Fibromyalgia pain can be exhausting and debilitating. Physical therapy can help minimize fibro-related pain, stiffness and fatigue. To reap its benefits, you should work with a provider who understands the unique nature of fibromyalgia. Working with specialists in physical therapy in Louisville, Kentucky can significantly improve your health outcomes.
PT Reducing the Stiffness and Fatigue
Stiffness and chronic fatigue are all-too-common experiences with fibromyalgia. That’s not surprising, considering that this condition may result from underlying issues in how the nervous system handles pain signals. Those pain signals may be amplified, resulting in widespread pain and fatigue. This makes sense: Fibro pain can be like an alarm that constantly goes off, stressing out your nerves, muscles and soft tissues.
Passive Therapy Techniques
Passive techniques include deep tissue massage, which relieves deep muscle tension and spasms that come with fibro. As a side benefit, deep tissue massage may aid in improving your range of motion. Heat therapy relaxes the muscles, but it also hastens blood flow into and out of affected areas. This enhances oxygen and nutrient delivery to the muscles. Other treatment options your therapist may use include hydrotherapy, electric muscle stimulation and ultrasound. Hydrotherapy can combine the benefits of heat therapy with the buoyancy of water, reducing stress and load on the muscles. Electric muscle stimulation is a gentle method for minimizing muscle spasms and encouraging the release of endorphins to reduce pain. Ultrasound produces gentle heat, providing some of the benefits of heat therapy.
PT Lessening the Pain and Increasing Flexibility
Lower back pain is a common issue with fibromyalgia. But if fibro doesn’t typically impact joints as arthritis does, why does the pain occur? You still have a significant amount of soft tissue in that region. After all, there are back and side muscles around your midsection as part of the supportive core for your spine. Because primarily muscle and other soft tissues are impacted by fibro, you’re likely to experience pain and stiffness.
Strength, Flexibility and Range of Motion
Physical therapy is an effective treatment for back pain. As an excellent non-invasive treatment option, PT focuses on underlying issues that can trigger pain in the first case. With fibromyalgia, PT usually targets deep muscle pain with exercise plus techniques like deep tissue massage, ice packs and heat packs. Hydrotherapy, a passive technique, can be combined with exercise. Physical therapy in the water takes advantage of the buoyancy factor to make exercises less stressful on muscles and joints. Stretching is also critical for improving flexibility, which may help minimize fibro pain. This is especially helpful considering that such pain may severely limit your range of motion during flare-ups.
Working With a Physical Therapist
You’ll meet with your therapist during an initial consultation, in which you undergo a short evaluation and provide details about how fibro pain impacts your functioning and daily life. Your therapist may also access your medical records to better comprehend your history and condition. Some providers have multiple specializations, so you may work with pediatric physical therapists who also help patients with fibromyalgia.