Fibromyalgia Facts:

In 1986, Fibromyalgia (FMS) patients evaluated chiropractic care via a ‘questionnaire study’, as being more successful than  prescribed medication.(1) Follow-up survey figures in 1991 supported the earlier findings.(2) An additional study demonstrated that chiropractors were amongst the alternative health practitioners that FMS (Fibromyalgia Syndrome) patients most frequently used.(3) Myofascial or deep tissue massage has also been a popular treatment.

Supplementary studies propose that spinal manipulation (chiropractic adjustments) and myofascial therapy (myofascial release) improved some of the FMS patients’ symptoms, especially the most prolific symptom- pain.(4,5) And in yet another controlled study, para-spinal soft-tissue massage along with chiropractic spinal manipulation worked to increase FMS patients’ general sense of well-being.(6)

Other studies, though, suggest that the long-term use of spinal manipulation does not measurably improve the pain and functional impairment of FMS patients.(7-9)

?

These reports are why I do not use spinal manipulation as the sole modality to treat Fibromyalgia in my Denver chiropractors clinic. Contrarily, these reports are one of the reasons I sometimes do.  Treatment plans must be customized to the individual. Spinal manipulation is a tool. Myofascial release is a tool and tools should be used accordingly, based on a fluctuating number of individual factors. In my clinical experience, Fibromyalgia patients who receive too much spinal manipulation or too aggressive spinal manipulation may actually react adversely and get worse. I’ve have found that most Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue patients need metabolic rehabilitation as well as neurological relief.

Most suffer from what I call “Nerve Exhaustion.”

The fact is that spinal manipulation and deep tissue therapy may offer mild-to-moderate but temporary pain relief. Most patients achieve long-term reprieve from pain and additional symptoms only when they go through comprehensive metabolic and neurological treatment and physical rehabilitation.

1. Wolfe, F, Smythe, HA, Yunus, MB, et al. The American College of Rheumatology 1990

criteria for the classification of fibromyalgia: report of the multicenter criteria committee.

Arthritis Rheumatism 1990; 33:160-172.

2. Pioro-Boisset M, Esdaile JM, and Fitzcharles MA: Alternative medicine use in fibromyalgia

syndrome. Arthritis Care Res 1996; 9(1):13-17.

3. Wolfe F. The clinical syndrome of fibrositis. Am J Med 1986; 81(suppl 3A):7-14. 35. Wolfe

F. Personal communication, March 8, 1991.

4. Blunt, K.L., Rajwani, M.H., and Guerriero, R.C.: The effectiveness of chiropractic

management of fibromyalgia patients: a pilot study. J Manip Physiol Ther 1997; 20(6):389-399.

5. Hains G, and Hains F. A combined ischemic compression and spinal manipulation in the

treatment of fibromyalgia: A preliminary estimate of dose and efficacy. J Manip Physiol Ther

2000; 23(4):225-230.

6. Backstrom G and Rubin BR. When Muscle Pain Won’t Go Away. Dallas: Taylor Publishing

Company, 1992.

7. Dimmock S, Troughton PR, and Bird HA. Factors predisposing to the resort of

complementary therapies in patients with fibromyalgia. Clin Rheumatol 1996; 15(5):478-482.

8. Jacobs JW, Rasker JJ, Van Riel PL, Gridnau FW, and van de Putte LB. Alternative treatment

methods in rheumatic diseases: a literature review. Ned Tijdschr Geneeskd 1991; 135(8):317-

322.

9. Fitzcharles MA and Esdaile JM. Nonphysician practitioner treatments and fibromyalgia

syndrome. J Rheumatol 1997; 24(5):937-940

Oxygen therapy for Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome?

Yep.

As a chiropractor in Denver I understand what it means to live ‘a mile high.’

Your brain uses about 20% of all the oxygen that enters your blood from the lungs. But the brain only makes up about 2% of your total body mass.

It’s an oxygen hog.

Your brain consumes and requires more oxygen than any other organ in the body. So, inherently, it’s extremely susceptible to damage related to oxygen deprivation.

That being said, here’s my FREE Healthy Tip of the Day: Breathe deeply to keep your brain joyfully swimming in cells that are bathed in oxygen.

I see a lot of patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) and Fibromyalgia (FM). One of the most important modalities that I employ is oxygen therapy.

It can be very effective.

In fact, oxygen therapy for Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is one of the “keys” I use in managing those conditions naturally. Fibromyalgia has so many neurological components to it. The nervous system needs oxygen to function. Ignore that fact and you get sub-par results.

To make a complex concept simple, your brain and nervous system need two things to survive:

FUEL and ACTIVATION.

The most important forms of fuel come in the form of oxygen and glucose.  You get glucose from the foods that you eat, but as we age our ability to utilize oxygen decreases.  It’s called oxidative phosphorizalation (scientific talk for ‘your body doesn’t utilize oxygen as effectively as it should anymore.’)

Now add to the mix that most people are shallow breathers and that we live at 5,280 feet and you can start to see why you may not be getting enough fuel for your brain and nervous system. I’d feel tired, beat up and worn down too if I were a brain.

Oxygen is to the body what gas is to your car.  Without gas in the car you’re not driving anywhere.

Without sufficient amounts of oxygen available for your brain and nervous system, not only can you age prematurely but many of the various treatments you attempt may not get you much better.

Breathe…..