Fibromyalgia/Arthritis/CT in Martial Arts

[shaolin_allan]

Hello I am a 28 year old man suffering from fibromyalgia which causes consistent pain in my arms, shoulders and back. I haven't trained martial arts in a couple years but am dying to return to them. I live in the West side of Phoenix, AZ and was wondering if anyone else on this forum suffers from any of these ailments and which styles do you practice? Or can anyone recommend styles to me besides Tai Chi or the internal arts that you think could benefit me without causing more damage. Thanks in advance. Would you recommend I avoid taking any grappling also?

[Lee Chiang Po]

I don't know if it would be good or bad, as I know little to nothing about fibromyalgia. Arthritis is something that you can deal with though.

Wing Chun offers a more natural form without all the extreme moves and stances of most other CMA. You might give it a shot.

[shaolin_allan]

Lee what wing chun instructor do you train with in Texas? Have you heard of Jeff Webb out of Austin, TX?

[18elders]

My wife was diagnosed with fibromyialgia. She is in constant pain all the time.
She has tried a few medications that helped a bit but they bothered her stomach and always made her dizzy so she stopped taking them.
Walking helps her so maybe tai chi would help you out?
Other than that i don't know, she has seen numerous doctors and nobody really helps, they just want to put you on pills.

[David Jamieson]

My wife was diagnosed with fibromyialgia. She is in constant pain all the time.
She has tried a few medications that helped a bit but they bothered her stomach and always made her dizzy so she stopped taking them.
Walking helps her so maybe tai chi would help you out?
Other than that i don't know, she has seen numerous doctors and nobody really helps, they just want to put you on pills.

Take a look at psychological stresses, then look at lifestyle.

Is your diet ok? Is your exercise regular? Is your attitude correct.

drug therapy alone will do nothing really, excpet perhaps drug the person.

Fibromyalgia is best dealt with by consuming good whole foods diet, daily or regular exercise with a couple of vigorous sessions each week and doing things to improve ones own attitude and outlook on life.

seeking professional psychological help is also very helpful.

I've seen this before and I've seen it conquered with these methods. It's happened in my own family. Life can be a depressing thing in our society and with a society as sick as ours, it can be difficult to pull yourself out of it and not be dragged down by having to try to adapt to it or adjust to it.

[18elders]

Hey Dave,
her diet is pretty good but of course she is under stress with just dealing with a child, normal daily life and her dad is not in good health.

[David Jamieson]

good luck with defeating it!

daily stresses manifest as heart attacks in some people, back pain in others and various pains for others.

it has to be addressed and the first steps are always the most difficult.


once the ball is rolling with the routine, it will be a good path!:)

[taai gihk yahn]

FM is a complex condition in terms of causal factors, and this is not helped by its not being particularly well-defined from a contemporary biomedical perspective (that is, it's diagnosed based on history & clinical signs / symptoms, as opposed to more objective physiological disease markers); treatment approaches and success rates vary significantly from one practitioner to another;

most people w/FM are dealing with a range of psychosocial issues that are then somatized, many are caught in a vicious feedback cycle of pain / immobility, many, IMPE, actually get more resistant to progress the more they improve (!);

there are so-called "western" approaches that have varying degrees of success; IMPE, I have found that osteopathic manual therapy (or similar approaches) can be very useful, as can certain types of exercise, dietary modifications, biofeedback training, psychological counseling and even non-pharmacological trigger point injections (using mechanical needling to break up trigger points); in-patient pain-treatment programs lasting 2- 6 weeks can also be helpful to break into the cycle; TCM is another viable approach, given that it will address the overall pattern

as far as MA training, that's hard to say - it might be rough on the body, on the other hand it may give someone a psychological boost, certainly it will get more serotonin in the system, which is good; indeed, it might be the very thing to push the system into some sort of "overdrive", to sort of "jump start" the physiology (I find most FM pt.'s to be sort of stuck in a chronic inflammatory state punctuated with acute flair-ups that never fully resolve due to various factors)

good luck; if, BTW, you are interested in an osteopathic-based PT in Phoenix, I do know someone;

[mawali]

I have had some success in helping those with FM (ME) and chronic fatigue utilizing hexiangzhuang and 8 form taijiquan. Symptoms were lessened and there was a stark reduction in symptom presentation.
This was in conjunction with whatever therapy they were using and it was not meant as a replacement or a cure for FM.

It is a subclinical inflammatory condition. Blood chemistry is inconclusive in documenting that what the subject experiencing is indeed FM or chronic fatigue but the subjects do experience 'pain' on various parts of the body.
There is a tendency for anything tha cannot be categorized to give an FM diagnosis though it is not such so one needs to be careful.

