2 Things You Must Do to Treat and Cure Fibromyalgia

June 15, 2010 by Lisa
  • The First thing you must do to Treat and Cure Fibromyalgia is: Get Happy

Get happy? This may seem like a weird thing you must do, right? And what does getting happy have to do with treating and curing fibromyalgia anyway?

Everything.

Let me explain why, in my experience, getting happy, or working to get as happy as I possibly could, was the single most important thing I did to get better from fibromyalgia.

Essentially, in my opinion, fibromyalgia is caused and perpetuated by chronic tightening and shortening of the fascia. Fascia is a connective tissue that covers every muscle, muscle fiber, nerve, and organ in the body.

This chronic tightening and shortening is caused by many things, but chief among them may be stress chemicals.

When you are stressed, your body releases stress chemicals. When your body releases stress chemicals and it can’t clear them all out right away, it stores them in your tissues and your fascia.

When your fascia is crammed full of stress chemicals, every inch of it is really painful, your bodily processes don’t work right, and you are always tired (because your body is always trying to clear out the stress chemicals instead of resting or digesting or doing it’s other things).

So, if you get happy, immediately you will stop laying down more stress chemicals. This is really important. If you can stop laying down more stress chemicals your body will start winning the battle it’s been waging to clear more stress chemicals than it is storing evey day.

Another perk of getting happy is the opposite of stress chemical release: helpful chemical release.

Stress chemicals are a biochemical response within your body that occur when you are feeling negative emotions like anger, fear, despair, worry, anxiety, and depression. The negative emotions don’t cause the response, they just indicate it.

There are biochemical responses that occur when you are feeling joy, love, happiness, enthusiasm, and interest also. These good chemicals, help heal the body.

So, when you get happy, you are both stopping the laying down of harmful stress chemicals and starting the circulating of helpful, feel-good chemicals. Any time period that you can sustain great happiness in will be a healing time for your body.

  • What do I mean by get happy?

I believe that happiness is under my control. I used to believe that circumstances and events around me determined whether I was happy or not. Because I believed that, it was true, and I was often not happy.
Now that I have made a commitment to being happy, and looked for things that make me happy, and TRY each day to think thoughts and pay attention to things that will give me that *feeling* of happiness, I am happy a lot more.

I’ve had to let go of a lot of my old thoughts and beliefs about things that made me unhappy too. This is a pretty complicated subject, and one that I am still working my way through, so I will just advise you to check out the work of other people. Here’s my favorite book on learning how to get happy via your thoughts.

  • The Second thing you must do to Treat and Cure Fibromyalgia is: Bodywork

If you could get perfectly happy and stay happy you probably wouldn’t need bodywork. Your body could clear itself out completely and totally heal itself eventually. I completely believe this, based on my own experience.

However, it took me a long time to learn how to truly get and be happy, and it may take you a long time too.

While you are learning, it’s really nice to have something physical to do that can show you very concrete results within in fairly short time.

For me, also I am extremely appreciative that I took the opportunity to learn the language of my body and figure out how to help my fascia.

This means that anytime I have an ache or a pain, I can just feel it and know what’s causing it and what will help it the most. This also means that any time I get hurt, I have a better inner knowledge of how hurt I really am.

For example, I recently fell while crossing a rope bridge and I badly wrenched my wrist when I caught my full body weight with just that one hand. After the initial pain subsided I was able to ‘listen’ to the sensations within my wrist and know where the injury was and how to help it. (it needed complete rest for a couple of hours and a little bit of self-massage in a specific place). The wrist was 95% better within one day and completely better within 2 weeks.

This is the kind of knowledge that anyone who takes the time to learn self-bodywork to reverse fibromyalgia will develop. This is what I want for you. It’s like having an owner’s manual or instruction booklet to your own body.

  • What do I mean by bodywork?

There are two main types of bodywork that I do: Stretching, and Self-Massage

Both are completely effective and both complement each other.

