Fibromyalgia:
the finding lies in the processing
Pain across the whole body, exhaustion, poor sleep, “fibro fog”, and every result normal. The finding is not in the joint but in how your nervous system processes pain, and there it can be measured. From there we build your program, with methods that have been studied for exactly this.
- Free
- No obligation
- Reply within 2 business days
- Outpatient · Bad Aibling
- Non-invasive
Free & non-binding · usually a reply within 2 business days · confidential
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Your results are unremarkable, and yet everything hurts. Perhaps you feel you have to justify yourself, and perhaps the advice to move more set off a flare. Fibromyalgia is not imagined. The pain is real, even though it does not come from a damaged joint but from an altered processing of pain.
Around 2 % of the population is affected, women considerably more often than men; the diagnosis is frequently made only after years.
Symptoms have a map
Fibromyalgia is regarded as a disorder of central pain processing (central sensitisation): the sensorimotor network and pain-processing areas overreact, while the salience network and the limbic network couple pain, stress and sleep unfavourably. Two systems keep this circle going. Sleep: in fibromyalgia deep sleep is typically missing, without deep sleep the pain threshold drops the next day, and the pain in turn disturbs sleep; that is why sleep analysis is part of the assessment and sleep the first building block. And the autonomic nervous system: the sympathetic side dominates, heart rate variability is low, and in many patients the thin nerve fibres are altered as well; that is why we measure heart rate variability, and why regulation often begins at the vagus nerve. Other causes are ruled out by a physician first.
For an overview of the six brain networks and a first orientation, see the Brain Network Analysis.
The assessment first, then your program.
Everything begins with a structured assessment: history and pain diary, existing findings, questionnaires on pain, sleep, exhaustion and mood, clinical examination, heart rate variability, lab work and sleep analysis where needed. A qEEG brain mapping is added when we want to see how your brain processes pain and stimuli before we work there. Only then does your program take shape. Neuromodulation is one building block in it: rTMS over the motor cortex, tDCS, gentle taVNS and, where useful, photobiomodulation, all at a dose meant not to trigger a flare. Beside it stand sleep, movement in small steps, nutrition and micronutrients, and psychological pain support. Duloxetine, pregabalin or other medication are changed only together with the physician who prescribed them.
Our aim stays the same: to restore functional balance, with as little medication as possible and a life with high quality of life as the measure.
You don’t have to decide anything today. A 15 to 20 minute conversation is enough to know whether an assessment is worth it for you.
Free & non-binding · usually a reply within 2 business days · confidential
Who it is for, and who it is not for
A good fit if …
- Medication or therapy has not been enough so far
- You are looking for a measurement-based, non-invasive path
- You are open to outpatient treatment in Bad Aibling
Less suitable if …
- You expect a purely remote or online treatment without on-site diagnostics
- You expect a guarantee — serious medicine cannot give one
In an acute crisis or having suicidal thoughts? Please seek immediate medical or emergency help — in Germany call 112, or the free 24/7 helpline Telefonseelsorge 0800 111 0 111.
The first consultation is free. We discuss the scope, duration and cost of any program openly afterwards, outpatient, here in Bad Aibling.
What the research shows
Peer-reviewed work on Fibromyalgia and the relevant procedures, graded by evidence level. No study proves an individual outcome.
In short: for some procedures the evidence is solid, for others still early. Where your case stands is settled in the assessment, and the program follows from it.
rTMS for fibromyalgia: an updated systematic review and meta-analysis
Motor cortex rTMS in fibromyalgia: multicentre randomised controlled trial
Effects of tDCS on pain intensity in fibromyalgia: systematic review and meta-analysis
Is tDCS effective for pain in fibromyalgia? A systematic review and meta-analysis
Efficacy of neuromodulation for fibromyalgia: a network meta-analysis
Non-invasive brain stimulation for pain, fatigue and sleep in fibromyalgia: network meta-analysis
Low-level laser therapy for fibromyalgia: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Vagus nerve stimulation and fibromyalgia network physiology: systematic review
More studies across all conditions: Science & Studies.
Meta-analyses show moderate pain relief for rTMS and tDCS in fibromyalgia, differing from person to person. Which dose your nervous system tolerates and where it amplifies the pain is what the assessment shows; the order of the building blocks follows from that.
A real doctor. A real clinic.
Dr. med. univ. Julian Douwes · Medical Director
Part of Clinicum St. Georg, under the medical direction of Dr. med. univ. Julian Douwes. Outpatient, evidence-graded, without medication as the first step — tailored to your profile. More on our program.
- 30+ Years of clinical heritage
- 90+ Countries patients travel from
- 30,000+ Treatment sessions delivered
In three calm steps
Fibromyalgia: let’s talk about your path.
In a free consultation we clarify whether and how our measured program could fit you — no obligation, fully confidential.
Free & non-binding · usually a reply within 2 business days · confidential