Why a Recovery Program Is Important
Fibromyalgia is the bane of more than five million Americans, and researchers have yet to introduce a cure for this debilitating condition. Sufferers must cope with a great deal of pain every day, and the usual anti-inflammatory medications do not relieve this pain. With this said, it is possible to craft an individualized recovery plan unique to one’s individual needs.
Designing a recovery plan requires the assistance of one or more. The cause and onset of this condition is multifaceted, integrating a complex medley of genetic, psychological, biological and environmental factors. A customized recovery plan must address each of these components in order to produce significant relief for the sufferer.
How To Design a Recovery Program
Your individual recovery program should take into account the specific you are experiencing. If you do not have digestive troubles, for example, you won’t need to follow the same dietary plan that another sufferer might.
It is also important to identify the exact cause of each symptom you are experiencing. For instance, once you have identified muscle pain as the symptoms, and you realize that the pain results from a disrupted pathway in the nervous system, your treatment choices will be different than someone whose pain is coming from excess stiffness or adhesions. Of course, you should never start any treatment without the professional advice of your physician.
Before you adapt to a specific recovery program, you must consider your finances. For example, many treatments and therapies happen to be very costly in many cases. Find out what your insurance will cover and comparison-shop when researching holistic practitioners. Some acupuncturists and massage therapist will offer a discount if you purchase a certain number of sessions at once, for example. If you need weekly treatments for pain management, treatment packages can save you a significant amount of money.
Another critical factor in designing your recovery program will involve identifying your most prolific symptoms, the intensity and your individual needs. For instance, do you find that you suffer from pain and fatigue more so than muscle stiffness and headaches? As noted, you should tailor your course of treatment to the symptoms that you experience, and the severity and frequency of those symptoms.
Most modern day physicians will recommend you take anti-depressants for depression. However, sometimes addressing your sleep disturbance or adding exercise to your daily routine will alleviate your depression without the need for prescription drugs.
Step 1: Discuss Medications With Your Physician
Consult with your physician to determine the severity of your condition and which pharmaceutical medications and treatments may be appropriate for you. Once this has been discussed, you will be prescribed a regimen to help manage your symptoms. In many cases, doctors may prescribe anti-depressants, anticonvulsants, steroid injections, muscle relaxers, and specific sleep cycle medications. Each of these has their own respective benefits, but antidepressants are among the most effective. This is because fibromyalgia patients suffer from a deficit of serotonin, and this very neurotransmitter plays a crucial role in human pain management. Therefore, a notable increase in this neurotransmitter will undoubtedly improve one’s symptoms.
With regard to anticonvulsants, these medications have been known to markedly enhance one’s ability to cope with pain. Furthermore, localized steroid injections confer immediate relief for painful symptoms, while muscle relaxers can curb aches and pains. And of course, medications that promote greater fluidity and depth of sleep cycles impart tremendous relief of sleep deprived sufferers.
You may not be prescribed every one of these aforementioned medications. However, your doctor will select the medicinal course of treatment that is at most suited to your needs.
Step 2: Physical Therapy and Physical Exercise
Many physicians cannot stress the critical importance of both physical exercise and physical therapy enough. Essentially, each of these practices begets a more manageable lifestyle. And while that lifestyle may not be pain free, it will be significantly more.
A physical therapist, in particular, can increase muscle mobility, flexibility, and teach the client with muscle strengthening technique. Overall, physical therapy can help an individual regain their individual agency and independence. Physical therapy should be an integral component of your recovery program because it makes a significant difference in the context of symptoms.
It is commonly agreed that aerobic exercise mimics the effectiveness of some medications. It produces a biochemical, physiological and neurasthenic response in the body that favors the reduction of pain, promotes muscle healing and recovery and reduces stiffness. Many fibromyalgia sufferers fear that the introduction of exercise will increase their pain, when in fact, quite the contrary is true. As it turns out, aerobic exercise can help the associated symptoms. It has even been known to improve one’s sleep patterns. That said, one should steadily augment their exercise duration over time for best results.
Step 3: Holistic Treatment
Many patients pursue holistic paths in conjunction with their existing medical treatments to maximize the effects of pain management. The most commonly-integrated methods of holistic pain management include acupuncture, chiropractic treatment, and deep tissues massage. Deep tissues massage relieves pain and tension and releases toxins from the muscles. Acupuncture alters the brain’s response to pain, while chiropractic methods reduce pain levels.
Step 4: Diet
Dietary changes must be made in an effort to decrease the occurrence of mood and sleep disturbances. For example, diets that are characterized by excessive caffeine and sugar intake may sufficiently throw of the sleep cycle and exacerbate the symptoms altogether. Furthermore, a high fat content and low nutritional content may impede the body’s ability to synthesize serotonin. Hence, patients should adopt healthy lifestyles as a part of their recovery program. Nutritional supplements also prove to be highly effective in terms of staving off pain.
Step 5: Psychological
Although pain has its biological and physiological roots, it is a largely emotional phenomenon as well. Therefore, cognitive behavioral therapy methods may help one modifying one’s perception and response to chronic pain. Biofeedback, which is a related practice, can help one to develop positive coping mechanisms to stress induced by painful symptoms.
Comments