In my opinion, there are 1000 things that you could do that would help heal your fibromyalgia, like stretching, yoga, pilates, self trigger point massage, deep tissue massage, shiatsu, watsu, bowen work, rolfing, biofeedback, progressive relaxation, needle therapy or many more.

I have tried dozens of things, and the two that have stuck with over the years are restorative yoga and self trigger-point massage. These two give me the most ‘bang for my buck’. They help me the most and are the easiest to do and stick with.

I like stretching for daily, full-body maintenance of my wonderfully loose and good-feeling fascia, and I like trigger point massage for spot-treatment. Say I am having pain, I can figure out where the pain is coming from and treat that area with self-trigger point massage, and within minutes I can reduce or eliminate that pain.

Just as a note here, when I first started healing, I did a lot of trigger point massage every day and I still had a lot of pain. My muscles had to be mostly healthy before just one session of self-massage would make them feel good – so don’t get discouraged if you don’t have immediate results right away.

So that’s it, those are the two things I have found that you absolutely must do if you want to get treat and cure fibromyalgia – there are many ways to do these two things. Just get started with ANYTHING and see where it takes you.

I like to recommend my book because I discuss many different tools and ways to do these two things, but never stray from them. These are my focus: Get Happy, and Bodywork. :)



Highly Recommended: 30 Days to Feel Better From Fibromyalgia

Previous Post: 
Next Post: 


Comments

15 Comments on 2 Things You Must Do to Treat and Cure Fibromyalgia

  1. Carol on Fri, 22nd Oct 2010 8:56 pm

    2. Hello Lisa,
    I have had fibro for 5 very long and painful years. Also, I don’t remember many sentimental events these past 5 years either.
    I know you can relate. I have searched and searched for ways to feel better while dealing with fibro. After doctors and specialist visits, I had given up on them. I always felt strongly deep in my heart fibro could be reversed I just didn’t know where to begin. At times it has been hard to comprehend this idea. Recently I asked a friend who lives on the other side of the country ( I’m in NC), if he felt that fibro could be reversed and he said, “definitely yes”. So I started looking around and you are the only one who believes as I. I can’t believe I didn’t find you years ago.
    I am not able to buy your book as of yet, the economy hit my family hard. But I have started doing many things you suggest. I will eventually do everything you suggest will help. I agree with you 100%.
    I am looking forward to the day that I will be fibro free and that is thanks to you. I am proud of you for being so brave to stand alone on this. From the bottom of my heart, I thank you for sharing. Where would many of us be without your website, in a dread of living the rest of our lives in this pain. I know I DO NOT want to live another year in pain.
    Again, thank you sweet girl for all your hard work!!!!, and for helping me.
    P.S. I think mine developed after someone dieing in my arms, then cancer, (I am a survivor, had a total hysterectomy at 39.) Then I was told my daughter was high risk suicidal from post partum depression. I think the last one was the straw that broke the camels back. There were other things that happened many years ago as a child. I think these events of life were more than my mind and body could cope with and fibro reared its ugly head.

  2. admin on Sat, 23rd Oct 2010 8:28 pm

    3. Hi Carol, thank you so much for your comment. I really appreciate your words and your thanks. Sometimes these days I do forget why I even started this website – I forget what having fibro was like and I forget the pain and the horrible frustration and what feeling crappy all the time was like.

    and then I read something like this message from you and I think “oh yeah, I remember how that was … it was horrible” … so thank you. It also helps me remember to be so very greatful for the painfree life I have now. :)

    I wish you the very, very best, and I know you will get better. Keep in touch please :)

  3. Anomale on Mon, 25th Apr 2011 5:35 am

    4. Well, It doesnt look like anyone has blogged here for quite sometime. Anyhoo, I AM HAPPY! I have fibromyalgia and I am happy! So if there is anyone who comes across this blog late at night or in despair, drifting in the loneliness of the cybernet then just know, “it will all be alright”. No matter what doctors tell you and no matter how badly you feel right now, it will ALL be alright.

