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Fibromyalgia and warm water exercise

By Vivienne Clark


Weak muscles together with prevalent muscle pain is a simple fact for Fibromyalgia sufferers. Additionally, it appears that muscle strength is considerably less in individuals experiencing Fibromyalgia. Some studies have demostrated that if you have Fibromyalgia the optimum isometric and dynamic muscle power is lower in comparison to healthy men and women. This means that, individuals suffering from Fibromyalgia tend to have weaker knees and the surrounding muscle groups that support the knee are typically weaker and significantly less stable.

Additional studies, which focused on resistance have shown much lower outcomes in functional testing relating to day to day living, such as sitting down and getting up from a chair, where diminished optimum muscle strength of knee extensors is observed. This type of weakness can lead to loss of mobility. Maybe you have experienced this yourself, where rising up is difficult. Your knees feel as if they are going to buckle, and they're unable to support the weight of your whole body while lowering down to a sitting position, or coming back up to a standing position. A great number of people with Fibromyalgia find it impossible, or at least very hard to crouch down with knees bent and then make an attempt to stand up.

Starting to become involved with low impact exercising such as yoga, Tai Chi, walking, water aerobics, and low impact aerobics will often be recommended for treating Fibromyalgia. Balneotherapy and/or warm baths have shown to manage muscle pain successfully. The main problem is warm water exercise is more challenging to access than land based exercise, therefore many Fibromyalgia sufferers may not have warm water exercise classes easily. However, it may be well worth the effort to try to attend them whenever possible.

Studies have shown that Fibromyalgia patients achieved positive results from reduced pain and low energy with a combination of land based fitness programs with warm water pool workout routines. These forms of exercises also helped to enhance cardiovascular capacity and emotional well being. The objective of one study was to measure the short- and long-term effectiveness of exercise therapy in a warm, waist-high pool for women with Fibromyalgia. The study looked at exercisers who joined in 34 water sessions. These people did not modify any of their other routines. By the end of the program, the number of tender points had not changed in either the control group or the intervention group. However, the intervention group experienced considerable improvements in amounts of pain, with a 29% decrease in pain. Follow up data demonstrated that this gain was lost after 12 weeks of no water exercises. Knee strengthening during this study was substantial, with knee extensors showing a 20% improvement, and knee flexors gaining a 33% improvement. Translated this indicates that those who are afflicted by Fibromyalgia can make use of warm water exercise to strengthen their knees and strengthen mobility and stability, all of which are areas of concern in Fibromyalgia patients.

This study clearly indicated that therapeutic water exercise may benefit Fibromyalgia patients. It results in remarkable increases in strength of the knee extensors, which is a significant predictor in independence as it relates directly to your day to day life. It has long been established that low impact water exercises were beneficial to people recovering from injuries or surgeries. Depending on outcomes of this study it appears that if you experience Fibromyalgia warm water exercise may be very beneficial to you. The key is that the exercises must be ongoing as the benefits are lost over time.




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