Fibromyalgia and chronic pain can be debilitating. Unfortunately, there are no easy answers. Traditionally, medications are used to help manage or dampen the symptoms. Often times these medications are accompanied by unwanted side effects. Also, over time, they may become less effective.
Overcoming a chronic health challenge like fibromyalgia requires time and commitment. The approach used in our office is to support and improve function through:
1) Diet A healthy well balanced diet is essential to good health and healing. Making the right food choices is very important and may require guidance and supervision. Just as important as knowing what to eat, is knowing what not to eat. Many people have unknown food sensitivities and they continue to eat things daily that are making their condition worse. Finding and eliminating these hidden food sensitivities is critical to improving their health.
2) Lifestyle
a. Sleep- We recover and heal while we sleep. A person should get at least 7-8 hours/night. Long term deprivation can contribute to many health problems.
b. Stress Reduction- Many chronic health problems are caused by or exacerbated by stress physiology. Today’s fast pace lifestyle leave many of us in a perpetual state of “fight or flight”. You can not heal in this state.
c. Exercise- The benefits of exercise are many and well established. Unfortunately, many people’s conditions prevent them from being able to exercise. Whole Body Vibration (WBV) may be a suitable substitute until a person is physically able to exercise on their own.
3) Specific Supplementation- Most people believe that taking supplements is important for their health but how do you know what to take and how do you know that it is helpful? If you are buying supplements at the grocery store on the advice of your neighbor, there is a very good chance that you are throwing money away. In our office, we use only the highest quality all natural supplements. We base all of our supplement recommendations on lab findings and use follow up labs to monitor their effectiveness. It is important to monitor not only that you’re feeling better but that you’re functioning better and that your physiology has improved.
4) Brain Based Therapy – A healthy brain and nervous system are essential to good health and bodily function. Your brain and nervous system need 2 things to be healthy: Fuel and activation (use it or lose it). Fuel comes in the form of glucose and oxygen. Managing glucose levels is very important. Unfortunately as we age our bodies ability to utilize oxygen decreases. We use supplemental oxygen with our chronic patients to help them heal faster. By combining exercise with oxygen therapy (EWOT) we can increase brain function and help a number of chronic health problems.
To discover whether Dr. Diehl may be able to help you with your health problem, please call (814)238-0232 to request a consultation and case review.