I recently came across a magazine called "Fibromyalgia" on the newsstand so one can take a look to see the range of strategies included in the cure, diagnosis, nutritional and other ways to mitigate the conditions.

[taai gihk yahn]

I have had some success in helping those with FM (ME) and chronic fatigue utilizing hexiangzhuang and 8 form taijiquan. Symptoms were lessened and there was a stark reduction in symptom presentation.
This was in conjunction with whatever therapy they were using and it was not meant as a replacement or a cure for FM.

It is a subclinical inflammatory condition. Blood chemistry is inconclusive in documenting that what the subject experiencing is indeed FM or chronic fatigue but the subjects do experience 'pain' on various parts of the body.
There is a tendency for anything tha cannot be categorized to give an FM diagnosis though it is not such so one needs to be careful.

I recently came across a magazine called "Fibromyalgia" on the newsstand so one can take a look to see the range of strategies included in the cure, diagnosis, nutritional and other ways to mitigate the conditions.
as for the taiji being helpful, I would say that in a more general sense it was slow, low repetition / non-fatiguing movement that was the key - we used to us a protocol designed by Hans Kraus, MD - it was basically like a yoga 101 routine, the key being moving slowly w/awareness and breathing, etc., etc. - basically kicks in the parasympathetics and all, moves lymph and venus blood back from the periphery, decreases excess muscle tone - all things that will help w/chronic inflammation;

as far as misdiagnosis, I agree - it's probably equally distributed in terms of false positives and missed when it's actually there; plus you have so many other things to choose from, Myofascial Pain Syndrome & Chronic Regional Pain Syndrome being two that are rather similar; and yes, it's often hard to tell where FM ends and CFS begins (or vice versa)...you can even have people with something like RSD that get labeled as FM - it's just nuts, the whole practice of pain medicine - but then those physiatrists do need SOMETHING to keep them busy ;)

[shaolin_allan]

I have rarely seen a thread on this forum with better information on a topic than all of you have shared, so thank you very much. My pain is in both of my whole arms and near the pecs, also around my back at various times and it all drives me crazy because I cannot do graphic design anymore. I'm back in college for another career with less computer usage and that is even still tough. I have done hand and arm therapy which is basically focused physical therapy and that did not help much except they got me interested in finding exercises that would.

I do have to admit that I could work on my diet and exercise also. I haven't trained in martial arts for about 3 years, except my trial with a Ving Tsun instructor about 5 or 6 months ago I think? Previously I had studied Chang Quan but mainly focused on Sun style Baguazhang. It's not that I only prefer Chinese martial arts, the best instructor I could have found living in that area taught these styles.

I have considered soft style Aikido, Kali, and a 5 animals/Arhat/Chen school under the Shi Yan Ming lineage, even though I don't know much about it. Or possibly returning to the Ving Tsun sifu except he has no other students and I do enjoy private lessons with him but I think group lessons are important for beginning a style, any ideas?

My Neurologist does try to just keep me medicated and that much medicine makes me feel sick sometimes as well, even though it does help a little. Fibromyalgia is definitely misdiagnosed as they have mentioned Arthritis to me as well. I would consider Osteopathic Medicine absolutely if I could get a referral to there from my regular doctor. I just have always tried to make martial arts part of my life and at this point would even be willing to do Kenpo near me except they require contracts and I don't sign those.

[Lee Chiang Po]

Lee what wing chun instructor do you train with in Texas? Have you heard of Jeff Webb out of Austin, TX?


I don't. I taught my only son, and we used to train together up until a few years ago. He is sneaking up on 44 years of age now and is a single father of 2, works 6 days a week and is gone from dark to dark. No time really. I know of a school over in Greenville, about 14 miles north of me, and they do have a wing chun sifu. I don't know him though. I don't know of anyone that would be close to you. Sorry.
There has been a lot of research concerning these afflictions, and they tend to be auto immune system diseases. Almost purely diet related. I know a lady that suffers from fibromyalgia, and she sees an Asian Doctor for it. She says that he uses accupuncture, which releaves her pain and helps her to cope with it. Her regular doc never tells her anything, just gives her dope. It might not be your answer, but I bet you could try it and not even have to get a referal.

[shaolin_allan]

That's a good idea, I think i'll give the acupuncture a try. I meant which system of wing chun/ving tsun/wing tsun do you practice yourself?

[Lee Chiang Po]

It is called hung fa. It is wing chun. It comes from Hung lineage I am supposing. It was taught to me by my father and older brothers, and it came directly out of China. My training started in 1955 and it has been a few years now since I have done anything other than physically work out, and not hard workouts either.

