With the weather changing into sunny days, it is a great time to start an exercise program outside and decrease your Fibromyalgia pain. Both sun exposure and physical activity are linked to pain reduction for Fibromyalgia.
Exposure to the sun increases Vitamin D and Fibromyalgia pain is linked to a deficiency of Vitamin D. Take your exercise routine outside a couple days per week to help reduce your pain.

Make sure to wear sunscreen. Although there is some links to sunscreen reducing the production of Vitamin D. According to the NYTimes.com, sunscreen has very little decrease in Vitamin D, “That is in part because most people typically do not apply enough sunscreen to get its full effects, which in turn allows some sunlight through, said Dr. Henry Lim, chairman of dermatology at the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit and a spokesman for the American Academy of Dermatology. And according to the National Institutes of Health, it does not take much sunlight to produce adequate amounts of vitamin D: perhaps as little as 30 minutes of daytime exposure (without sunscreen) twice a week.”
Introduce physical activity slowly. Start with a 15 minute walk several times per week and increase length as long as there are no flare-ups caused from your walk. Do some gentle stretches after your walk in a nearby park or on your lawn and enjoy some additional sun.
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Lisa Meloche, President Bodywork Alternatives Massage Therapy and Fibromyalgia coach, offering nationwide corporate chair massage and fitness classes and in home massage for Fibromyalgia clients www.bodyworkalternatives.com
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