Aim: To investigate the efficacy of low level laser therapy (LLLT) in fibromyalgia patients.
Materials and Methods: Thirty-four fibromyalgia patients were randomly assigned to LLLT (n=16) and placebo laser groups (n=16). Outcome measures included number of tender points (NTP), Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQ), morning stiffness, global improvement as reported on a verbal scale (VSGI), and total myalgia score. Clinical evaluations were performed before, immediately after, and six months after the treatment.
Results: In the LLLT group, significant improvement was observed in clinical parameters at the end of the treatment (p<0.01). On the other hand, significant improvements were observed only in the number of tender points and morning stiffness in the placebo group (p<0.05). In comparing the groups, significant improvements were detected in scores of FIQ, VSGI, and total myalgia in the active laser group (p<0.05). The clinical evaluations performed after six months demonstrated improvements in the clinical parameters only in the LLLT group (p<0.05). When the groups were compared with each other, significant improvements were found in the LLLT group (p<0.05).
Conclusion: Our results suggest that LLLT has both short- and long-term effectiveness in the treatment of fibromyalgia.
Keywords
Fibromyalgia, low level laser therapy, and placebo
Exercise and therapy
“There is a way” to find some Relief for some of your symptoms.
The principles of treating fibromyalgia for you is to do exercises and to stretch and mobilize tight, sore muscles.
You may not want to exercise if you are already in pain and feel tired. Low-impact aerobic exercises such as brisk walking, biking, and swimming or water aerobics are excellent for you. Exercising on a regular basis, such as every other day, and gradually increase to reach a better level of comfort. Some people can greatly reduce their symptoms with exercise.
Gently stretch your muscles and move your joints through a range of motion daily and before and after aerobic exercise. Physical therapy may be helpful and could include a checklist such as: heat, ice, massage, whirlpool, ultrasound, and electrical stimulation to help control pain. Physical therapists may design a specific exercise program to improve posture, flexibility, and fitness.
Hope this Fibromyalgia Checklist will help you.
Remember with Fibromyalgia everyone’s body is different and may have different symptoms. So what might be right for one may not be right for someone else. Some people have over come Fibromyalgia.
My site has 3 places where “there is a way” to get relief for Fibromyalgia. The first one is our favorite. One of these may be just what you need to get relief from some of your Problems. Please check out these different options. Your Body will Thank you! http://www.thereisaway.ws/Fibromyalgia
During your Egoscue session the therapist may ask…
Question: Can you touch your toes?
My Answer was Always: No. It seemed I was 6 inches away and there was no hope.
My Original Reasons Why This Answer was a “NO”: Hamstrings are too tight
This week we added a new sequence to my menu. Thank you Pete for creating this new sequence of e-cises. During the e-cise I felt lots of different muscles working, especially in my right hip flexors and even SI joint. I was not completely comfortable but not in any pain.
Then the question was asked again after the new sequence… Can you touch your toes? I was just about to say “No” and then my hands were on my toes.
I think fireworks when off!! Or at least in my head. Now I have created my NEW theory on the “Real” reason for me to have not touched my toes before. My answer now is not that my hamstrings are too tight, because the e-cises didn’t even have me engage or do any resistance to my hamstrings. Granted the hamstrings might be tight but thats not the source of the problem. So I know my hamstrings are the same as they were when I started. BUT my hips were not capable of rotating forward to allow the position. The light went off in my head…its all about my hips.
My self discover is the one thing that keeps me coming back for more Egoscue. The therapist just asked the right questions and I feel like I truly came up with my own diagnosis!!
I’ve finally succumbed to the flu. And I’d been doing so well–I’ve had lots of nasty colds and sinus infections over the past few years, but I haven’t had anything this severe since about 2006. That was when a mysterious lung infection triggered the onset of Graves’ Disease and rendered me pretty incapable for the best part of a year. Fortunately, I’m in better shape now–I don’t smoke, I’m not underweight any more–so I’m hoping I won’t run the risk of any complications this time around.
Although my asthma hasn’t been a major problem for years, it does tend to flare up when I get sick like this. I always worry when my chest gets involved–I had bronchitis multiple times at university, and every time I find myself coughing I remember the time I had whooping cough in my late childhood and how it went on FOREVER. I’m keeping my inhaler close to the bed just in case.
My poor partner has it too–she came down with it the day after I did, although she doesn’t seem to have been knocked about quite so badly (thankfully). She is a bit more robust than I am, lucky thing. I’ve been comparing my symptoms with hers so I can work out whether the headache and the stiff neck muscles are a result of the flu, or part of my usual fibromyalgia woes. It’s hard to tell–I’ve been having daily headaches and neck pain for a while–but my partner says that this is also part of the flu.
