When Skin Hurts From a Touch With Allodynia and Fibromyalgia

Skin that hurts to touch is known as allodynia, which is a symptom of fibromialgia and other health conditions. Allodynia is nerve pain triggered by a stimulus that’s harmless and shouldn’t cause pain. For example, the touch of a feather or pressure from a bed sheet may cause severe pain.

Why Does My Skin Hurt From a Gentle Touch?

A alodínia ocorre quando os nervos sensoriais chamados nociceptores ficam superestimulados e hipersensíveis à pressão, toque, temperatura e/ou movimento. These nerve changes (central sensitization) trigger pain from stimuli that should not cause discomfort.

Nociceptors are located throughout your body. They sense information about your environment and alert your brain to changes that could cause harm. Then, your brain protects you by causing pain and sending movement instructions to your muscles.

Nociceptors can also trigger a reflex response. One of the best examples of this unique ability is the withdrawal reflex that causes you to quickly pull your hand away from a hot burner. This reflexive action occurs without needing a signal from the brain.

There are three types of allodynia:

• Tactile (static): This is pain from a touch or pressure that shouldn’t cause discomfort. The touch of a feather, clothes, jewelry, towels, a tap on your shoulder, or a hug may cause tactile allodynia.
• Mechanical (dynamic): This is pain from movement. Clothes or a sheet moving across your skin, or the airflow from a fan, may cause pain.
• Térmico: Pain results from mild temperature changes that aren’t extreme enough to cause discomfort.

You can have one or more types of allodynia at the same time, depending on the cause.

What Does Allodynia Feel Like?

Pain is the primary symptom of all types of allodynia. The pain may range from mild to severe and cause sharp, burning, or stinging sensations.

You may experience widespread pain over your body, or have localized pain that only hurts when touching one area of your skin.

The pain can be constant or come and go. Sometimes, allodynia can be triggered by a specific stimulus, such as scratching or stepping on a sharp object.

The pain of allodynia may be accompanied by other symptoms, depending on its cause.

Does Fibromyalgia Cause Allodynia?

Fibromyalgia is a chronic pain condition and one of the most common and well-known causes of allodynia. Many people with fibromyalgia experience symptom flare-ups, which arise from various triggers like stress, illness, and hormonal changes.

Fibromyalgia’s symptoms include:

• Widespread muscle pain
• Tenderness and pain to the touch (tactile allodynia)
• Severe fatigue (even after getting enough sleep)
• Cognitive symptoms (memory loss and difficulty concentrating)
• Rigidez articular

Fibromyalgia can also cause mechanical and thermal allodynia and involves multiple pain types, such as hyperalgesia and paresthesia. Paresthesia refers to abnormal sensations like tingling.

Allodynia and hyperalgesia both overamplify pain. No entanto, a alodínia causa dor em resposta a estímulos que não são naturalmente dolorosos, enquanto a hiperalgesia causa dor intensa em resposta a estímulos dolorosos.

What Other Health Conditions Cause Allodynia?

Skin that hurts when touched or exposed to temperature changes is a symptom of numerous health conditions, including:

• Migraines: Allodynia affects between 40% and 70% of people who experience migraines. You may be more likely to experience allodynia if you have migraines with auras.
• Diabetes: One of the complications of diabetes is peripheral diabetic neuropathy, or nerve damage in your legs, feet, arms, and hands. About one-third of diabetes patients experience pain from this nerve damage, including allodynia.
• Esclerose múltipla:Allodynia is a common symptom of multiple sclerosis. This includes not only tactile allodynia (pain with touch) but also cold allodynia (pain with cold temperatures).
• Cobreiro: Allodynia can persist in shingles patients even after the rash has cleared. This complication is known as postherpetic neuralgia.
• Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS): CRPS develops after an injury or surgery, causing severe pain that persists after the problem heals. The condition also causes tactile allodynia, joint stiffness, and changes in skin color, texture, and temperature. CRPS usually develops in the hands, arms, feet, and legs.
• Amplified musculoskeletal pain syndrome (AMPS): AMPS refers to chronic localized or diffuse musculoskeletal pain that’s not due to inflammation but may be triggered by an injury or illness. The condition develops in children and teens, most often affecting girls between 11 to 15 years old. It causes allodynia and symptoms similar to fibromyalgia and CRPS.
• Trigeminal neuralgia: The trigeminal nerve carries the sensations of pain and touch from the face, eyes, sinuses, and mouth to the brain. If the nerve is damaged, it causes sharp spasms and tactile, mechanical, and thermal allodynia. Pain is often triggered by smiling, eating, shaving, applying makeup, wind, and hot or cold temperatures.
• Nutritional deficiencies: Deficiencies in vitamin B12 and D may cause allodynia by damaging nerves or affecting their function.
• Excessive alcohol use: Studies in lab animals show that excessive drinking leads to hyperalgesia and mechanical allodynia. Studies also show that these pain conditions may develop when people with alcohol use disorder stop drinking.
• Certain medications: Some chemotherapy medicines, antibiotics, and diabetes medications may result in allodynia.

Will I Need Medical Tests to Determine the Cause?

Para diagnosticar a alodínia, seu médico perguntará sobre seu histórico médico (especialmente condições conhecidas por causar alodínia) e os detalhes de sua dor, incluindo como é a sensação, sua duração e localização.

Eles também farão um exame físico completo, procurando alterações na pele, farão uma avaliação dos pontos sensíveis e usarão um toque leve ou um objeto frio para verificar as áreas doloridas.

Como a alodinia é um sintoma, eles provavelmente realizarão outros testes diagnósticos, como função nervosa e exames de sangue, para identificar a causa subjacente.

Como é tratada a alodinia?

Seu plano de cuidados inclui o tratamento mais adequado para a doença subjacente, bem como terapias para aliviar sua dor.

Existem muitos tratamentos possíveis para os problemas de saúde que causam alodinia, desde mudanças na dieta e suplementos vitamínicos, medicamentos orais e injeções.

Seu médico pode recomendar várias terapias para direcionar e aliviar a dor da alodinia.

Agentes tópicosalivie a dor bloqueando os sinais nervosos ou criando sensações que distraem o cérebro da dor (contra-irritantes). Três opções incluem:

• Anestésicos locais (Aspercreme, lidocaína e outros)
• Produtos contendo mentol (Biofreeze, Icy Hot e outros)
• Capsaicina (Capzasin, Tiger Balm, SalonPas e outros)

Medicamentos orais para aliviar a dorque podem ajudar incluem:

• Bloqueadores dos canais de cálcio ou de sódio (diminuem a atividade nervosa)
• Antidepressivos tricíclicos (os antidepressivos aliviam a dor nervosa modulando os sinais nervosos)
• SNRIs como Drizalma Sprinkle (duloxetina) e Effexor (venlafaxina)
• Relaxantes musculares como Tonmya (ciclobenzaprina)

Outras opçõesque aliviam a dor incluem:

• Fisioterapia
• Terapia cognitivo-comportamental (TCC)
• Técnicas mente-corpo (ioga, meditação, tai chi)

Você também pode identificar e evitar os gatilhos que incitam as crises de fibromialgia.