If you suffer from fibromyalgia, you likely feel that your pain is a mystery. It takes doctors years to come up with a diagnosis and it seems that the only way to help with the pain is by taking medications with some pretty nasty side effects. Plus it’s no longer a secret that opiate medications for chronic pain are becoming a leading killer in America. It’s becoming criminal to prescribe these pain medications for patients which makes this mystery so frustrating. I’m here to tell you that we’re working on uncovering the mystery and this post should shed some light on a few natural steps that you can take to improve your fibromyalgia pain. Fibromyalgia relief is a possibility.
What is Fibromyalgia?
Fibromyalgia is a disorder characterized by widespread musculoskeletal pain accompanied by fatigue, sleep, memory and mood issues. Researchers believe that fibromyalgia amplifies painful sensations by affecting the way your brain processes pain signals.
Symptoms sometimes begin after a physical trauma, surgery, infection or significant psychological stress. In other cases, symptoms gradually accumulate over time with no single triggering event.
Why Common Treatments Don’t Work
Do you wonder why the typical treatments for fibromyalgia relief don’t work? This story may help us to understand. Imagine, you take your car to the mechanic because the check engine light came on. It’s alarming, you wonder if there is something serious going on. Are you going to have an expensive repair? The mechanic looks under the hood of your car, then sits in the driver’s seat, grabs his black electrical tape and covers up the check engine light. He looks at you and says “No more check engine light! I think my work is done!” Really? He can’t be further from the truth because there was nothing actually done to fix the problem. You now don’t realize there’s a problem because the light is covered.
It’s a silly story and no one would ever do this to a vehicle (I hope). But we do it to our bodies all the time. We cover up the symptoms, only to wonder later what could be the underlying cause of our problems.
It’s most likely because we aren’t getting down to the root of the problem. Anytime you cover up the symptom, you aren’t allowing the body to completely heal. There must be a different answer.
What Causes Fibromyalgia?
The secret to fibromyalgia relief is in the cause. It has been found to be a hypervigilant stress response. 85-90% of people with this hypervigilant stress response have been the victim of some kind of significant abuse in the past. When you have a stress response that is happening that is not normal or necessary, the flight or fight mechanism is out of control, you don’t sleep and you suffer in a myriad of ways because of it.
Here are some examples of a hypervigilant fight or flight response
- Poor deep sleep
- Low growth hormone
- Tightening of fascia
- Painful adhesions
- Leaky gut syndrome
If you want any hope of improving your fibromyalgia pain, addressing these key areas is vital.
This is probably the most difficult area to address because of prior abuse. For some, it may seem too painful to address those experiences and memories. Seeing a counselor who can help you work through the emotions and feelings you’re experiencing can be life-saving.
The 4 R’s Method for Fibromyalgia relief
- Rest: You must get more deep sleep if you’re going to decrease the hyperactive stress response. Upper cervical chiropractic adjustments, certain supplement and herb combinations can help you to improve deep sleep.
- Repair: Improve digestion and improve the function of the muscles and fascia. Much of the fibromyalgia pain comes from an extreme tightness of the fascia surrounding all your muscles. Chiropractic adjustments, myofascial release therapy, and therapeutic movement (gentle exercise) will help you in this phase.
- Rebalance: Balance energy production hormones, inflammation, and mood. Targeted supplements can accomplish this.
- Reduce: Treat any residual symptoms of the pain, fatigue and fibro-fog. Care from your family chiropractor will improve this area.