We’ve both spent the weekend sitting in bed, armed with Strepsils, Sudafed, a metric fuckton of codeine, audiobooks (for when the light gets too much) and our laptops. I don’t think either of us will be going in to work tomorrow.
This is daft, but I’m a bit insulted by the cheek of the flu, bothering me at a time like this. I’ve got fibromyalgia, an autoimmune thyroid disease, asthma, and I’m mental. To make matters worse, I currently have my period. Isn’t that enough? Where’s my exemption on medical grounds? Help! Help! I’m being oppressed!
If this post makes no sense, please blame the fever. It’s not as bad as it was on Friday, but it’s still pretty annoying.
Anyway, I really should go and have a shower (my hair, omg it is foul), but it’s a bit daunting. The thought of the water hitting me makes me wince, and even with a shower chair, I’m not sure I have the spoons right now…
Hope everyone is having a good day! The right half of my mouth is almost back to where it was before having 5 “amalgam” fillings (which all contain mercury) removed. I think that’s pretty good recovery time considering all of my health issues– TMJ, fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue to naame a few.
Once again would like to thank Dr. Devening and his staff for making me as comfortable as possible. I found out his e-mail address. It’s www.downeydevening.com Check it out, I learned how to do a link! All you have to do is click on it & it will take you to the web site — neat!
My ceramic crock pot arrived. It’s much bigger than my last one. I got a 6 quart because I didn’t know what size the last one was — it must have been a 4 quart! Oh well, I guess I can cook more at one time & have more servings to put in the freezer (refer back to my older post about how to feed your family when you have FMS/CFS/TMJ).
I don’t know if I can blog every day — life has flown by since my entry on March 11. I won a game of pool against my son & my roommate, cooked supper and now I’m wiped out. Wonder if the dishes would magically wash themselves tonight?
Which came first; the chicken or the egg? Why do people want to put the cart before the horse? Hi. My name is Steven and I am a morbidly obese forty year old man who suffers from Fibromyalgia. As I am writing this I am finishing a 350 calorie bag of Cheez-its and I can’t seem to stop myself. I am 6’4” tall, weigh 368 pounds and can’t seem to do a single thing to stop the path I am heading down, like trying to fall up the downward spiral.
How does the chicken/egg and cart/horse analogies have to do with morbid obesity, unhealthy eating habits and “suicide” of any type? It will make sense if you read on.
All of my doctors agree on only one thing, I need to lose weight. The best way to this is to exercise and have a healthy diet. Duh, right? Well let’s look at me and who I am to understand something about me. First and foremost, if you tell me I have to do something or that I can’t do something and I will go to all efforts to prove you wrong. One of the reasons I am morbidly obese is because I wanted to prove to everyone that I could eat as much as I wanted, what I wanted and when I wanted. I took this to the point that I have been my current weight for the last ten years, give or take 10 lbs.
I am the way I am because I spent much of my childhood being bullied, not just in school, but also in the realm of family as well. I was bullied by my step-alcoholic (father-figure) and all seven of his brothers and sisters, save one. His nieces and nephews also bullied me. I had a very strong willed woman as a mother. I was also bullied in school. After I graduated high school I really took on my own identity, which included a fuck-em all attitude. I wasn’t going to take it any longer. Admittedly, this really wasn’t the best attitude to have, especially since I joined the Navy a month after graduation. I got into some legal trouble as a result of my rebellious attitude, but seemed to never get in enough trouble to be serious.
While I was in the Navy, I gained a few pounds, 30 to be exact. I was 6’4” tall and 230 lbs and the Navy labeled me morbidly obese then. I shed enough weight to get through my four years, with an honorable discharge (don’t ask me how, because I don’t know) and I made the biggest mistake of my life, I moved back to my hometown. I could have moved anywhere in the world, but I moved back to the blue collar shithole I was raised in. I do not have any type of issue with blue collar workers, non-what-so-ever. I am blue collar at heart, but I do have an issue with the blue collar shithole I grew up in.
My life went downhill from there, two marriages, two divorces and two bankruptcies. All the time my family is telling me what I have to do, when I have to do it and why. So what did I do? The complete opposite is what I have done. At this point in my life, it isn’t a choice any more. I can’t choose to do the opposite of the opposite. Sometimes I feel like the driver a Toyota, accelerating out of control, it is no longer my choice and I am just along for the ride regardless of how hard I try.
So I have my doctors telling me I have to lose weight. Can you guess what is happening? Yup… I am packing pounds on. I have my family telling me I have to get outside more. Can you guess what is happening? Yup… I am becoming more and more of a shut in. I have programmed myself well haven’t I. To the point that I no longer have control over my own motivations.
