Possible benefits and how to get started???
Exercise is a double sword when you have fibromyalgia, it can make you feel better but on the other hand it can also make you feel worse.
You would be thinking that how is that possible, so it’s the game of intensity and duration, both of them have to be tailored to your individual level of exercise tolerance.
Warm-water exercise has gained a lot of attention in soothing fibromyalgia pain. It offers a lot of benefits as shown by numerous studies and researches.
Researchers say it can help:
>>Improve pain threshold (the point at which sensations become painful)
>>Reduce tender point count
>>Reduce pain
>>Boost cognitive function
>>Improve functional capacity
>>Improve mental health
>>Decrease body fat
>>Make you perceive your condition as less severe.
Researchers have shown that people with fibromyalgia can better tolerate warm water exercises than any other exercise.
How strong is the evidence??
You have to take into account how reliable the studies are whenever you are talking about research.
A 2014 review of available evidence concluded that there was low to moderate quality evidence that aquatic training is useful for fibromyalgia. It also found very low to low quality evidence supporting combination of water and land based exercises.
When it comes to studies of non drug treatment this level of evidence is not that unusual, however it may indicate that your results may not be in line with study conclusions.
Especially when it comes to overlapping conditions, you may have extenuating factors that can make exercise therapy less useful.
>>>Chronic fatigue syndrome is very common in us; if you are suffering from this the symptom of post-exertional malaise can make you far less able to tolerate the exertion and can lead to severe upswings in symptoms.
>>>you may need to exercise far less than people in studies if you are seriously deconditioned.
>>>You may need a program specially tailored to you, not to fibromyalgia patients in generally, if you have overlapping conditions like joint damage such as arthritis.
You should consider the pros and cons carefully and discuss them with your doctor before jumping into exercise therapy of any kind. Still the consistency of findings may lend some credibility to the body of evidence.
General benefits of water exercise
It is easy to perform and far more beneficial than other exercises that exist on land, plus it’s gentler on your body. It has many benefits for us.
>>>Its non-impact, so it won’t jar your muscles and joints.
>>>The buoyancy decreases the effect of gravity, so moving takes less effort.
>>Immersion in water helps you relax and lowers pain reception.
>>Why warm water???
Cold water can make muscles tense up, so warm-water pool is good for therapy. People with fibromyalgia are intolerant to cold so it is especially important to fibromyalgia patients. A warm water pool is one that is kept around 89.6 degrees Fahrenheit (32 Celsius), which are several degrees warmer than most heated pools.
If you do not feel your muscles tense in a regular-temperature pool, and if you can tolerate cold well, then you can try exercising there. However both during and after workout watch your body signs if your body is poorly reacting to cold.
Most gyms do not have therapeutically warm pools. Your doctor or physical therapists may know of some in your community, or you can check with local agencies and institutions, including:
>>Colleges and universities
>>YMCA and YWCA
>>Rehabilitation centers
>>The arthritis foundation
>>Easter seals
>>The Salvation Army
>>Support groups for arthritis and fibromyalgia
Many of these places have scheduled classes for people with fibromyalgia or any other condition that limits mobility, where you can learn from some qualified instructor.
Getting started
Before beginning aquatic therapy or any exercise program check with your doctor:
>>Look for a qualified instructor or therapist.
>>Start slowly, with short, low intensity sessions, and then work up gradually.
>>Start with 2 sessions a week, several days apart, to see how your body responds to exercise.
>>Know your limitations and stay within them. Don’t feel like you have to make it through entire class.
>>Don’t try to push through the pain, as it will likely make you hurt later on.
>>Talk about the timing of any pain killers if you are taking them, if you take them before exercise you may miss your body’s signs that you are working too hard.
For reference: By Adrienne Dellwo via Verywell
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