First of all, I want to congratulate the Senior Stars cheerleading team (my daughter Frankie cheers on that team) on their National championship last week in Myrtle Beach!
They beat teams from New York, Ohio, Virginia, Tennessee, and teams from North Carolina!!
Way to go!!
Now, on to this week’s question.
Q. I have been diagnosed with fibromyalgia; my doctor says I need to perform light exercises and he gave me a prescription.
Can you explain what I am dealing with?
A. I certainly will try!
Fibromyalgia: Fybro means fibrous tissue. Myo means muscle. Algos means pain.
Fibromyalgia is a disorder classified by the presence of chronic widespread pain and a heightened and painful response to gentle touch.
Other core features of the disorder include debilitating fatigue, sleep disturbance, and joint stiffness
Not all affected persons experience all the symptoms by having fibromyalgia. There is no generally accepted cure for fibromyalgia. However, there are treatments that can effectively reduce symptoms which include medication, patient education, light exercise and behavioral interventions.
Other treatment can be physical therapy, myofascial release therapy and water therapy. We have a great water exercise program here at the J.F. Hurley Family YMCA, which I would love for you to try!
You can try application of heat and cold and massage therapy. We have great new massage therapist at our Y. His name is Travis Alligood and customers are raving about him!
Yoga, relaxing exercises, acupressure and acupuncture can relieve fibromyalgia symptoms.
Diagnosing fibromyalgia often takes time and lots of tests. There is no single test that can confirm you have fibromyalgia. Your doctor will often run tests and procedures to rule out fibromyalgia (which can be very frustrating) but the results of these tests will guide your course of treatment.
People who suffer from fibromyalgia whom I have dealt with gain wonderful results with light exercising, water exercise and massage therapy.
I hope I answered your questions and that you and your doctor can come up with a good treatment plan.
For information on all our classes and times, call 704-636-0111 or go to our Web site www.rowan ymca.org
Good luck!
Ester Marsh is associative executive director of the J.F. Hurley Family YMCA. Contact her at 704-636-0111 or emarsh@ rowanymca.com.