  4. admin on Wed, 27th Apr 2011 12:34 am

    5. Thanks for your comment. :)

  5. Rik on Fri, 3rd Jun 2011 1:46 pm

    6. Hi there ^_^
    I REALLY wish I could have come across your site a LOT sooner than just now.
    Anyhow, I figure I’ll start with the basics;
    I’m a 21 year old guy, who was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia 2 and a half years ago – and now walks with a cane – following a series of surgeries on my tailbone. After the first surgery, I got VERY sick, and ended up in the hospital for a few days. When I was discharged, I began noticing things that were different. Why was I waking up every hour with pain seemingly everywhere? Why did it hurt to walk, or even move? Why did I feel like crap all the time?
    Needless to say after some time fumbling around with the family doctor, I got referred to a specialist 4 hours away that I have to see every 3 months just to be told I need an increased dosage of Cymbalta, or that he wants to start markane injections on my next visit.
    I noticed you pointed out that the 2 things you need to do are body work, and to get happy.
    I wish it were a lot easier to actually get happy, but I’m doing my best. Not that I don’t feel the need to be happy, but all the things that brought me happiness are things I can’t really do anymore (when this happened, I had just graduated high school, got a full time job that I loved, started my dream of getting a band together, and getting myself ready to go to college and start my life. Needless to say that didn’t exactly go as planned.
    Sorry for bogging you down with a ton of reading.
    Basically I just wanted to say thanks a TON for providing such useful information ^_^ (It’s amazing that none of the doctors I’ve seen have EVER suggested any of it) Well… I guess that’s not ENTIRELY true; my specialist suggested yoga, and told me I need to keep moving. Nobody has ever suggested anything to me about the headaches, the “pins and needles” feeling, the light sensitivity, or any other alternative medicines rather than the “big-pharma” junk like Cymbalta, Lyrica, Codeine Contin, and things like Topomax.
    It’s really inspiring to see someone overcome the gargantuan obstacle that is Fibromyalgia, and I’ve had it set in my mind since day 1 that I will overcome this.
    Now I just have the positive reinforcement I need to keep me motivated to get rid of it.
    Thanks again for having such a helpful site, and hopefully by the next time I write here, I’ll be MUCH better than I am today ^_^
    Cheers from Ontario, Canada!!
    Rik

  6. admin on Mon, 6th Jun 2011 11:53 am

    7. Thank YOU Rik for your comment – so why did you have the surgery on your tailbone in the first place?

  7. Rik on Tue, 7th Jun 2011 8:10 am

    8. Well, this might be too much info, but the surgeries were for a pilonidal sinus (it’s almost like a abscess). The first time it happened I was in my first year of high school and I woke up with an extremely painful lump the size of a golf ball. So that night I had to go to the hospital and they removed it, but then 2 months later I had to have it done again. The second time was a lot worse because it was basically just a huge hole about 6 inches long that was stitched up. Needless to say that surgery didn’t work either. It kept coming back once or twice each month, but I didn’t want the surgery again, so I just dealt with it for about 4 years. And then BAM I get a full time job that I love, and 7 months in it comes back so bad that I had to take a week and a half off work and I could barely move. So I had surgery that February (which I got extremely sick after. The hospital never told me what happened, and my family doctor has no idea, but after some very thorough research I believe it was toxic shock syndrome, cause by the fact that home care thought it would be a good idea to leave a blood soaked bandage on there for 5 days before coming in) but again, that surgery didn’t work, so I had it re-done again that August, and that time was horrible. There were no stitches or anything; just a gaping hole that home care would come poke around inside every day. I’ve been lucky so far with this one though, because it hasn’t come back yet, but on the down side it never fully healed, so the scar is VERY tender (can be quite painful at times) and if I move the wrong way or something like that, it rips open. So I’m pretty much stuck in a loop here, but I’m used to it. Sorry for such a long comment again ^_^ Once I get going it’s hard to shut me up.

