Get Pain Relief With Occupational Therapy and Postural Training for Fibromyalgia & Other Pain Conditions

Occupational Therapy (OT), helps people regain, develop and build skills that are important for independent living, health and happiness.  Fibromyalgia sufferers can experience physical, emotional, or other challenges that prevent them from living the life they once led.  Chronic pain and depression can make it difficult for FM patients to do everyday tasks or be as active and as independent as they’d like.  If you have trouble performing daily activities because of these limitations OT may be able to help you.

Most FM patients find there are certain things they do on a daily basis that seem to make their pain worse. These activities frequently involve the repetitive use of muscles or continued tensing of a muscle, such as the muscles of the upper back while looking at a computer screen. You need to note these associations and determine how you can modify or eliminate them. That’s where occupational therapy can help. OT is designed to help Fibromyalgia Syndrome and other chronic pain patients regain the independent lifestyle they once knew before the onset of their illness.  Occupational therapists are trained in both physical and psychiatric rehabilitation.

An occupational therapy program is customized for the patient by combining an evaluation of medical history, environmental issues and personal goals.  Therapy includes solutions for pain due to repetitive movements in the work place or elsewhere.  Job modifications, changes in ergonomics, and a reduction in work hours may be necessary.  Sometimes an occupational therapist can work with the patient's employer or supervisors, educating them about FM and discussing contributing factors in the workplace.  You might be taught to conserve your energy, use appropriate splints if needed, and minimize tissue trauma.

Occupational therapy should help you maximize function through strengthening activities, retraining cognitive and visual-perceptual skills and helping prevent misalignment of the vertebrae.  If you have had a back injury, ergonomics encourages the use of proper equipment and lifting techniques.  For muscle pain, the proper positioning of body and equipment can help prevent everything from mild soreness to serious tears and strains.  For eyestrain, headache and fatigue, you might need adjustments in lighting, noise levels, posture and work positions can help relieve physical and mental stress.

An occupational therapist can help you identify what aspects of the way you carry out your daily routine is helping or hindering your healing.  Patients are also taught stress management, how to assert themselves, time management, and planning/pacing skills, in order to help to reduce stress, anxiety, and fatigue.  Occupational therapy can help you discover what job or home activities could be increasing your neck, back, or arm pain.  Your therapist can watch you at work and make specific recommendations for reducing the strain on your body and provide specific therapy and exercises to help improve range of motion and reduce pain.

Here are a few tips to optimize your workspace for comfort:  Allow enough leg room under your workstation and use a document holder so that your documents are at the same height and distance as your computer screen.  Your feet should be flat on the floor, your knees should be level with your hips, and good lower back support is a must. Avoid positions in which your body is twisted.  Sit about an arm’s length away from your screen and tilt the screen back a little.  Your arms should rest at your sides with your elbows at a right angle and your wrists need to be straight.  Cushioned grips and ergonomically-designed tools to reduce vibration, pressure and relieve stress are beneficial and something as simple as a pillow behind your lower back or a stool to raise your feet can provide relief.

Posture or movement training is often required for FM sufferers to undo lifelong bad habits which can cause or increase pain and to re-educate muscles and joints that have become misaligned.  The muscles in the back of your neck, between your shoulder blades and your upper and mid back experience chronic tension. Stretches and strengthening are crucial.  Lumbar (lower & mid back) support is even more so.  Fibromyalgia patients who have significant problems with foot pain resulting from poor posture or body mechanics may also benefit from special shoe inserts (orthotics) prescribed by a podiatrist.

If there are techniques we can use to better our quality of life by lessening our pain, why not do it?  We need to take advantage of every opportunity to make our lives better!  If we don’t, who will?