If you live with fibromyalgia, you probably know the routine. The pain moves around your body. The fatigue does not improve with sleep. Your thinking feels foggy on the days you need it most. You have had blood work, imaging, and specialist visits, and the results keep coming back normal. Somewhere along the way, someone suggested it might be stress, or depression, or simply in your head.
It is not in your head. Or more precisely, it is not imaginary. Fibromyalgia is real, and research over the past two decades has made it increasingly clear that it is closely tied to how the nervous system processes pain. That understanding matters, because it opens the door to looking at factors that influence the nervous system, including one that is rarely evaluated: the upper neck.
What Is Fibromyalgia?
Fibromyalgia is a chronic condition defined by widespread pain lasting at least three months, usually accompanied by fatigue, unrefreshing sleep, and difficulty with memory and concentration. It is estimated to affect roughly 2 to 4 percent of adults, and it is diagnosed more often in women than in men.
Common Symptoms
- Widespread pain and tenderness, often described as aching, burning, or deep soreness
- Fatigue that rest does not fix
- Unrefreshing or disrupted sleep
- Brain fog: trouble concentrating, remembering, or finding words
- Headaches, including tension-type headaches and migraines
- Sensitivity to light, noise, temperature, or touch
- Jaw pain, irritable bowel symptoms, and tingling in the hands or feet
There is no single blood test or scan that confirms fibromyalgia. Diagnosis is based on the pattern and severity of symptoms after other conditions have been ruled out. That is one reason many patients spend years searching for an answer, and why so many feel dismissed along the way.
Why Your Tests Keep Coming Back Normal
Standard tests look for inflammation, tissue damage, autoimmune markers, and structural problems. In fibromyalgia, those tests are usually normal because the muscles and joints themselves are not damaged. The problem is in how pain signals are processed.
A normal result does not mean nothing is wrong. It means the test was not designed to measure what is wrong. If that experience feels familiar, Why Can’t Anyone Tell Me What’s Wrong With My Neck describes the same frustration from a different angle.
Fibromyalgia Is a Nervous System Condition
The leading explanation for fibromyalgia is a process called central sensitization. In simple terms, the central nervous system, the brain and spinal cord, becomes overly sensitive to incoming signals. The volume on pain gets turned up.
In a sensitized nervous system, ordinary sensations such as pressure, temperature, or movement can register as painful. Signals that would normally be filtered out are amplified instead. That explains why fibromyalgia pain can be widespread, why it shifts from place to place, and why it often comes with sensitivity to light, sound, and touch.
Research has also found differences in the autonomic nervous system of many people with fibromyalgia. This is the system that regulates heart rate, blood pressure, digestion, and the stress response. In many patients it appears stuck in a heightened, fight-or-flight state, which may help explain the poor sleep, fatigue, and digestive symptoms that so often accompany the pain.
Understanding fibromyalgia as a nervous system condition leads to an important question: what keeps that system on high alert? There are likely many contributors, including sleep, stress, prior illness, and genetics. For some people, persistent input from an injured or misaligned upper neck may be one of them.
The Neck Injury Connection
Many fibromyalgia patients can point to a starting point: a car accident, a fall, a sports injury, or a period of major physical stress. That pattern has been studied.
A frequently cited study published in Arthritis and Rheumatism in 1997 compared people who had sustained neck injuries with people who had sustained leg fractures. Fibromyalgia developed far more often in the neck injury group, at a rate many times higher than in the leg injury group. The study does not prove that neck injuries cause fibromyalgia, but it suggests the neck deserves attention in patients whose symptoms followed trauma.
If your symptoms began after a car accident or a fall, our whiplash page explains how these injuries affect the upper neck, sometimes long after the initial pain fades.
Why the Upper Neck Matters
The top two bones of the spine, the atlas (C1) and axis (C2), surround the junction where the brainstem transitions into the spinal cord. The brainstem plays a central role in regulating the autonomic nervous system and in modulating pain signals.
The upper neck is also packed with sensors that continuously report head position and movement to the brain. When this region is injured, misaligned, or moving abnormally, it can generate a steady stream of irritating input into a nervous system that, in fibromyalgia, is already primed to amplify it.
This is the reasoning behind evaluating the upper neck in fibromyalgia patients. The idea is not that the neck explains everything. The idea is that if the neck is contributing a persistent source of input, correcting that problem may reduce one of the things keeping the nervous system on alert.
What Upper Cervical Care Can and Cannot Do
Patients with fibromyalgia have often been promised a great deal by many different providers, so it is worth being direct.
- It is not a cure. Upper cervical care does not cure fibromyalgia, and no honest provider should claim it does.
- It addresses one specific factor. Care focuses on correcting a structural problem at the top of the neck so the nervous system can function with less interference.
- It is not right for everyone. If your evaluation does not show a meaningful upper neck problem, you should be told that plainly.
- It works alongside other care. Gentle exercise, sleep support, stress management, and care from your physician remain important. Do not stop or change any medication without talking with the provider who prescribed it.
Research specifically on upper cervical care for fibromyalgia is still limited. What we can offer is an objective evaluation that measures whether your upper neck is a factor, rather than guessing.
