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Contact the study team using the details below to take part. If there are no contact details below please ask your doctor in the first instance.
James
Dunham
james.p.dunham@bristol.ac.uk
James
Dunham
jimdunham@doctors.org.uk
James
Dunham
james.p.dunham@bristol.ac.uk
Other soft tissue disordersGeneral symptoms and signs
This information is provided directly by researchers, and we recognise that it isn't always easy to understand. We are working with researchers to improve the accessibility of this information. In some summaries, you may come across links to external websites. These websites will have more information to help you better understand the study.
Chronic pain blights the lives of more than a third of all adults in the UK, with fibromyalgia affecting between 2 and 8% of the population. Unfortunately, doctors do not know why chronic pain patients, particularly those with fibromyalgia, have pain, and medications often fail to provide pain relief.
In an acute injury, specialised nerves (nociceptors) detect damage and transmit this information to the brain, which gives rise to pain. In some patients with chronic pain, including fibromyalgia, these nerves are thought to be abnormally active or "irritable". Some may be “firing” all the time, not just when damage occurs. They may also be “sensitised” so they “fire” to non-damaging events such as those that occur during normal movement or touch.
Unfortunately, we cannot detect this abnormal activity clinically, we cannot predict who has it, and we do not know what causes it. With this knowledge, we could direct currently available treatments more appropriately, optimise pain management earlier, and develop novel, targeted interventions to provide better pain relief.
Microneurography is a research technique that can directly record nociceptor activity. Whilst not suitable for routine clinical use, this approach has provided the evidence that abnormal activity in nociceptors is present in patients with chronic pain, including those with fibromyalgia.
This project will recruit patients with fibromyalgia and other chronic pain conditions. We will measure their nociceptor activity using microneurography. We will correlate this activity with clinical diagnosis, questionnaires to assess the patient experience, and careful sensory testing. This will enable us to better identify those patients with abnormal nerve activity which, in the future, will allow us to better target treatments to the cause of their pain.
Start dates may differ between countries and research sites. The research team are responsible for keeping the information up-to-date.
The recruitment start and end dates are as follows:
Observational type: Cohort study;
You can take part if:
You may not be able to take part if:
Unable to tolerate Microneurography, e.g., Needle phobia, unable to lie still, history of stress/fear/pain induced syncope Higher risk from microneurography, which includes: Neurological diseases such as Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson’s Disease. Infection / oedema / broken skin over recording or stimulation site. Cardiac or other pacemaker/stimulation device. Taking anti-coagulants. Are deemed to be unsuitable for participation in the study in the opinion of the study investigators.
Below are the locations for where you can take part in the trial. Please note that not all sites may be open.
James
Dunham
jimdunham@doctors.org.uk
James
Dunham
james.p.dunham@bristol.ac.uk
James
Dunham
james.p.dunham@bristol.ac.uk
The study is sponsored by University of Bristol and funded by VERSUS ARTHRITIS .
Your feedback is important to us. It will help us improve the quality of the study information on this site. Please answer both questions.
Read full details
for Trial ID: CPMS 65662
You can print or share the study information with your GP/healthcare provider or contact the research team directly.
