Fibromyalgia and your Health

Fibromyalgia is a condition that is known to affect about 3% of the worldwide population.  Fibromyalgia (FM) is commonly characterized by the presence of widespread muscle pain and aching, disturbed sleep, morning stiffness and multiple tender points all over the body.  What is puzzling to the medical society is what exactly causes FM and what exactly works best at relieving its symptoms.  The common method is to use medications aimed at decreasing inflammatory responses in the body and to prescribe other medicines aimed at relieving the symptoms.

            Recent studies have shown that the use of joint manipulation can actually help improve the range of motion of some of these patients who suffer with FM.   This leads to an improvement in their activities of daily living and a decrease in their depression levels.  Other studies have also demonstrated that the use of exercise, specifically warm water aquatic exercise, has been shown to help FM patients deal with their pain levels.  This exercise has lead to a measurable decrease in the pain levels of their tender points. 

            Acupuncture has been another form of treatment for some patients with FM.  Further studies have shown that patients who experience severe pain associated with FM have responded favorably to an addition of a physician administered acupuncture program.  This study showed that when an acupuncture treatment plan was added to a currently effective plan of prescribed anti-depressants, physical activity and various behavior and relaxation techniques the patient’s quality of life improved.  The levels of depression, pain and morning stiffness were shown to decrease as well, and the improvements of adding acupuncture lasted up to 2 years after the initial treatment!

            If you are experiencing pain you believe could be characterized as FM please make sure you see a rheumatologist for an accurate diagnosis.  To reduce your pain there are treatments available you can do on your own.  These include starting a gentle exercise program of 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week.  This exercise should not be too strenuous as to increase inflammation, which could lead to worsening of symptoms.  If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to write or call. 

            People who live with FM do not have to feel like there is no hope for them - there is. 

This entry was posted on 6. May 2011 at 13:20 and is filed under Chiropractic, General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.