Health & Wellness , Aches & Pains , Physical Therapy , Chronic Pain

Fibromyalgia – What to Do When the Fibro Ignites

Used with permission from the APTA Private Practice Section

As we head into the dog days of summer, the weather is heating up. For the nearly 5 million people in the United States with Fibromyalgia, they might experience a different kind of heat – the burning pain that typically comes along with this diagnosis.

What is Fibromyalgia?

Fibromyalgia is a chronic condition that can cause a wide range of symptoms throughout the body. It’s usually diagnosed between the ages of 30 and 50, and 80% to 90% of the people affected are women.

The most common symptoms are:

● chronic pain all over the body

● fatigue

● memory problems

● sleep disturbances

● depression or anxiety.

How Does Physical Therapy Help?

Because of the wide range of symptoms, fibromyalgia can be a debilitating condition. It is not uncommon for people to begin avoiding activities altogether because of pain and fatigue. This begins a cycle of deconditioning that not only impacts the person’s overall health, but also makes the symptoms of fibromyalgia worse. The cause of fibromyalgia is currently unknown and there is no cure, so physical therapy treatments are designed to reduce and manage the symptoms. This requires a multi-pronged approach.

Common treatments include:

Education

The first step in treating fibromyalgia is often helping people understand what’s going on, and what they can do about it. Research has shown that people who are knowledgeable about their condition have better outcomes, more confidence, and cope better.

Decrease Pain and Improve Range of Motion

Physical therapists are movement experts with a lot of tools and techniques to help with the pain and stiffness caused by fibromyalgia. A PT might use gentle manual therapy or massage, prescribe specific stretches, or a simple yoga routine. They might also use modalities like electrical stimulation, biofeedback or in states where it is allowed, dry needling.

Exercise

Once patients understand the condition and are able to move a little better with less pain, exercise often enters the treatment picture. Research has shown that low to moderate intensity aerobic exercise like walking, biking, or swimming is important in managing fibromyalgia symptoms. It can help with pain, fatigue, sleep disturbances, depression, and more. Physical therapists and patients work together to find the right type of exercise and the right intensity to best manage fibromyalgia. They often have to start slow, and make adjustments along the way.

Each physical therapy session is tailored to the needs of the patient and will vary depending on the severity of their symptoms. Despite there still being no cure for fibromyalgia, physical therapists can help with pain management, strength, mobility, fatigue and function to help patients find relief from their symptoms.

Physical Therapy , Health & Wellness , Blog

Are You Drinking Enough Water?

Written by Ashley Wood, PT

Importance of Drinking Water

Water is one of the six nutrients that is essential for life. While your body can survive for weeks without food, you can only survive a few days without water. Water makes up 50%-70% of your body weight and is important for all systems in your body to function properly.

Some of the roles water plays in your bodies include:

getting rid of waste
regulating body temperature
carrying nutrients and oxygen to all cells of the body
converting food to energy
cushioning vital organs
and lubricating joints

If you are not taking in enough water, your body is unable to function properly.

If you have poor hydration…

Your circulation can be affected and prevent your organs from getting necessary nutrients.
You can feel tired, irritable, and cranky.
You can have difficulty focusing and thinking clearly, which can make you less productive.
You can feel stiff, sore, and achy.

How Much Is Enough?

Many people do not drink enough water every day. At a minimum, you should drink half of your body weight in ounces every day. So, if you weigh 150 pounds, you should be drinking 75 ounces of water each day. Some of your fluid intake can be from drinks that are made primarily of water such as tea, fruit juices, sports drinks, and coffee, but most of your fluid intake should be water. If you are drinking caffeinated drinks, you can only count half the amount of that beverage (16 ounces of caffeinated coffee would count for 8 ounces of fluid intake). This is because caffeine can promote increased urination, so you will be losing some of the fluid you are taking in. Keep in mind that drinking sports drinks, fruit juices, and other sweetened drinks increases the amount of sugar you are consuming, so it is a good idea to drink these sparingly. The recommendation for daily water intake is based on your body working under normal conditions. If the weather is hot/humid or you are exercising, you will need to increase your water intake since your body will be losing more fluids through sweat.

