Why does every TV ad or online ad for fibromyalgia medication show some woman rubbing her shoulders? It drives me crazy.
Just as I was about to start writing this post, with the TV on, the Lyrica ad came on TV. The ad shows a woman at a picnic with her family and she's rubbing her shoulders while the voice-over (supposedly her) talks about how fibromyalgia pain feels. Then, a graphic of over-activated nerves is placed over her shoulders and upper back area.
This is incredibly misleading. And this is just ONE such representation of fibromyalgia. I notice this shoulder obsession every time I see a medication advertisement for fibro meds, whether that is in a brochure, online, on TV or whatever.
Sure, our shoulders and upper back area hurts. No one is denying that. But fibromyalgia is WIDESPREAD pain that occurs in ALL FOUR QUADRANTS of the body, both above and below the waist. Like, that's the definition of fibromyalgia!
So, please, advertisers, if you're reading this, stop focusing only on the shoulders in your promotional materials!
Thanks for listening!
Just as I was about to start writing this post, with the TV on, the Lyrica ad came on TV. The ad shows a woman at a picnic with her family and she's rubbing her shoulders while the voice-over (supposedly her) talks about how fibromyalgia pain feels. Then, a graphic of over-activated nerves is placed over her shoulders and upper back area.
This is incredibly misleading. And this is just ONE such representation of fibromyalgia. I notice this shoulder obsession every time I see a medication advertisement for fibro meds, whether that is in a brochure, online, on TV or whatever.
Sure, our shoulders and upper back area hurts. No one is denying that. But fibromyalgia is WIDESPREAD pain that occurs in ALL FOUR QUADRANTS of the body, both above and below the waist. Like, that's the definition of fibromyalgia!
So, please, advertisers, if you're reading this, stop focusing only on the shoulders in your promotional materials!
Thanks for listening!
Interesting. I know the commercial you write about. I have used Lyrica for some other reason. It did not cure my ailment and it was too expensive.
ReplyDeleteYeah, half the time these meds don't work on chronic pain, anyway! And the price, ridiculous!
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