Fibromyalgia is not fully understood. Doctors and researchers believe it is a condition that affects the way the brain processes pain, causing any discomfort throughout the body to be amplified. Unfortunately, it is a lifelong chronic condition with no one treatment plan. However, chiropractors have found helpful ways to manage pain and other symptoms. Here are some suggestions that can help. 

How Chiropractors Help Manage Fibromyalgia

1. Chiropractic Adjustments

During this procedure, a chiropractor will use their hands or a small instrument to apply a small and sudden force to a spinal joint. This manipulation is intended to improve spinal motion and overall body function. 

Fibromyalgia sufferers often complain of neck and back pain and may have spinal stenosis — a narrowing of the spaces within the spine — which places pressure on the surrounding nerves. An adjustment corrects the spinal compression in the affected area to alleviate some or all of the pain. 

2. Therapeutic Exercises and Procedures

For many people, fibromyalgia leads to chronic pain, fatigue, and depression, which makes it hard to perform daily tasks. These exercises and procedures provide overall body care that seeks to ease the pain and other symptoms so that you can carry on with your life.

The chiropractor will include methods, such as stretching, strength training, electrical muscle stimulation, joint mobilization, and endurance exercises. The methods seek to restore mobility and function to the joints, tendons, ligaments, and bones in the affected and surrounding area. 

3. Nutrition Counseling

The food you eat provides the nutrients your body needs to function properly. Too little, too much, or the wrong substances can change the way cells function. As a result, your metabolic process can be altered. 

Certain foods, like sugar, refined carbohydrates, some types of fats,as well as many others depending on the individual, have been shown to aggravate fibromyalgia symptoms. Nutrition counseling can help you rethink the foods you eat and how they can be triggering or worsening pain, fatigue, mental fog, anxiety, depression, and other symptoms.  

Fibromyalgia pain and other symptoms don’t have to run your life. For over 45 years, the professional chiropractors at Broeg Chiropractic & Nutrition Center in Florence, KY, have been dedicated to helping patients deal with symptoms and obtain maximum quality of life. Their team specializes in a variety of treatment options, including dry needling, nutrition and wellness counseling, and Kinesio® Taping. Call (859) 525-2020 to schedule a consultation, or visit their website to learn more about their services.