FAQs

Fibromyalgia is a name collectively given to a group of similar symptoms. It is not a disease. 'Fibro' means fibrous or ligament or connective tissue and 'my' means muscle, 'algia' means pain. So the term fibromyalgia means painful muscles and connective tissue. It does not give any specific cause or diagnosis but a collection of symptoms which could have many causes.

With fibromyalgia there are many painful trigger points in muscles, the normal softness and flexibility of the tissues is affected. Finding the source of inflammation in the tissues can help. This may be due to toxicity from gut or liver issues, poor diet choices, lack of sleep, inadequate nutrients to feed the tissues or build up of toxins in the tissues. Acupuncture helps to desensitize the painful knots allowing gentle exercise to improve mobility and fluidity in the tissues. Acupuncture can also help with restoring sleep patterns. Without adequate sleep we cannot heel During sleep we recover our stores of DHEA, the adrenal hormone necessary for energy and balance of sex hormones. Adequate absorption of the amino acid tryptophan combined with good sleep can restore serotonin levels, which may help depression and reduce pain sensitivity in the tissues.

We need to eat a balance of fruit and vegetables, carbohydrate and protein to provide essential amino acids for production of enzymes that break down our food and facilitate cellular metabolism, nutrients for brain neurotransmitters and adequate nutrients for repair post injury. Gut reactivity from too much of the wrong foods or food sensitivity will leak toxins back into the blood stream and into the tissues causing pain and putting strain on the liver. Too much carbohydrate or sugar puts strain on insulin to reduce blood sugar and excess sugars are stored as fat. Eating too many foods loaded with saturated fats also leads to obesity, cardiovascular disease and raised tissue inflammation. Foods rich in omega3 and omega 6 fatty acids reduce cholesterol and tissue inflammation.

Acupuncture should be a painless relaxing treatment. The needles are very fine and are placed at points along the meridians (pathways of least resistance to electrical flow) to enhance the flow of Qi (energy) and therefore flow of blood and fluids through the body. Acupuncture therefore facilitates our own body's ability to heel.

Day to day activity does not put your limbs and spine through a full range of movement. So you can still develop painful stiffness without stretching.

That is not an easy question to answer. Your personal level of fitness will determine what type of exercise is suitable for you. I have 70-80 year olds still running and playing tennis. Gentle exercise would be walking 30 minutes per day or 20-30 minutes in the pool 2-3 days per week. Your physiotherapist is best qualified to asses the appropriate exercise for you.

Running is an impact sport so there is a degree of increased weight bearing stress transmitted to the entire body. Good foot wear is essential to reduce impact stress and control foot position. This will minimize the impact and you can enjoy a good aerobic workout. With age we may start to lose the integrity of the joint cartilage. At this stage it is preferable to find sports that are less jarring on the body such as deep water running.

Not directly. Joints will pop or crack on movement caused by a release of pressure in the joint. Sometimes the neck will feel tight and then free with a click, this is ok. Repeated forceful pushing of neck from side to side to make it crack can increase wear so this should be avoided.

Yes, Thongs do not support the feet well and often the foot will excessively pronate or roll in. This transmits inward rotation up the limb to the hips and puts a further rotational stress on the pelvis and spine. Also the cushioning of impact to the ground is often poor. So yes, wearing thongs often causes increased back pain.