So I tell my doctors that I would love to get out and exercise, but the pain is too much, and that is the truth and not an exaggeration. My doctors won’t give me anything for the pain other than a mild muscle relaxant. So I don’t get out and exercise and to top that off my diet consists of a lot of sugars, carbohydrates and starch, therefore I am not losing weight. Whenever I try to cut any one of those things out of my diet it is like quitting chewing tobacco. I know because I also chew. I know, disgusting… but at least I am not exposing others to cigarette smoke. I keep my carcinogens to myself. After taking some time to think about this, I believe that I have subconsciously programmed myself to commit suicide, a different kind of suicide. So with the constant pain and inability to exercise why should have decent diet? Why should quit chewing? What’s the point? That is what my brain asks me when I try to eat right. If I can’t fix it all, why fix any of it?
I have withdrawn from society, family, career and life in general. I do run a local photography club, but outside of that I don’t have friends that I go do things with, and even if I did I would probably withdraw from them over time. My family is for the most part estranged from me, to the point that my mom is probably going to move away, since I was the only reason she was hanging around.
I have lost all of my friends, outside of a one or two, and I have all but lost my relationships with all of my family. This, along with the Fibromyalgia, abuses in the past and constant failures in business, marriage and career has greatly added to my deep depression. I have suicidal thoughts all the time, I have since I was in high school. While most people and doctors do not believe that this is normal thought behavior, my only response when that say this is, “This is and has been my normal for as long as I can remember.”
I may chew, over eat and maintain a lethargic lifestyle because deep down inside I am ready to die and I am doing everything possible to make it happen as soon as possible outside of grabbing a gun, rope or a bottle of pills. But how long before that happens? I don’t know. Right now the only thing preventing me from going that route is my fear of hell. See I truly believe that the 10 commandments spell out what can and will send a person to hell. If I were to kill myself, I would not be able to ask for forgiveness of the killing, because you can’t ask for and receive forgiveness for a sin before it is committed and therefore would go to hell. I know the logic might seem a little, or a lot, off, but it the way my logic works.
I do want to get healthier. I want to be a better husband, father, employee, photographer, etc. I want to be able to do more with my photography. I want to be able do more outside of my home. I have asked for help from my doctors in helping with pain management so I could exercise more, but alas they won’t help with pain management. They want me to lose the weight and that will help with the pain. And I argue that I need to get pain controlled to be able to exercise because the pain to too much. So there we have it, they want to put the cart before the horse and I want the chicken before the egg and I want it now; instant gratification. Either way I am in a downward spiral that probably isn’t going to end well for me, my wife or my children.
So where does one go from here? For me it is doing everything wrong, because everyone is telling what I have to do. It is a different kind of suicide.
Writing with mixed emotions today. I’m leaving in an hour for a 45 minute ride to Lexington to have half of the mercury fillings in my teeth removed and replaced by composite — which I’ve already been tested for to make sure that I’m not allergic to. I’m glad to finally be getting the mercury out, but who likes getting dental work done?! My roommate is driving me because I still can’t comfortably drive more than about 10 minutes at a time YET (my “positive” word). I go back in 3 weeks to have the other half removed because I had 9 fillings in all & that is too many to do at one time.
When I get better at this blogging thing (and have less fibro-fog), I will be able to put the little “widgets” in that make it possible for you to click on a word & learn more info about it. Like DAMS, which is an association that helps people be aware of the medical dangers of mercury fillings — the silver looking ones.
If you have “silver” fillings in your teeth, you have mercury in your mouth & every time you eat, drink or grind your teeth, you’re releasing a little mercury vapor into your body. According to my Dr., no amount of mercury is safe, so I’m having it removed. You have to go to a dentits who specializes in “safe mercury removal”. They have special machines & procedures. You can find a listing in your area if you google DAMS (the association — I feel like I’m cursing every time I type or say that LOL ).
I’ve already missed over 11 years of my life due to fibromyalgia & chronic fatigue, more than that if you count the number of days I was bed ridden from TMJ caused migraines. I’m ready to get healthy & enjoy life!
If you can’t find something that I’ve referred to, make a comment & I will get back to you as soon as possible. I promise I will get more proficient at this in the next few weeks (or months!).
I had intended on getting at least one good post out of myself, but I have accepted that it just won’t happen today . Maybe tomorrow I will write my Pulitzer winning post? (I am SOOOO kidding y’all! If you can’t laugh at yourself, WHO can you laugh at?)
