Fibromyalgia Exercise

                                      Exercise and Stretches

Because Fibromyalgia causes significant pain in the muscles, ligaments, and joints,stiffness is also a common problem.  With proper exercises and stretches, you can help loosen the muscles and joints, ultimately bringing the pain to a more management level.

Of course, it is important that you work with a qualified person to learn the right exercises and stretching techniques to avoid making the pain worse. In most cases, exercise is a great way of preventing illness although in the case of Fibromyalgia, it can also provide physical and mental benefits.  By incorporating exercise and stretching as a part of the treatment plan for people with this illness, marked improvement is noted.  The type of exercise should be simple such as swimming or walking, always starting out slow and then increasing gradually. This illness causes serious pain, which results in sleep problems, fatigue, and a number of other symptoms.  Today, it is believed that 3.5% of all women and 0.5%of all men in the United States have Fibromyalgia.

One study conducted by the Arthritis Foundation and U.S. National Institutes of Health used exercise to determine the level of affect.  Exercises were basic, showing improvement specific to depression, fatigue, mental health, social function, and pain.  In combination with patient education, the benefits lasteda minimum of six months.

Daniel Rooks, Sc.D., Assistant Professor or Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA; Roland Staud, MD., Professor of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville; Nov 12 issue, 2007, Archives ofInternal Medicine.