Signs You Are Not Getting Enough Water

The best way to tell if you are well hydrated is by the color of your urine. Urine should be pale yellow (like lemonade) in color to nearly colorless. If your urine is darker in color, then you need to drink more water. Being thirsty is another sign that you are dehydrated. You should be drinking water consistently throughout the day to avoid getting to the point that you feel thirsty.

Signs of dehydration include:

dry mouth
headaches
nausea
decreased urine output
confusion
dizziness
lightheadedness
fatigue
extreme thirst
constipation
dry skin
heart palpitations
low blood pressure.

These can be acute signs of dehydration, but you can also be chronically dehydrated and have some of the symptoms.

Tips for Increasing Water Intake

Increasing your water intake to the daily recommended amount can seem like a daunting task. The first rule of thumb is not to do this all in one day, or you will spend most of your time in the bathroom. Instead, gradually increase your fluid intake by 4-8 ounces every 1-2 days to allow your body to adjust to the extra fluid. Tips for making sure you are getting enough water each day include:

Drink a glass of water each morning before you eat breakfast.
Keep a jug of the recommended amount of water in your refrigerator and make sure you drink it all every day.
Carry a water bottle with you and drink regularly between meals.
Drink a glass of water with each meal.
Drink water before, during, and after exercise.
Eating plenty of fruits and vegetables can increase the amount of fluid you are taking in because they tend to have a high water content. Fruits and vegetables that are particularly high in water include lettuce, celery, zucchini, cabbage, and melons.
If you do not like drinking plain water, use a fruit infuser water bottle to naturally flavor your water with fruits such as lemons, limes, and strawberries. There are a lot of enhancers to flavor water on the market, but be aware that these have added sugar or artificial sweeteners and should be used sparingly.

Increasing the amount of water you are drinking is a simple an inexpensive way to improve your overall health. Every system in your body depends on water to function properly. If you have further questions about this topic, consult with your health care provider for further information.

Physical Therapy , Health & Wellness , Aches & Pains , Blog

Lessons from the Hive

Written by Ben Fern, PT, MPT, Clinic Director

One of the many questions you encounter as a beekeeper (other than “are you crazy?”) is “how often do you get stung?” The answer varies from beekeeper to beekeeper, depending on how much protective clothing you want to apply in the heat of the summer, but for me, the answer is “plenty”. Getting acquainted with the business end of a honeybee is never pleasant but it does offer numerous lessons. One lesson is that honeybees are going to find your weak spots. Some veils leave a tiny opening just under the chin if you don’t cinch it up quite tightly enough, but you can pretty much guarantee that a bee will find that opening. Another lesson is that is it is never a good thing when you feel sweat trickling up your leg.

Can You Beelieve it?

While you would think getting stung is a bad thing, the more you dive deep into beekeeping, the more you learn that there are actually benefits to getting stung. Getting stung by a bee and being exposed to its venom creates a pretty strong immune system response. Oftentimes, as beekeepers are exposed to bee venom more frequently, their swelling response becomes less and less as their immune system gets a frequent “tune-up”.

Bee a Good Listener

Bees don’t just set out to sting people, it happens for a reason. Maybe I am moving too fast and being clumsy. Maybe I am squishing bees when moving frames of honeycomb around. Maybe I am entering the hive at a poor time (at night, or when it is raining). The bees oftentimes reveal my mistakes and make me move more slowly and with better concentration and focus so that I won’t get stung.

Don’t Bee (too) Alarmed

Pain from an injury is oftentimes like the pain from a bee sting. When we have back pain, our body will alert us when we are sitting too long, or lifting too much, or not resting enough, or not moving enough. Pain can act as an alarm that alerts us to when we are threatening our tissue with stresses that it cannot handle. As PTs, we work with our patients every day on how to work through our pain so that we respond to that alarm correctly. We respond to that “alarm” by doing specific exercises, working on specific muscles, or doing gradually increasing amounts of activity. We also are there to help identify situations when our pain “alarm” is acting in a manner that is too sensitive (chronic pain) and how to quiet that alarm, but that is a discussion for another day.

So the next time you experience the sting of pain from an injury, listen to that alarm to see how you should respond, or contact a Physical Therapist at Dubuque PT to help you respond correctly.