A surprising treatment for chronic pain: Exercise

When you have chronic pain, the last thing you want to do is exercise, but oftentimes, that's exactly what you should do.  "Exercise breaks up the cycle of pain," says Roberta Breidenbach, and aquatic physical therapist with the Colorado Sports and Spine Centers.

Staying active can prevent joints from getting stiff, and strengthening muscles can stabilize the body.  If you have pain from arthritis, fibromyalgia or other chronic conditions, it's important to find an exercise you can do comfortable and that you'll want to keep doing.

A study recently published in the Annals of Internal Medicine found that yoga for adults with crronic low back pain led to improvements in back function.  Low impact exercises are great too.  Water exercise is good too and with the buoyancy of water, you can walk without pain.  Breidenbach says, "When the water is up to your armpits, that takes 75% of your weight off your joints."

Other low impact activities include walking and riding a stationary bike.  Strength training should always be a part of your program, just make sure you check with your doctor.  Whatever activity you choose, the important thing is to stay active.  Give it a try and if you stick with it, you'll feel the difference.

Information shared from Penrose Bloom magazine.

I have had a few clients with fibromyalgia and they were scared to start a strength training program, because they were already in pain and certainly didn't want to be in more pain.  It's hard to explain to them, how important strength training is and how it can benefit them.  As a professional I have to challenge them just enough to feel the benefit but stop shy of them feeling even more pain for longer periods of time.  Starting out slowly with clients in chronic pain is important.  Monitoring them after the workout to see how their body has reacted is another consideration, because if it was too much, they may not come back.  Communication is very important and we have a consult to explain how they may feel afterwards and how we may have to adjust the programming to get the benefit of the exercise but not to overdo it.  
If you know of anyone that needs to work with a professional please pass my information to them.
WM of PBC