Lifestyle Tips For Those With Fibromyalgia
One way that people are finding to be effective in relieving their chronic pain is through chiropractic care. That’s because it helps reduce the pain by keeping your spine in alignment, opens your range of motion since properly aligned spine allows the joints and other areas of the body to work more efficiently, and strengthens bones and muscles because when your back is aligned that’s less stress and extra work for your bones, muscles, and joints which results to being able to continue living your daily life without much pain or restriction.
Even if you have already consulted your primary health care provider, seeing a chiropractor here in Singapore would also benefit you. Because they may see something that your doctor has missed since chronic pain is usually due to musculoskeletal issues which chiropractors specialize in.
A chiropractic doctor will conduct physical examination in order to arrive with an accurate diagnosis of your pain. Once a chiropractor knows your what your pain condition is, he will develop an individualized treatment plan that he’ll explain and suggest to you to help make your life more manageable. The symptoms as well as severity of fibromyalgia may vary from person to person. So as this is a syndrome, finding a treatment that may work for you difficult and may take time as it may take a lot of trial and error. It’s also important to know that, there isn’t a cure yet so all we can do is manage your symptoms. This is why it’s imperative to work with your doctor in devising a combination of treatments that suits your condition best. But here are some of the things you can change or do in your daily living that can help improve your condition.
Exercising Can Help Ease The Pain
Working out will probably be the last thing on your mind when you’re in pain and feeling super tired. But keeping your body active is important for fibromyalgia patients too. Though you should listen to your body and know when to slow down as well. Not giving your body time off from training can over exhaust your muscles and even worsen your condition, especially if you always do high intensity workouts. But if the idea of idling around doesn’t sit well with you either, better incorporate low-intensity exercises like walking and swimming, which are great for those with chronic pain or conditions that affect the joints, in between your regular high-intensity ones. This way, you get to stay active without overdoing it.
Try To Avoid Foods That Aggravate Your Symptoms
Aside from what you do outside your body, what you put inside your body can either make you feel better or worse. So take you diet seriously. Include more foods like leafy greens, healthy fats like olive oil and coconut oil, clean and lean proteins, and fermented foods that contain probiotics. Drink bone broth or use protein powder from bone broth. Add antioxidant-packed herbs and spices to your meals. Limit or avoid excess sugar, caffeine, alcohol, hydrogenated oils (soybean oil, cottonseed oil, even canola oil), processed/refined grains, flour products, synthetic additives, processed meats and fast food which can aggravate your symptoms.
Improving Your Sleep Helps Too
Those who are suffering from fibromyalgia have trouble with sleeping. Even when they manage to get a straight 8 hours, the quality can be poor which results to waking up feeling like they didn’t get a wink. The fatigue and lack of sleep is one of the main symptoms that can be very hard for patients and makes it worse for them that can send them to get flare ups, next to the pain.
So deep sleep can help a lot. Sleeping right don’t just mean completing certain hours of shut eye, it also suggest that everything that involves your snooze time is right for you to ensure its quality. It’s necessary that you have the right mattress, proper height of pillows for your sleeping position to make sure you get your sleep well and not develop back pain and neck pain when you’re supposed to be easing your symptoms.
Indulge In A Massage Whenever You Need To
Massage therapies that have been proven to be an effective pain management method over the years and your condition will improve more that any pill can do. It can decrease swelling and stiffness, increase range of motion, improve flexibility, and reduce pain. Remedial massage therapy is primarily focused on muscular health and can therefore be beneficial for chiropractic patients. Massage works on softening muscle tissue by using a variety of techniques that focus on breaking down dysfunctional or painful areas of the body.
If You Can, Avoid Getting Stressed Out
Stress is a huge factor for those with this condition. It can lead you to reach your boiling point, it can make fibromyalgia-related aches and pains seem much worse. Try incorporating relaxation techniques, such as yoga and meditation, into your daily routine. You can even take a warm bath or set aside some time to read to relieve stress. Do whatever you need to do to avoid being stressed or lessen your stress level at least. This way, you can also get your symptoms and flare up under control.
Pain all over your body and fatigue like no other. Feeling tired even when you just woke up or didn’t do any intense activity. Sleep is a challenge for you as well because you either find it hard to fall asleep or wake up in the middle of the night a couple of times. You find it hard to concentrate or easily forgets things.
All of those are just a few of the challenges that comes with the disorder called fibromyalgia. If you look at the definition of this illness, you’ll see that it is characterized by widespread musculoskeletal pain accompanied by fatigue, sleep, memory and mood issues. While these are hallmark symptoms of fibromyalgia, it can be different from patient to patient. Aside from that, like any other chronic illnesses, you may experience good days and bad days. Good days meaning the symptoms are still there but it’s manageable enough for you to do your daily routine. And then there are bad days which people experience what they call flare ups where the symptoms and pain are just too much that you can get up and move at all.
Moreover, aside from the mentioned classic signs of this disorder, it’s possible you may experience other symptoms like sensitivity to light, smell, and/or touch, headaches, irritable bowel movements, stiff joints and muscles in the morning, tingling and numbness in the hands and feet, pelvic and urinary problems, cold or flu-like symptoms, skin problems, depression and anxiety.
Fibromyalgia is not only a frustrating condition but can also be a very draining one. You feel imprisoned in your own body. While it’s easy to feel disheartened with this, know that you don’t have to live your life in a flare up every day. There are ways to manage it for you to be able to go back to your routine and old self before you developed the condition. It may not be exactly the same but you don’t have to completely lose everything you had before.
