Part 5/12:
Since fibromyalgia leaves no visible signs of tissue damage, doctors depend heavily on patient-reported symptoms and the exclusion of other conditions. A diagnosis typically requires experiencing widespread pain for more than three months, coupled with assessments of severity and impact on daily life. However, the subjective nature of pain assessment means that severity scores can vary dramatically from person to person—what one considers a pain level of 7, another might rate as a 4.