Fibromyalgia Treatment in Greenville, SC
Fibromyalgia treatment in Greenville, SC. Dr. Hendry's integrative approach addresses the root causes of widespread pain, fatigue, and brain fog. Call (864) 365-6156.
"Having Cancer and the side effects of the Medicine has made it difficult with the Joint Pain. However by receiving the treatments it has made my outlook and pain tolerable with the help of Dr. Hendry. Highly recommend this practice."
— Margie Halley · April 2015 · Google Review
What Is Fibromyalgia?
The defining feature of fibromyalgia isn't any particular type of pain — it's that pain is everywhere, all the time, and the explanations don't add up. MRI normal. Labs normal. Nothing visibly wrong. But pressing on the shoulder or hip sends pain shooting outward. Sleep doesn't restore. Thinking clearly in the afternoon takes real effort. Fibromyalgia is a disorder of central sensitization — the spinal cord and brain have recalibrated their pain-processing threshold downward. Normal sensory input gets amplified into pain signals. This is not psychological; it's measurable. The trigger for that recalibration is typically a physical or emotional stressor — an infection, surgery, sustained psychological stress, physical trauma. The sensitization outlasts whatever started it, and that's the condition that needs treatment.
Common Symptoms
Root Causes: A Functional Medicine Perspective
Fibromyalgia is increasingly understood as a disorder of central sensitization — the spinal cord and brain process pain signals abnormally, amplifying normal sensory input into painful experiences. The trigger for this sensitization is often a physical or emotional stressor: trauma, infection, surgery, or prolonged psychological stress.
Functional medicine identifies multiple underlying contributors: mitochondrial dysfunction (reducing energy production at the cellular level), HPA axis dysregulation (disrupted cortisol rhythms), thyroid dysfunction, nutrient deficiencies (particularly vitamin D, magnesium, CoQ10, and B12), and gut dysbiosis generating systemic inflammatory signals that sensitize the central nervous system. Sleep deprivation worsens pain sensitivity in a vicious cycle — poor sleep increases pain, which disrupts sleep further.
Dr. Hendry's comprehensive evaluation identifies which of these biological drivers is most prominent in each patient, allowing a targeted approach rather than symptomatic treatment alone.
How We Treat Fibromyalgia at IHP
Acupuncture for fibromyalgia has demonstrated significant benefit in multiple randomized controlled trials, improving pain scores, fatigue, sleep quality, and quality of life. The mechanisms are multifold: acupuncture reduces substance P and other nociceptive neurotransmitters that drive central sensitization, improves sleep architecture, and regulates the autonomic nervous system.
Electroacupuncture — where a mild electrical current is passed through acupuncture needles — appears especially effective for fibromyalgia, likely because it modulates the same central nervous system pathways disrupted in this condition. Dr. Hendry combines electroacupuncture with a functional medicine protocol targeting the mitochondrial, hormonal, and gut factors driving each patient's fibromyalgia phenotype. Nutritional supplementation, sleep optimization strategies, and dietary modifications work synergistically with acupuncture to gradually recalibrate the sensitized nervous system.
Dr. Hendry's Approach
I treat fibromyalgia as a real biological condition with a central sensitization mechanism — not a diagnosis of exclusion that gets handed out when standard workups find nothing. My published research on heart rate variability reflects direct work with autonomic nervous system regulation, which is measurably disrupted in fibromyalgia. I use HRV monitoring as an objective marker of nervous system recalibration during treatment, tracking the shift alongside subjective pain reporting. Patients also receive education about the neuroscience — understanding the mechanism consistently improves treatment engagement and outcomes.