skin rashes arise with concomitant fibromyalgia syndrome, the typical question is whether or not an autoimmune disorder is also present as well.
As fibromyalgia is most common in females and autoimmune disorders are too, the association of autoimmune diseases such as lupus comes into the medical paradigm when multiple systems are affected and symptoms run rampant.
Immunity and Inflammation
Understanding the basics of inflammation and how the immune system reacts to inflammation is important. The pain of fibromyalgia results from various processes.
Almost all pain begins with inflammation. This starts when tissues become damaged. Cells in the body become ruptured and produce compounds that alert the body to send out other cells to repair the damage, clean up the mess, and prevent infection.
Inflammation occurs to alert immune cells so the potential infection will not set in. The damaged tissue is eaten away and new cells are grown to replace the old, damaged tissue. This is a beautiful, streamlined process.
Something can go wrong, however. From time to time, the immune system can pick up some of the cellular DNA and register it as a foreign invader.
Then it will begin to recognize muscle, joint, and bone tissue as “foreign” and start to attack healthy tissue, producing inflammation and pain by killing the body slowly from within.
This is what is known as an autoimmune disorder or disease. Basically, it is the immune system attacking the body and itself. The whole situation can become exceedingly nasty.
So, fibromyalgia can lead to connective tissue damage and autoimmune issues. The largest system of connective tissue in the body is the skin.
Thus, fibromyalgia and skin rashes are sometimes thought to be relative to autoimmune issues.
This is when the patient must truly be patient. There will be a litany of blood tests, and other tests, doctors scratching heads, family support, and more.
It will be a long wait in line to get the final results. However, it is important to go through these tests in order to determine if immune disorders are the actual issue.
These diseases are treated with different modalities than fibromyalgia and rashes. You will need to consult with dermatologists to determine the exact nature of the rashes.
There could be other causes such as cellular disorders or genetic problems. Rheumatologists will need to check on some things to figure out if there is persistent joint damage and if this can be prevented. In the end, if it does come down to fibromyalgia, then what is causing the rashes?
Other Causes of Rashes with Fibromyalgia
People affected by fibromyalgia syndrome are generally quite sensitive to many environmental stimuli. Allergies to various molds and chemicals are common.
When exposed to common allergens such as detergents, perfumes, dyes, pollen, molds, artificial flavors, colors, paints, and preservatives, people with fibromyalgia will have flare-ups.
This will result in increased pain, headaches, and even unusual rashes. These rashes can itch, hurt, bleed, and even become severely infected.
Other environmental conditions need to be considered. Are living conditions sanitary? Many people can be insulted by such a question, but it is a relevant question.
All of the hand sanitizers in the world will not necessarily render an environment safe. Animals and people spread disease. As long as a habitat is kept clean, disease risk is significantly reduced.
If not, disease risk is large. The first barrier any contagion must go through is the skin. When a bacteria or fungus gets into the skin, it will produce a rash.
People with fibromyalgia are prone to catching all sorts of odd skin ailments, so keep the environment clean and see a General Practitioner at the first sign of any infection because when it reaches the blood, it can become serious.
Beyond Toxic
As if a toxic environment were not enough, the stress and pain of such a condition like fibromyalgia or any painful situation will cause serious stress.
Chronic stress is associated with skin problems of many types. Stress will induce problems with metabolism which will lead to skin cells that are unable to process fatty acids properly.
The result is clogged pores and weaker immunity. All sorts of terrible things can get in from bacteria to all the environmental problems mentioned above.
Moreover, the immune system is further weakened by the release of cortisol. Cortisol is naturally released by the adrenal glands in response to stress and inflammation. Chronic stress and inflammation lead to chronic cortisol release.
One might wonder, at this point, why does immunity play such a strong role here? Why is it so that if it is weak or strong there are rashes? Well, it is simple.
The skin is a barrier against the harsh terrain of this place we call life. If anything is out of balance, it alerts us with disruption.
When we are teenagers, it gets acne to tell people to go away which is what we want anyway. When we get sick, it gets sores and tells people to go away so they do not catch it.
Then we might get sicker and it tells people to come heal us and learn from it so they do not get sicker themselves. Does this make sense? Healing is a process and it spans all around us.
The Finger Points to Itself
Thus, the final determination on fibromyalgia and rashes is it does happen and there are many potential causes.
All potential causes point right back to issues with immunity and this can be connected to digestion, genetics, pathogens, chemicals, diet, or whatever anyone wishes to connect it to.
In fact, we could point out causes all day, but it will not necessarily solve any problems. With fibromyalgia, what is needed are solutions. So many people suffer from this and solutions for real relief are needed.