This migraine is kicking my butt… and it has really taken hold of my jaw and neck… I am going to have to pay my chiropractor a visit tomorrow morning and ask him for some help…. Each time I move my right shoulder, I get fireworks going off in my head and neck… it is just going from bad to worse, and it’s time to stop fighting and just sit with it until I can get some help from my AMAZING chiro! You know you are in bad shape when you would GLADLY have your chiropractor manually stretch and release trigger points INSIDE your mouth than be given a trip to the spa… that is where I am at right now…. OUCH!!! I will exchange a really GOOD hurt over this hurt any day!
I am still holding up okay, but this is 4 days straight now, and I am starting to lose steam….. There is only so much we can do on our own before we have to reach outside ourselves.. I have tried everything.. stretching, heat, ice, baths, showers, dietary changes, yoga, deep breathing, doing the hokey pokey… I put my right foot in and I did shake it all about, it didn’t work. I swear, is there something I am missing?
Do you find that once a certain part of your body acts up, it sets off a chain reaction? This all started with a sore back and shoulder, then my back pain went away, and it was ALL in my shoulder…. then it moved quickly into my neck… and now I honestly can’t say where one starts and another ends… everything is SOOO tight and twisted… blah… And on top of my nerve pain, and “normal” pain, I think I might go loony tunes soon!! (I promise, if I go anywhere, I will invite y’all along with me!)
Sorry to all who was expecting some sort of togetherness today on my part but it ain’t gonna happen. I feel badly because the past few days I have not been blogging the way I normally do… I just need to get myself in order, and then I will be back to my fun-loving sore self – instead of my crankypants desperate self
So I am off to lay down AGAIN with another ice pack, heating pad, book, and a prayer…. I need for this migraine to GO AWAY!!!!! There, I told it!! Do you think it will listen?!?
Hugs and my love to all of you… thanks for letting my rant a little… sometimes it is good medicine.
**If you are reading this anywhere other than www.gracefulagony.wordpress.com it is because this post has been stolen. Please click on the link provided to return to the site of origin
Erik Dalton, Ph.D., the owner of the Freedom from Pain Institute® which is devoted to the research and treatment of chronic pain conditions.
Researchers tell us that for every inch that the head shifts forward of the shoulders, weight is increased by 10 pounds. Consequently, a 12 pound head held forward 3 inches forces the cervical extensors (semispinalis, splenii, longissimus, upper traps, etc.) to isometrically restrain 42 pounds against the unrelenting force of gravity. And we can’t imagine why so many clients/patients present with degenerative disc disease, head pain and TMJ.
Forward Head Postures resulting from improper sleeping positions, driving stress, computer neck, whiplash, and improper breathing habits leads to muscle strain, disc herniations, arthritis, pinched nerves and instability. Decreasing health can result from stretching of the spinal cord. According to Erik Dalton, major cause of head, neck, jaw and shoulder pain is due to poor posture including fibromyalgia, myofascial pain syndrome, temporomandibular joint dysfunction and chronic fatigue syndromes.
The extra pressure imposed on the neck from altered posture flattens the normal curve of the cervical spine resulting in abnormal strain of muscles, ligaments, fascia and bones. According to the respected Spine Journal, 2006; 6:591-694, forward head carriage produces accelerated degeneration of intervertebral joints resulting in degenerative joint disease (cervical osteoarthritis) and osteoporosis.
The consequence of poor posture goes far beyond just looking awkward. In fact, according to the January 1994 issue of the American Journal of Pain Management, posture and function are related in that poor posture is apparent in clients/patients with chronic pain-related conditions including low back pain, neck related headaches, and stress-related illnesses.
Posture influences, and moderates every function from breathing to hormonal production. Spinal pain, headache, mood, blood pressure, pulse and lung capacity are among the functions most easily impacted by poor posture. According to the Mayo Clinic Health Letter Vol. 18, #3, March 2000, the effects of long term forward neck posture leads to “long term muscle strain, disc herniations and pinched nerves.”
When spinal tissues are made to endure prolonged compression, they deform and undergo a remodeling that can become permanent. Correcting poor neck posture is key to stopping and reversing decay and degenerative disc disease and pain from headaches, rib dysfunction and Dowager’s Humps…but it takes time and a ongoing effort using modalities such as Myoskeletal Alignment(R) to correct the damage caused by faulty neck posture.
Fight Like A Girl 6.3 Fibromyalgia by awarenessgifts
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“There is a way” to find some Relief for some of your symptoms.
. Maybe tomorrow I will write my Pulitzer winning post? (I am SOOOO kidding y’all! If you can’t laugh at yourself, WHO can you laugh at?)