Fibromyalgia is a chronic condition that causes widespread pain and tenderness in the body. It affects the muscles and soft tissues all over your body and increases your pain sensitivity. People with fibromyalgia tend to experience flare-ups, which is when the symptoms come and go in periods.
Once fibromyalgia is diagnosed, treatments usually consist of both medication and certain lifestyle changes like dietary adjustments and being more physically active.
The underlying cause and reason why people develop fibromyalgia is hard to pin down. It is believed fibromyalgia is caused by a combination of physical, psychological and biological factors. For this reason, a holistic approach may prove more effective in treating fibromyalgia symptoms rather than only relying on conventional methods.
Fibromyalgia symptoms may vary from person to person, but chronic pain is one of the most common symptoms. Fibromyalgia pain usually affects your ligaments and tendons — where the muscle attaches to the bone.
Other physical symptoms of fibromyalgia may include:
Fibromyalgia can also affect your mental and emotional health. Mental fibromyalgia symptoms may include:
This is not an extensive list of every symptom, and not all symptoms may be present. If your symptoms are increasing in frequency or you’re experiencing new symptoms, you should visit your healthcare practitioner.
While there is no definitive cure for fibromyalgia, there are various treatments you can try to help ease the symptoms. These treatments can be used to provide relief in combination with approved medications or when medications are ineffective.
We offer a range of holistic services that could assist in alleviating symptoms experienced by people living with fibromyalgia.
Relaxation techniques are said to help ease pain and improve similar symptoms of fibromyalgia. People with fibromyalgia may consider the combination of meditation, slow movement and breathwork to aid in emotional stress reduction and control other symptoms.
We offer intimate yoga and breathwork classes. In these classes, your instructor provides individualised treatment based on your specific general health requirements. These classes may be beneficial to those who suffer from fibromyalgia by improving mental clarity, reducing physical pain, and improving sleep.
Our classes focus on various systems, such as your autonomic nervous system (ANS), endocrine system and respiratory system.
Functional medicine focuses on providing deeper insights into health conditions. Those who develop fibromyalgia may consider a functional approach as opposed to the conventional approach that simply focuses on addressing the symptoms.
During these online consultations, you can explore various helpful options to treat your condition. We can explore options such as biohacking, mental and emotional optimisation through healthy coping skills, and supplemental and herbal therapy suggestions as opposed to standard pain medication.
We partner with the renowned American functional medicine clinic, Solcere, to ensure you can access the most comprehensive wellness services available. Solcere have deep experience in treating conditions like Fibromyalgia.
Pulsed Electromagnetic Fields (PEMF) therapy can also be considered as a new treatment for fibromyalgia. PEMP therapy can be used to target specific areas of the body. Electromagnetic fields may help improve current flow to nearby tissues and support certain physiological functions on a cellular level.
Pulsed electromagnetic fields can be beneficial for various health conditions, such as chronic pain, musculoskeletal and skin diseases, sleep problems, and inflammation, which causes more pain.
Patients with hypotension may experience lightheadedness after PEMP treatment because it typically lowers blood pressure. However, most people won’t feel the effects while receiving treatment.
Another innovative way to treat the symptoms of fibromyalgia is by using our virtual reality meditation service. Our virtual reality treatment combines the metaverse with breathwork and meditative practices to help enhance relaxation, combat sleep problems, and regulate your nervous system.
Immersive virtual reality studies have shown that these VR sessions can help reduce negative emotions and counter worsening mental health conditions. We have various programs you can choose from to target a specific symptom.
For instance, the calm program may help with anxiety by allowing you to experience deep relaxation and unwind after a busy day.
Red light therapy is known for having anti-inflammatory effects and assisting with pain relief by improving blood circulation. Red light therapy uses low-level wavelengths to stimulate cellular activity. By stimulating cellular activity, there’s an improvement in the energy production of your cells, allowing your cells to repair themselves better.
LED light therapy with red light is suggested to have an impact on the production of anti-inflammatory cytokines — increasing their levels and decreasing the levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines.
Red light therapy also promotes the release of melatonin, which may help combat sleep problems.
Infrared sauna sessions can help manage fibromyalgia symptoms such as muscle and joint stiffness. These saunas can act as natural muscle relaxants as they help alleviate muscle tension.
Infrared saunas are also believed to be beneficial to improve sleep quality by stimulating melatonin release. A common suggestion when treating symptoms is to reduce stress. The heat exposure during an infrared sauna session is also linked to endorphin release.
Endorphins are your body’s ‘feel good’ chemicals that promote relaxation and stress relief. As such, people with fibromyalgia may experience valuable benefits after a few infrared sauna sessions.
Ice baths are a common treatment to reduce pain. They work by numbing the painful areas of your body and constricting blood vessels to reduce inflammation. Ice baths not only help relieve pain but they also have been linked to endorphin release, which could improve your mental health condition.
Alternating between heat and cold therapies is an effective way to treat fibromyalgia. You could try a combination of heat exposure in our private infrared saunas, then take a quick cold plunge in our private ice baths. These treatment combinations could potentially be viable fibromyalgia treatment options.
As a replacement for traditional massage therapy, you can opt for compression boot physical therapy. These boots have a chambered design that inflates and deflates periodically to help relieve muscle tension. Compression boots would be especially useful for patients suffering from leg pain.
Compression boots are also a great way to speed up the recovery after regular exercise. Compression therapy can help reduce muscle swelling and improve blood circulation after exercise for an easier recovery experience.
Another option on the list of potential alternative treatments for fibromyalgia is Vielight therapy. Vielight devices introduce red light wavelengths directly into the brain and intranasally to improve cognitive function, enhance your mood and ease symptoms of depression.
Red wavelengths benefit your brain by improving brain performance and reducing neurodegeneration. This could be an effective treatment for the brain fog associated with fibromyalgia. Our Vielight device is also believed to boost the chances of experiencing good-quality sleep and help if you have trouble concentrating.
Holon is one of the first holistic wellness centres in Glasgow, offering patients access to cutting-edge healing technologies, comprehensive wellness services, advanced blood tests, and other services as viable fibromyalgia treatments. We have experience in treating conditions including fibromyalgia, ME/CFS and Long Covid and harness a holistic approach through consultations and biohacking technologies.
Get a comprehensive look into your health and bolster your wellness journey by partnering with Holon.
