Note
This topic is the continuation of our topic fibromyalgia. The passive therapy measures for fibromyalgia serve primarily to create the prerequisites for the activating therapy that accompanies the treatment from the very beginning by means of confidence building, relaxation (physical and psychological = physical and mental) and pain relief. They can alleviate vegetative side effects and are a good way to break the cycle of fear, tension, pain and inactivity. It may also be possible to reduce the use of painkillers through the effects of passive treatment techniques.
- Physical therapy
- Massage
- Lymph drainage for congestion problems
- Trigger point treatment, also cautious, otherwise possible pain reaction
- Cranio-Sacral Therapy
- Possibly manual therapy to eliminate joint dysfunction, if present (no primary symptom)More information about the individual passive treatments can be found under our topic: Physiotherapy
Physical therapy
From the field of physical therapy, the best methods of heat application of any kind (fango-paraffin packs, grain bags, hot roll), sauna (moderate temperatures are often better tolerated), rheumatism baths, and exercise in warm water have proven to be the most effective. It is advisable to carry out the movements in warm water under professional guidance, because there are many possibilities of variation with and without equipment, which can facilitate or impede a movement. In addition, the possibility of evasive movements in water and in the group is much easier “than on land”, so that the exercises are often not carried out correctly without control.
Also the dosage and the increase of intensity is easier in consultation with the therapist. Surprisingly, there are also good results with the whole body cold therapy in the cold chamber (-110°), although fibromyalgia is not an inflammatory clinical picture. Due to the pain reduction directly after the cold therapy, endurance and strength training are better tolerated. However, there was an increased number of therapy discontinuations (only 47% of the test persons tolerated the cold) due to pain increase, ineffectiveness, panic attacks and skin changes. The results therefore suggest that fibromyalgia patients should definitely test the cold chamber if they have the opportunity to do so.
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