Author: Rida Hassan
Fibromyalgia is a condition in which you have inflammation of muscles and chronic pain. This can be a devastating pain and its range can be from mild to moderate and from moderate to severe. Variety of symptoms and health related issues can be there due to fibromyalgia.
Pain in neck, shoulders, hips and other areas can be the symptoms of fibromyalgia. Your regular activities can be disturbed due to the pain in muscles. Depression and anxiety can occur due to this and you can have increased stress levels.
People who are diagnosed with fibromyalgia can suffer from chronic pain that can remain over months or even years. People usually get tired and unable to perform the routine activities because of this chronic pain.
This pain can give you a hard time, leading towards depression and isolation. You may feel exhausted and tired enough to even get out of the bed. Unable to attend social events and activities because of lacking of the energy can lead towards isolation and loneliness. If you are sleeping deprived, this can be a major reason of being less energetic.
A lot of alternative therapies are there for fibromyalgia patients. Drug treatments are there, but a lot of people avoid taking pharmaceutical drugs, as they find that these drugs are not improving their condition. Instead of taking the drugs, people are finding other ways to treat their condition.
Massages
In order to ease the pain, people are more inclined towards having massage, acupuncture and trigger point therapies. A professional can do the massage in a relaxing environment so that the person feels relaxed as well as the muscle tension eases. Massage can also be effective if you do it at home. It alleviates muscle stiffness and pain.
Acupuncture
It is a traditional Chinese muscle treatment that helps in relaxing muscles and boosts up energy flow by releasing Qi. Qi is referred to as a body’s energy flow and acupuncture has been effective for reducing stress and easing the pain of fibromyalgia.
Trigger point therapies
Painful trigger points that are linked with fibromyalgia can be treated specifically by trigger point therapies. Energy can be applied to deep muscle tissues and painful areas from a non-invasive way i.e. lower level therapy. Tightening of muscles and easing of pain can also be done through stretching of heat. Before stretching a specific area, heat is applies on it so that muscles are loose and flexible. Myofascial release and trigger point massage are manual therapies that can be conducted by physical or massage therapists. Lidocaine is present in Lidoderm patches and you can get them by prescription.
Introducing a needle with anesthetic (lidocaine or corticosteroids) into the center of the trigger point is trigger point injections that helps in releasing tightness and pain. The pain is eliminated after the injection. These injections are a quick and painless process of relieving pain and can be given in doctor’s office. During one visit, this treatment can be done in many areas of the body.
Muscles groups like arms, legs, neck and lower back can be treated by TPIs. Fibromyalgia and tension headaches can also by treated by TPI. Myofascial pain syndrome can also be treated.
Some trigger points can be treated by physical therapy, massages or stretching, so there is no need to inject all the trigger points. But the chronic trigger points can be effectively treated by TPI to ease the pain and pressure. These are best for those patients who are suffering from fibromyalgia or other muscle pains and whose trigger points are active.
Of course, there are a lot of ways for treating fibromyalgia and these pharmaceutical drugs are just a one way. Alternative therapies like massage, exercise, trigger point therapy, acupuncture and other methods are also used. It has been proved that different therapies are more effective for different people.
If you treat fibromyalgia, it will make changes in your lifestyle like you should have a regular schedule then, and should try not to over plan or over commit. Maintaining stress levels and finding ways to reduce the stress is important for people. Trigger point therapy is also effective in treating fibromyalgia. You should try different methods for the treatment.