15/01/2026
In fibromyalgia, in addition to central awareness, a phenomenon called neuroinflammation occurs. Unlike common inflammation, which affects muscles or joints, is not autoimmune, neuroinflammation occurs within the brain and spinal cord, directly hitting the nerve system cells that regulate pain.
In this process, cells called glia (especially microglia and astrocytes), which usually protect the neurons, enter a state of chronic activation. When this happens, they release inflammatory substances — like cytokin and chemical mediators — that make pain neurons much more sensitive. The result is a brain that overreacts to any stimulus.
This invisible inflammation doesn't show up in common blood or MRI tests, but it profoundly alters how pain pathways work. It reduces the brain's natural brakes that should block excess pain and increases the excitement of painful circuits, creating a permanently irritated neurological environment.
👉🏼Neuroinflammation also affects brain areas responsible for:
▪️sono
▪️humor
▪️memory
▪️emotional regulation
▪️response to stress
Therefore, fibromyalgia does not only cause difficult pain, but also insomnia, anxiety, depression, extreme fatigue, difficulty concentrating, and a constant feeling of exhaustion.
When neuroinflammation is active, the brain goes into continuous biologicalalert mode. He goes on to interpret the body as if it's under threat, even when there's no real danger. Thus, normal stimulus - touch, movement, temperature, noises - are converted into pain, discomfort, itching or burning.
In fibromyalgia, the pain does not come from damaged tissues, but from a neuroinflammatory and hypersensitive brain, that has lost the ability to regulate its own body's signals correctly.
Credit Fibro Fighter