The evidence for central nervous system dysfunction in fibromyalgia is clear: the ascending pain producing pathways are overly activated, while the descending pain inhibitory pathways are under-activated. This results is people with fibromyalgia experiencing pain where no injury or sign of damage exists.
Problems with the peripheral nervous system in the body also exist. The nerve fibers that carry pain signals to the brain are overly activated, and some of the small, unmyelinated nerves in the skin and the eyes that carry sensory information to the spinal cord and brain are damaged in some patients.
