How (Not) to Deal with Winter Aches and Pains

Source: The Ridgewood News (12/4/2009)

The advice in this article isn't necessary bad, unless you have fibromyalgia.  In that case, it varies from bad to not-very-helpful-at-all.  This is why I am always warning that a fibromyalgia sufferer simply cannot take every bit of advice that you come across and expect good results.  People, even doctors, who don't understand fibromyalgia give generic advice that might help the average person with aches and pains, but NOT fibromyalgia.

For example:

While both arthritis and fibromyalgia can cause excruciating pain, both also respond well to positive influences like exercise, diet and hot/cold therapy. To help minimize winter's impact on these two chronic ailments, stay active and maintain prescribed medications and therapies. Dress warmly when going outdoors, wearing layers that help trap heat near the body.

Let's take some of this advice a piece of a time:

• Exercise.  As explained in my program exercise is critically important for overcoming fibromyalgia pain.  However, it is just as critical to understand that a fibromyalgia sufferer must excercise much differently from everyone else!  The wrong kind of exercise will leave you feeling much, much worse, and have you vowing to NEVER exercise again!
• Diet.  No argument here.  Changing your diet is one of the most effective ways of dealing with fibromyalgia pain.  But how?  This article gives no more information about what to do with your diet.
• Hot/Cold Therapy.  Not generally recommended for fibromyalgia sufferers except for (in some cases) very short durations.  Like exercise, too much hot/cold therapy can leave you in quite a bit of pain!
• Stay Active.  For a fibromyalgia sufferer, those two words are very scary, indeed!  Most days, you don't feel like getting out of bed let alone "staying active"!  Of course, staying active is important, but you need to overcome your pain first.  At that point, it will be important not just to stay active, but to also limit yourself.  When you're feeling good, it's all too easy to overdo it and wind up back in pain.  My advice for a fibromyalgia suffer is "pace yourself", not "stay active"!

Now, I'm not trying to criticize this article all that much.  In reality, it does offer some fairly good advice for the person with average aches and pains.  But as far as fibromyalgia is concerned, it's clear that the writer knows little or nothing about the condition.

For example, it goes on to explain the proper way to shovel snow in the winter!  I'll tell you right now, if you suffer from fibromyalgia, if you want to stay out of pain, I urge you to PAY to have your snow shoveled!  Save your energy for the things you enjoy!  :)