In this post, we will be exploring the linguistics of the meaning behind the condition of fibromyalgia. As someone who studied linguistics extensively when I was in my undergrad for Teaching English as a Second Language and learning multiple languages myself, understanding the meaning behind a word can give you more clarity in getting a bigger picture of what it is you're talking about. This also applies to health conditions.
Sometimes when we're learning about health conditions that we're not as familiar with, it can be helpful to first look at the meaning of where the word derives from and its meaning along with seeing how other languages name conditions to create deeper understanding. In drawing upon knowledge from other languages and how they view a certain condition to give us clues into how this condition is viewed and expands upon what we may also think about the condition.
Using this same principle, we will be applying it for fibromyalgia as there already are many misconceptions about the condition. This post will break down the meaning of fibromyalgia in Latin, Greek and Mandarin to gain a big picture view of the condition. We will also be attaching the Instagram slides we created below for easy viewing.
Fibromyalgia comes from Latin and Greek with the first part of the word deriving from Latin and the last two parts deriving from Greek.
Fibra - fiber (Latin)
Myo - muscle (Greek)
Algos - pain (Greek)
In a basic breakdown, the word fibromyalgia explains the snapshot of what the condition is which is widespread pain in the muscle fibers.
When we look at fibromyalgia in Mandarin, there are actually two different ways of expressing this condition and they provide a further expansion of our understanding of the word fibromyalgia.
1) 纤维肌痛 - xiānwéijītòng
General Translation: Small fibers in the muscles that cause pain (this can speak to the fascia,
muscle fibers or the capillaries in the muscles.) From this description, it widens our idea of not just pain in the muscle fibers but also the structures within the muscle fibers that can cause pain.
2) 周痹 - zhōu bì
General Meaning: Fibromyalgia falls into the category of bi syndromes in Chinese Medicine which relate to a variety of different types of rheumatism. Bi syndromes are further broken down into various categories to describe the type of bi syndrome involved in a condition and the structures they affect.
Bi syndromes are derived from either external or internal factors or a combination of both. Whether the bi syndrome derives from external or internal factors or both, it ends up causing some kind of blockage with the qi and blood. When we look at bi syndromes, we categorize them in a couple of different ways.
Nature: Wandering Bi (Wind), Damp Bi, Cold Bi and Hot Bi. Some bi syndromes can have a mixed picture of how they present.
Structure: Muscle, Tendon, Bone, Skin, Blood Vessels. This explains more about which structures are impacted by the type of bi syndrome.
Now that we have a general understanding of bi syndromes, we can look at the type of bi syndrome that is categorized for fibromyalgia which is 周痹 - zhōu bì.
周 explains the type of bi syndrome and in this case relates to a unit of frequency, an electrical circuit. In the body, it relates to the nervous system, marking where the pain derives from - central nervous system, which is the circuit for the nervous system.
The reason why I love this explanation of fibromyalgia is because it encompasses the bigger picture as to why there is widespread pain in the muscle fibers. It derives from the central nervous system and overlaps with current research suggesting that fibromyalgia is a central nervous system condition and relates to a process called central sensitization which we will discuss in another blog post.
If you found this post informative, feel free to share it with others so they can know more and if you are someone who navigates fibromyalgia and would like support in the realms of Chinese Medicine, we do offer 1:1 herbal and food therapy
Overview slides available below.
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