Why Gentle Matters for Fibromyalgia Patients
Many people with fibromyalgia avoid chiropractic because they worry a forceful adjustment will trigger a flare. That concern is reasonable when the nervous system is already sensitized.
The Blair upper cervical technique uses no twisting and no cracking. Each correction is a light, quick input by hand, planned around the specific angle of your own joints as measured on 3D imaging. After each adjustment, patients rest in a zero gravity chair for approximately 30 minutes so the correction can settle. Our article What Is the Blair Upper Cervical Technique? walks through a visit from start to finish.
If past chiropractic care left you sore or no better, Frustrated With Chiropractic Care? Why Some Patients Need a Different Approach explains why a more specific method can make a difference.
How We Evaluate Fibromyalgia Patients at Keystone Chiropractic
Our evaluation answers a focused question: is the upper neck contributing to your symptoms, and can we measure it? We use three diagnostic tools together, because each one shows something the others cannot:
- CBCT cone beam CT scanning: 3D imaging of the upper cervical spine and craniocervical junction, showing the precise position and structure of the atlas and axis. Keystone Chiropractic is one of very few chiropractic practices in Central Illinois using CBCT.
- Infrared thermography: a noninvasive scan that identifies nervous system stress patterns along the spine.
- The NeckCare System: an FDA-listed functional assessment backed by over 20 years of peer-reviewed cervical spine research, capturing more than 120 positional data points per second. It includes three tests: Cervical Range of Motion, which measures precise degrees of movement in all six directions; the Joint Position Error Test, which measures how accurately you return your head to neutral with your eyes closed; and the Butterfly Test, which measures sensorimotor coordination between your neck, eyes, and nervous system.
For fibromyalgia patients, objective measurement is especially valuable. Symptoms rise and fall from day to day, which makes it hard to tell whether anything is changing. Retesting over time shows measurable progress even when symptoms are inconsistent. Learn more on our NeckCare System page and in How We Track Your Progress.
You can also read more on our fibromyalgia care page and our Blair upper cervical page.
When to Talk With Your Physician
Several conditions can resemble fibromyalgia, including thyroid disorders, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, and vitamin deficiencies. If you have not had a thorough medical workup, start there. See your physician promptly if you notice new or changing symptoms such as joint swelling, fevers, unexplained weight loss, a new rash, or true muscle weakness. These are not typical of fibromyalgia and need medical evaluation.
About Dr. Frederick Schurger
Dr. Frederick Schurger, DC, DCCJP, has practiced in Springfield since 2007. Before chiropractic, he earned a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, a background that shapes how he analyzes the mechanics of the upper neck. He earned his Doctor of Chiropractic from Palmer College of Chiropractic in 2006.
He holds the Diplomate in Chiropractic Craniocervical Junction Procedures (DCCJP), a three-year post-doctoral program involving approximately 300 hours of advanced coursework, original research, and a three-day board examination covering upper cervical anatomy, neuroscience, comparative upper cervical techniques, and craniocervical junction procedures. It is held by very few practitioners nationwide.
In 2011 he was named Blair Chiropractor of the Year. The award is selected annually by the President and senior board members of the Blair Chiropractic Members Association, is open to any member of the society, and recognizes outstanding contributions to promoting and advancing the Blair technique. He is also a Blair Advanced Instructor and has taught neurology and upper cervical anatomy at Logan University College of Chiropractic and to practitioners in the Gonstead organization. Read his full background on our About page.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is fibromyalgia real if all my tests are normal?
Yes. Fibromyalgia involves how the nervous system processes pain, not damage to muscles or joints, so standard blood work and imaging are usually normal. A normal result means those tests were not designed to measure the problem, not that the problem does not exist.
Can a neck injury lead to fibromyalgia?
Research has found that fibromyalgia develops more often after neck injuries than after injuries to other parts of the body. That does not prove a direct cause, but it is a strong reason to evaluate the upper neck when symptoms began after a car accident, fall, or other trauma.
Can upper cervical care cure fibromyalgia?
No. Upper cervical care does not cure fibromyalgia. It addresses a specific structural problem at the top of the neck that may be adding input to an already sensitized nervous system. When that problem is present, correcting it may help the nervous system function with less interference.
Will an adjustment cause a fibromyalgia flare?
Blair upper cervical care uses no twisting and no cracking, and each correction is a light, quick input. Many fibromyalgia patients choose it specifically because it is gentle. Every patient is evaluated first, and care is adjusted to individual sensitivity.
Should I stop my fibromyalgia medications?
No. Do not stop or change any medication without talking with the provider who prescribed it. Upper cervical care is intended to work alongside your existing medical care, not replace it.
Find Out Whether Your Upper Neck Is a Factor
If you have spent years being told your tests are normal while your symptoms continue, an evaluation that objectively measures your upper neck may provide answers that have been missing. Keystone Chiropractic is located at 450 S Durkin Drive, Ste B, in Springfield, IL, and sees patients from Chatham, Rochester, Sherman, Riverton, Taylorville, Jacksonville, Lincoln, and across Central Illinois. We are open Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 9:00am to 6:00pm.
Call (217) 698-7900 or visit our New Patients page to schedule your consultation.