Pain

Hi John, I'm glad you found Lumigrate.com and took the time to register and write, because 'that's what we're here for'.  I work to provide a balance of valid, progressive providers writing or otherwise contributing and also encourage those who matter most -- YOU -- the consumers, to contribute.  It might be the piece that tips someone in the direction of a new form of treatment that will, in turn, help them.  And then if they give feedback we all are learning and getting better together.  And that's what it's all about.  

"Live and Learn.  Learn and Live Better!" ~~ Mardy

I really wanted to have people who were looking here know about this resource. It's a blog site / website by a woman who has CFS for a long time, a long history of activism, and I noticed there was a topic about exercise which was part of a study she was part of. She ends by saying that she hopes that physical therapists would be available to people in the future who are wanting to incorporate these kinds of techniques.

I know that some PTs learn about frequency specific microcurrent as well, and it was actually a chiropractor who got that 'party started', a Carolyn McMakin, D.C., M.A.  I have an article from Fibromyalgia Network (founded in 1988 and on Lumigrate as my chosen nonprofit to route people to from the US side of the Atlantic, there is a similar one for the UK I route to as well so people can get a sense of commonalities and things to look for) from April 2007, Issue 77. It would be that summer that someone who was getting FSM from a PT and MD in town came to the live, free education forum that I co-hosted and co-founded in 2007, and I have since referred people with symptoms of CFS, FMS, Lyme and whatever the overlapping condition might be to that MD (and there are perhaps now two programs in town and they use different PTs perhaps, there have been a lot of shifts going on). 

I found this link to a 2013 published article she had in a respected journal about complementary medicine that is from February 2013. Here's the link - www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3576917/

Here's the link to the topic about the heart rate monitoring, and it's an interesting website with lots of information. www.occupycfs.com/exercise-testing-and-results/

We had a flow of patients happen along in 2007 before we started the education group that had CFS and FMS and etc. I'd find the right fit for a PT for their needs and preferences, then have the building's brain-function based psychologist advise them and assess them if they were willing to do so and didn't already  have an established provider. 100% had improvements.

I then really needed a website to house the education I'd like them to have all in one place to make it easier for them and us and everyone, so that's what I went off to focus on from 2008 to recently. Now I'm wanting to get back into some clinics of various kinds and see if we can get some programs going that would benefit those with Lyme, CFS, FMS, etc using these types of modalities. 

When you read the experience the gal above went through with the exercise testing, note the time and exhertion. I only had people go up to 2 minutes on up to 2 pieces of equipment on the second visit. First visit we got to know each other, did the functional evaluation and then I would teach exercises to do at home that were about breathing, getting centered and self monitoring.

Then in rest breaks we'd do more of that and also learn about hydration and water and also why it was good to have the body moving things around. The PTs simply did not see how they could possibly do a 45 minute session and work with someone who was so deconditioned. Once they learned the ropes, that I learned from having CFS / CEBV in the late 1980s and then just from all the years as a clinician and consumer since, they could pick up the ball and patients did well. 

I credit an innovative driving rehab company I worked for in the late 1990s that was not anything to do with the conventional system. And they believed you needed to use adaptive equipment only  as absolutely necessary, as you became dependent on it. (Example, a special mirror you'd not have if you borrowed a car in an emergency, etc.) I can see how for me, it would not be my preference to be going this high tech route with the monitor but I can see what they were doing with using it and I can see that some people might respond to it better than 'my method'. 

I'm going to add the load theory 'elevator' model here ... there's a trick to getting things moving and doing something GOOD without it being a LOAD. 

Search on Load Theory, and there's a topic by Marc Spurlock, MD titled Are You Loaded? (and goes on about how he's seen so many patients from young to elderly now with chronic illness). Embellishing some of these old 'gems' on Lumigrate is something I'm making a poing of doing recently, and really liked this topic in this forum. 

The frequency specific microcurrent is something that can help reduce the load, by a lot. And exercise / activity can do the same, OR it can be an added burden. So I hope people find competent physical therapists, occupational therapists, personal trainers, athletic trainers, physicians who can present these modalities to people who can benefit from the modalities conjoined with good advise and oversight. 

Live and learn. Learn and live better! ~ Mardy