LCP

[shaolin_allan]

Sounds like you train in one of the more legit wing chun styles which is great. i've been dealing with this pain for a long time now and just want to return to martial arts. Has anyone else on here had wrist injuries or something similar to Fibromyalgia like myself?

[kwaichang]

Have you had a Nerve Conduction Velocity test, Your symptoms sound similar to thoracic outlet Syndrome. also a small percentage of people have an extra Rib that may compress the brachial Plexus where it exits the cervical spine. @ things to rule out. Since you have worked extensively with computers i wouldnt doubt it. Also MFR can decrese the pull in the front thus freeing up the thoracic area. Have you been tested for any of that yet? KC
Typically TOS is unilateral but I have seen pt's with it Bilateral.

[shaolin_allan]

The only test i've had is blood tests and an EMF test, which jolted my nerves I guess. Then they told me it was arthritis or fibromyalgia and gave me drugs lol. kwaichang do you suffer from these problems and what style do you train?

[kwaichang]

Did you mean EMG?? I do not but have treated many who have. Get your blood work and look for markers for Arthritis. Many times MD's will call it that when they dont know. MFSyndrome is part of what you complain of but still sounds like TOS to me look up 1st rib stretch and see if it gives UE Relief?? worth a try . Will be short lived but let me know what happens. KC

[shaolin_allan]

Yeah sorry EMG. Blood work was the first thing that the neurologist did was check my rheumatoid? levels for possible arthritis and everything was fine. Then he did an EMG test on me and that showed fine as well. The proof I have to show of my pain though is knotted muscles you can see sometimes up my arms and shoulders. Which martial art do you practice kwaichang?

[kwaichang]

I practice the art of fighting w/o fighting haha, no I now do SD but have trained in other Chinese and Japanese systems KC

[shaolin_allan]

SD as in Shaolin? Do you practice southern style like 5 animals/arhat etc..?

[No_Know]

I would like to Hands-Over, from a distance. I put my hand near the area, hopefully it doesn't feel worse. If you are O.K. with me trying to make~ a differene in your pain I would let you know what time of day I was doing Hands-Over.

Other than trying to address your pain. The fatigue from lack of sleep I might think of as oxygen deprivation which if you get headaches or migraine I might think is from neck-shoulder tension. The muscles seize with a lack of fluid one thought on fix is get very hydrated-water. Beverages with dyes might stress the kidneys having to extract from the fluid, blah blah blah.

I don't like saying what I'm doing or presuming an effect because of the suggestion factor.

Other than permitting me to do hands-Over (Ernie Moore Jr.'s Kung-Fu, Squirrel --not a real thing comprehensions given a framework...)

Hydrate much. Gentle massage your neck, shoulders and lats.

No_Know

I began to use fists when supporting myself; using a palm hurt and felt like there was a failure about to occur; I either do other than lean or support with fists I can do with fists what I can no longer easily do with palms for wrist pain.

No_Know

[shaolin_allan]

I just think that although they endorse tai chi for helping a number of muscle ailments, people should not feel like just because they have Fibromyalgia etc.. they shouldn't have to feel like they can't do any external stuff. With the right mixture of medication, exercise, and diet (like drinking hydrated water). I might be able to overcome my pain. Unfortunately for group kung fu lessons in my area, the only style available in CMA is 5 animals/chen schools. I find it odd that they are not connected but all of them teach the same styles?

[shaolin_allan]

I was just curious if anyone on this forum besides myself suffers chronic fatigue or pain and what they are doing to help treat it including what style(s) you train in?

[mickey]

Greetings,

Has anyone considered taking serrapeptase for this?

Serrapeptase is a digestine enzyme that is found in the silkworm. It has been in use for over 30 years for the purposes of reducing inflammation, digesting dead tissue, eliminating blood clots, cleaning the arteries, and for fibromyalgia. I have used it for arterial cleaning in the past and I plan to get some for a family member who has been problems with inflammation. I hope the product will live up to its testimonials.

mickey

[shaolin_allan]

Thanks mickey that sounds great i'll check it out. Have u personally had any chronic pain or someone in your family?

[mickey]

Hi,

There is someone in my family who has chronic pain. I plan to have her try it for a while to see if it helps.

mickey

[shaolin_allan]

mickey what martial art style(s) do you practice?

[mickey]

Hi,

I do have a special fondness for the discipline of Tan Tui. Certain things I simply do not talk about because I do not believe that flag waving is cool thing for me to do. This is a support forum and I try to help people when/where I can. There have been a couple of times last year when I went "mundane" and got worked up about things. That was only to my embarassment; yet, at the same time, to my continued growth and development.

mickey