So, you've got fibromyalgia and your muscles seem to be spasm-ing constantly.
Here's some simple steps to take to start relaxing your nervous system and healing your muscles so they don't spasm so often.
Here's some simple steps to take to start relaxing your nervous system and healing your muscles so they don't spasm so often.
- If you are stretching (which you should be) and the stretching causes the spasms, then you are stretching too aggressively.
With 10 being the most intense stretch you can handle and 0 being no stretch, fibromyalgia muscles should be stretched at no more than a 3 or a 4.
All stretches should be converted to be done on the floor and with supports, so while you are stretching you don't have to use your other muscles to hold up your arms, legs, neck, back, or hips.
- Some people recommend magnesium supplements to help with spasming.
In my experience, magnesium did not help anything at all, but if you are interested in trying magnesium you should try it and see if it helps or not. - Implementing a daily relaxation and deep breathing ritual will give you a tool to pull out when your muscles spasm that will reduce the pain felt and the intensity and duration of the spasm.
- Taking a few minutes to breathe deeply during your daily activities (while driving or washing dishes or reading or doing anything, really), will increase oxygen to your tissues and increase waste removal from your tissues, and calm your nervous system, resulting in less reasons for spasm.
- One more thing you can try to stop spasms in the middle of a spasm and to reduce future incidents is self trigger-point massage or holding.
Wherever the problem muscle is, just press on it with your fingers, a super or tennis ball, or other massage implement.
You can do some self-massage if you want, or just press and hold if that is too tiring.
If that area doesn't seem to help, try pressing around the area.
Trigger points frequently send referred pain, which means the muscle that is the problem could be a few inches away from where the pain or spasm is.
If your pressing recreates the pain or spasm you know you've found the right spot.