Inclement Weather and Fibromyalgia

 

I do hope your last week was pain free and you felt vibrant and strong.

 

As noted last week, I am going to speak to weather and how it affects chronic pain and in particular, fibromyalgia pain in this weeks’ blog.

 

I remember as a child my grandmother saying she could tell when a storm was coming because her knees and back hurt.  She said she felt stiff all over.  Well, sure enough, within 24 hours, we would have a storm.  As a child, I thought she was clairvoyant.  But today, we now understand from a scientific viewpoint, what was really going on within  my Grandmothers’ body and why she knew a storm was coming.  She was being affected by the pressure of the atmosphere or barometric pressure on her body.

 

Barometric Pressure

 What exactly is barometric pressure?  Simply put, it is the amount of pressure put on our bodies by the atmosphere.  We know that in clear, sunny weather the barometric pressure is high.  This means that the amount of pressure the atmosphere puts on our bodies is higher, much like a girdling effect.  When it is stormy, blustery and /or cloudy the barometric pressure is lower, thus putting less atmospheric pressure on our bodies. 

 At a physiological level, the greater the atmospheric pressure, the less swelling happens in joints, airways and at the tissue level, the girdling effect.  When the atmospheric pressure is lower, swelling of the tissues happens within joints, sinus cavities and other more open spaces in the body.  This slight swelling can trigger nerves within these spaces to send pain messages to the brain thus causing pain to be perceived.  Often times this can be a cascade effect  of pain, including  headache, dental pain from the sinus cavities, joint and back pain from swelling within the joint and sinus spaces. 

 This is a dilemma since we live in the atmosphere and can not get away from the changes in pressure---what is the best strategy to stay ahead of this unavoidable situation?

 First, know your body and exactly how weather changes affect you.  Keep record over a period of time by journaling how you feel and where your pain is during weather changes.  Our FibromyalgiaPain Management Kit has a Fibro-Pain Management Journal that tracks weather and assists you in trending your pain.

 Once you have a good understanding of your cycle of pain during weather changes you can access your 5-7 day weather forecast and plan ahead to manage your pain in advance of the barometric changes.

 Second, create a plan to include different treatment modalities that can include herbs, aromatherapy and use of foods to help manage the more difficult days.

 

Your plan should include:

             Herbs: 

Use Astringent Herbs to shrink tissues and lessen irritation. 

Astringent Herbs include: 

Meadowsweet, Yarrow, Horse Chestnut, Horsetail, Eyebright, Cranesbill, Witchhazel (use topically) Oak, Rosemary, Sage.

 Diaphoretic Herbs increases blood flow to area to soothe muscle pain and used especially for joint pain.

Diaphoretic Herbs Include:

Cayenne, Mustard, Peppermint, Horseradish and Capsicum

These are applied topically to the painful areas.

 Nervine Herbs act upon the nervous system.  Use a tonic category herb which will strength and restore the nervous system functions

Nervine Herbs – Tonic Category

Skullcap, St. John’s Wort, Oatstraw.

 

Follow the instructions/recommendations of an herbalist regarding dosing or follow instructions on the product bottle.

 

            Bach Flower:

Use the Bach Flower Rescue Remedy, following product dosing recommendation.

 

            Aromatherapy

Use aromatherapy in a diffuser, as a massage base, or in warm bathwater

Aromatherapy Includes:

Birch, Chamomile, Ginger, and Lavender.

   

         Foods:

 There is nothing more healing than a cup of warm soup when you are in pain.

I recommend a Curried Carrot Soup which contains curry, garlic and cumin all of which reduce inflammation.

                                                

Curried Carrot Soup

 

 

 

(Recipe photo by Delish.com)

Ingredients

 

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 medium onion chopped

2 pounds carrots chopped

1 tablespoon curry powder

1 cup vegetable broth

1 cup water

2 cloves garlic

1 teaspoon coriander seed, ground

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

 

 Directions

 1.  Heat oil in large pot over medium heat

2.  Sauté onion until tender and translucent

3.  Stir in spices, add chopped carrots and stir until the carrots are coated.

4.  Pour in vegetable broth, simmer until carrots are soft, about 20 minutes

5.  Transfer carrots and broth to a blender

6.  Puree until smooth

7.  Pour back into pot, thin with water to preferred consistency

 Serves 6 – about a cup each

 

Settle back and enjoy your healing soup!!

 

Nutritional Information per serving

 Calories  94

Total Fat:  3.2g

Cholesterol: 0 mg

Sodium 607 mg

Total Carbohydrates:  15 g

Dietary Fiber:  4.6 g

Protein; 2.1g

 

I hope these tips help with reducing your pain. 

 

We, at Valley Health and Wellness, Inc., are thinking and praying for those who are still struggling with Hurricane Sandy. 

We send our best wishes for life to return to normal as quickly as possible. 

 

Till Next Week,

 

Maryalyce McCabe, ND, RN, HNB-BC

Naturopath