Old guidelines required tender points

Fibromyalgia is also often characterized by additional pain when firm pressure is applied to specific areas of your body, called tender points. In the past, at least 11 of these 18 spots had to test positive for tenderness to diagnose fibromyalgia.

However, given that fibromyalgia symptoms can come and go, a person might have 11 tender points one day but only eight tender points on another day. And many doctors were uncertain about how much pressure to apply during a tender point exam.

While specialists or researchers may still use tender points, they are no longer required for your family doctor to make a diagnosis of fibromyalgia.