Swimming or walking?

Relieve fibromyalgia with this simple (and fun) trick

You know what you've got to do... you just don't have the strength and energy to do it!

Is there anything more frustrating than that?

Folks with fibromyalgia fight that battle every day. They know one of the best ways to fight the all-over pain and energy-draining fatigue that mark this condition is with a little activity.

Not much; just a walk.

But sometimes, it's a struggle to do even that... so they stay in, and the condition gets even worse.

Now, the latest research spots a way to get some of the benefits of walking without actually walking.

It's simple and gentle, and most people love it.

It's swimming!

Yes, I know, "real" swimming can be tougher than walking. But you don't have to dive in the pool and make like Michael Phelps.

Just slip in, get comfortable, float along and enjoy the sensations... because that's all it takes to get some fibro-beating benefits.

In the new study, 75 women with this debilitating condition were asked to either walk or swim three times a week, for 50 minutes at a time.

Just three months later, they all had dramatic improvements.

Pain levels didn't just drop. They were cut nearly in HALF.

That's no surprise for the walkers; we know walking can work wonders for women with this condition.

But the swimmers got the same benefit. In fact, they had a slightly bigger drop in overall pain levels.

The benefits didn't stop there, either.

One of the worst parts of fibromyalgia -- after the pain itself -- is what it does to the rest of your life. You're in so much pain you can't get out and enjoy yourself with your friends.

Heck, you can't even get to the supermarket to pick up dinner some nights!

When the pain levels drop, you can get back out -- and that's exactly what happened in this study. Women who walked and swam saw their level of social interactions jump by about a third.

Along with regular walking or swimming, there are other steps you can take to beat fibromyalgia, but you won't hear about them from most mainstream docs.

Some of these guys still don't believe the condition is real!

Even those who do can't tell you what causes it -- and how can you treat a condition if you don't know the cause?

In this case, the job is complicated by the fact that there are nearly two dozen causes that we know of, with more being uncovered all the time. In some cases, more than one factor can trigger the fibromyalgia.

A skilled holistic medical doctor can test for and treat ALL the possible causes of fibromyalgia -- and if you live in the San Diego area, I can run those tests right here at the Stengler Center for Integrative Medicine.

Not in the area? I can also offer advice by phone. Call 855-DOC-MARK to schedule a consultation.

God bless,

Dr. Mark Stengler