some tips

[Guest guest]

"Feyona McFarlane"

Subject: some tips

Comprehensive studies on fibromyalgia (FMS) are beginning to connect being overweight with a lower pain threshold, meaning you feel pain at a greater intensity. Maintaining an ideal weight is most compatible with optimal health and controlling your FMS symptoms. If years of deprivation dieting to stay slim have stressed your body, causing your metabolism to slow down and making it difficult to lose weight, you owe it to yourself and your family to stop dieting and get in control of your eating habits.

(Source: The Fibromyalgia Handbook: A 7-Step Program To Halt and Even Reverse Fibromyalgia. By H. McIlwain, M.D., and Debra Fulghum Bruce, M.S. Owl Books/Henry Holt.)

Dr. McIlwain writes, "Stanford researcher Dr. Spiegel, an expert in behavioral medicine, is widely recognized for his studies of breast cancer patients. Through years of research, Spiegel discovered that patients with advanced breast cancer that participated in weekly group therapy and social support sessions had significantly greater survival times than patients who did not participate in such groups. From his work, Spiegel concluded that social support might be a means by which to buffer the effects of stress. I believe this applies to those with any chronic illness, including fibromyalgia."

(Source: The Fibromyalgia Handbook: A 7-Step Program To Halt and Even Reverse Fibromyalgia. By H. McIlwain, M.D., and Debra Fulghum Bruce, M.S. Owl Books/Henry Holt.)

Neck pain? Take two tennis balls and put them in a sock. Lie down on a firm surface and put the balls behind your neck, just beneath the shelf of your skull. Close your eyes and breathe deeply, then gradually reposition the balls further down your neck.

Tense muscles? Lie on the floor or back up against a wall and position the ball where you find intense soreness. The ball will add pressure to painful trigger points, similar to the way acupressure or acupuncture works.

(Source: The Fibromyalgia Handbook: A 7-Step Program To Halt and Even Reverse Fibromyalgia. By H. McIlwain, M.D., and Debra Fulghum Bruce, M.S. Owl Books/Henry Holt.)