Pain that’s spread all over your body. Difficulty paying attention. Trouble sleeping. These are all symptoms that fibromyalgia patients commonly deal with.
The trouble is that up to 12 million Americans suffer from fibromyalgia, and many of them are being treated with medication for their symptoms. However, these medications can lead to side effects that can be nearly as bad as the symptoms. For many people, the solution is to find natural treatment options for fibromyalgia. One natural option that you may want to explore is physical therapy.
Three reasons physical therapy is an effective natural treatment option for fibromyalgia
Physical therapists can provide natural treatment for many chronic pain conditions, including fibromyalgia. In fact, these specialists can build you a plan that includes many natural techniques.
Three reasons you should try such a therapy plan include:
- It can reduce your pain — Pain reduction is the biggest goal that most fibromyalgia patients want to reach. Physical therapy offers treatments that can help you reach this goal. One treatment your physical therapist could use is therapeutic exercises.
These exercises can be used to stretch out sore muscles, but they can also help build up your strength. One study found that strengthening exercises can help decrease fibromyalgia pain. This study reveals that strength training helped decrease pain scores by about 49 points on a scale of 0 to 100.
- It can decrease your need for pain meds — Pain medications can become addictive and lead to more problems for you. Luckily, physical therapy can help fibromyalgia patients reduce their need for pain meds. For instance, your physical therapist can help you find ways to exercise that reduce your pain. One study showed that only 41.4% of patients who did strength training exercises were still taking pain medication.
- It can improve your function — Fibromyalgia typically makes it harder for your joints and other body parts to function normally. One goal of physical therapy is to help you improve your ability to function. A technique that can offer this advantage is instrument-assisted soft tissue mobilization (IASTM).
This therapy method involves your physical therapist applying pressure to sore body parts with special metal tools. IASTM can be helpful for increasing function in fibromyalgia patients. A study of this technique reveals that its use led to a nearly 14-point improvement in fibromyalgia patients’ function scores.
Ready to find natural fibromyalgia treatment from a physical therapist? Whatcom PT can help!
At Whatcom Physical Therapy, our team has experience using natural treatment options on patients with fibromyalgia. We can get your therapy process started with a free screening, and this service helps us learn how severe your fibromyalgia is. Additionally, our physical therapists are adept at building individualized therapy plans that can reduce your pain and increase your ability to move.
Don’t have the time to come in for an in-person appointment? No worries! Our team can also treat you from home via a virtual therapy session.
Contact our team today for more information about all the treatments we offer for fibromyalgia or to schedule your initial appointment.
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