  8. admin on Wed, 8th Jun 2011 3:55 pm

    9. Interesting – so that scar needs to be healed somehow. Is it possible for you to go to a naturopathic physician? Or a physical therapist? I don’t think any bodywork can be started until that scar is good.

  9. Dargan Rowe on Sun, 12th Aug 2012 1:04 am

    10. Thank YOU!! Please dont stop the great thing you have started! Spread the word everyone! This Is the Best news Ive ever discovered! Looking forward to you book,

  10. admin on Sun, 12th Aug 2012 10:24 am

    11. :) thank you! Lisa

  11. Kate Carter on Fri, 16th Nov 2012 6:54 am

    12. How does this work with Children/Woman who have experienced Sexual, Physical, Mental and Emotional abuse over a passage of several years?

    I understand the need to move beyond blame in order to heal, and a great portion of what I have read here is ringing true for me.

    I am currently working with somatic therapies to unlock and release what has been stored in my body. I am trying to comprehend how to combine what I’ve read here with counselling for the abuse that is helping me reintegrate the parts of myself, including my body, that I had disassociated with in order to cope with the trauma as it occurred.

    I have fibromyalgia along with a host of other illnesses and can see the connections at times between them and what I experienced in the past.

    I guess what I’m trying to do is put it all together. Part of the legacy of the abuse is that we were never allowed to retaliate, show any kind of anger, rebellion, emotion after we’d been abused or more and greater abuse would follow. This led to a lot of internalization of….. well pretty much everything. It also led to disassociation from my body in order to cope. A kind of “Well you may be able to kick me, beat me, molest me, etc. but I am not my body” A sense of while my body may lie broken on the floor, my Spirit was over here dancing and you can’t touch it.

    I even wrote a poem called ‘I am not my body’ as a young adult that expressed that. I’ve been told it was a way to survive the systematic destruction of my being that was occurring and keep a part of me alive.

    Trying to reconnect with that body has been a journey.

    Thank You,
    Kate

  12. Kate Carter on Fri, 16th Nov 2012 6:57 am

    13. Sorry I forgot the link to my gravatar. I’m currently working with Waking the Tiger and love this image. http://www.gravatar.com/avatar/2021279406a9ec1ddf575c88404172b2.png

  13. steve on Sat, 24th Nov 2012 5:18 pm

    14. Great site. I am 39 yr old male. Diagnosed 6 years ago when my son was born. I have a 3 yr old daughter now as well. I too have been through emotional trauma, losing my brother to cancer. It’s amazing the mind body relationship. I have always known this sparked my downward spiral into the awful depths of fibromyalgia, but I have never been sure how free myself of the contraints of the illness. I look forward to your book. How do you order one?

  14. admin on Sun, 25th Nov 2012 4:19 pm

    15. Hi Steve, I hear you! I feel for you. :( I just had a baby – he is one month old today, and wonderfully, this birth has not sent me into a downward spiral like my last one 10 years ago did. :) phew. Anyway, my book is here: http://www.releasefibromyalgia.com/blue2/30days.html Lisa

  15. admin on Sun, 25th Nov 2012 4:30 pm

    16. Hi Kate, I’m not sure exactly HOW it works, but I can tell you that I experienced physical, sexual, emotional and mental abuse from age … maybe 3 or 4 to age 17. And I am all better. My books are just my story – everything I did to heal. Waking the Tiger was an important part of that. I went through the … “process” that Peter Levine describes three times in that book over a period of about 4 years and each time I emerged feeling lighter and healthier. Anyway, yes, I hear you. I actually have a memory of watching myself being molested from the upper corner of the room – not being in my body at all during that incident. I was young too … maybe 8? thanks for your comment :) lisa

Tell me what you're thinking...
and oh, if you want a pic to show with your comment, go get a gravatar!