Would you like to
contribute to this site?
Fibromyalgia Menu
Submit an Article
Submit a Tip
Place your Ad
Add URL
Fibromyalgia Questions?
Contact Us
| |
Could You Have Fibromyalgia?
By John W. Johnson, MFCC, NCMT
People living with musculoskeletal aches experience diffuse pain from everyday activities...driving, lifting, et cetera. Is your physician having difficulty coming up with an explanation for your pain? Fybromyalgia is a pain and fatigue disorder that affects 2-4% of the US population...between 4 and 6 million, by conservative estimates. Eighty percent of sufferers are women. The good news is that there are treatments that are very effective in relieving your pain and suffering. Do you have fibromyalgia? Fibromyalgia doesnt cause pain or swelling in your joints, but in the soft tissues located around the joints. And in your skin and organs. Generalized pain with no obvious source is one warning sign. Careful musculoskeletal examination by a medical professional, typically a rheumatologist, can reveal specific localized 'tender points' throughout the body, whose presence and pattern, in association with pain, defines fibromyalgia. Common symptoms:
Physiological issues
- recurrent flu-like illness
- headaches coupled with confusion ('fibromyalgia clouds')
- painful lymph nodes under arms and neck
- muscle/joint aches
- night sweats
- weight change (usually gain)
Cognitive function
- attention deficit disorder
- spatial and/or directional disorientation
- calculation difficulties
- short-term memory lapses
- communication difficulties (problems speaking, confusing words)
- 'fugue'-type states (staring into space before brain can function)
- inability to recognize familiar surroundings
Psychological issues
- depression
- panic /anxiety attacks
- personality changes, usually for the worse
- mood swings
Researchers currently agree that fibromyalgia is a condition which is centrally mediated by the brain. Abnormalities in the levels of various neurochemicals in the brain have increasingly been found by researchers.
The Good News The most important thing to know is that fibromyalgia is not a progressive, degenerative disease. Correct treatment can allow you to live like everyon else, enjoying the sun and the fresh air. Enjoying dinner with friends. Being able to take a hike when you want. Living a normal life. Congratulations on your dedication to finding a solution to this massive problem. I look at it as a metaphor. Those with fibromyalgia are like the canaries in the old coal mines. When the most sensitive start getting ill, its time for us to so something. Drastic. The first thing to understand is that patients who know about their condition can take an active role in finding ways to lessen their symptoms and improve their quality of life.
Bodywork options for improving life with fibromyalgia...
- exercise programs (stretching and low-level aerobics) to increase endurance, minimize muscle atrophy, oxygenate muscles and connective tissue, and decrease pain
- relaxation techniques (meditation, yoga, biofeedback, et cetera) and bodywork therapies
- massage o soothes and increases blood circulation to sore muscles o removes built-up toxins like lactic acid o re-educates muscles and joints which have become mechanically misaligned
Chi health machines can help with all of these treatment modalities. Because chi health devices ramp up your circulation, optimize oxygen intake and soothe sore muscles, they achieve some of the effects of intensive exercise...even for those incapacitated by pain. Nutritional therapy for fibromyalgia can be helpful in counteracting stress, ridding the body of toxins and restoring nutrients which have been malabsorbed or robbed from the body. Vitamin/mineral supplements can combat stress, replace deficiencies and support the immune system. Our Supplement line offers you the best pure food supplements available on the market today, at reasonable prices. One doctors thoughts on chi health machines... 'I have been a proponent of lymphatic massage for a decade now. The problem has been having a way for my patients to access this type of massage. Now, I just have them get on the Swing Master here at the office, or they purchase one for themselves. I have seen dramatic results, from reduction in cancerous tumors to alleviation of back pain to healthier feet and hands in my diabetic patients. Thank you for making this unit available in America.' Dr. Paul Diablo, M.D.
About the Author:
John is a nationally certified massage therapist, health researcher, and psychotherapist. He worked on the US Olympic sports massage team during the 2002 Winter Olympics, and has most recently volunteered his time and expertise by giving massages to victims of Hurricane Katrina and the Red Cross personnel who have assisted them.
|
 |
|
