Raena Morgan: A lot of times when I tell people that I have fibromyalgia, they don't know what it is, it kind of sounds exotic. You know, fibromyalgia. And I'll say it's like having arthritis in your muscles instead of your joints. And that creates a visual for people. What I'm trying to describe is muscle pain, stiffness.
Dr. Christopher Lepisto: Right.
Raena Morgan: What are some of the natural remedies for that?
Dr. Christopher Lepisto: That's a good description because it can, feels like that deep muscle pain that can feel like a deep joint pain. So, one of the first go to's that we have is magnesium, Classic Magnesium. It's an incredible muscle relaxant. In fact, quite often, it's given with calcium because they balance each other in the body and 30 to 60 minutes before bed, I'll recommend patients take a cal-mag blend, usually a powdered drink because it's easily absorbed.
They'll usually get a relaxing effect within 10 or 15 minutes, including directly into those muscles. We can also go to further levels if appropriate magnesium injections, sometimes even a magnesium IV. You can deliver magnesium in larger amounts this way and sometimes have very dramatic effects. Even in the emergency room, they give magnesium for heart attacks because it helps relax the heart tissue after such a traumatic occurrence.
Raena Morgan: Well, that's very vital information; it is something that people wouldn't put together.
Dr. Christopher Lepisto: Right, right.
Raena Morgan: Are there any other remedies, magnesium sounds wonderful, anything else?
Dr. Christopher Lepisto: That's a good start. Other classic, naturopathic remedies would be hydrotherapy. And in particular contrast hydrotherapy. So that means alternating between hot and cold. Now, the easiest way to do this for people is what's called a therapeutic contrast shower. Now, you live, yeah, I can see where you're going. You live in North Dakota, I live in Colorado. It doesn't mean we have to go from hot to North Dakota cold, right?
Now, ideally, you starting with a -- let's say one to two minutes hot, cool rinse, you're gradually turning the temperature down for 30 seconds, back to the hot for one to two minutes, cool rinse for 30 seconds, you're alternating 3 times, finishing cold. As your body develops more tolerance and more familiarity with the treatment, you can start changing the temperature more quickly and to colder temperatures.
Raena Morgan: And this benefits the muscle pain.
Dr. Christopher Lepisto: Yes, thank you. The next step is then what is this doing. It's expanding and contracting with the heat and the cold, you're providing a pump into those tissues. You can spray directly on sore muscles or joints. You can do it for a headache on your head or your neck and you get that expanding contracting pumping action, it helps move the toxins out of the muscle tissue, promoting circulation. Sometimes, the hydrotherapy makes the greatest difference in people's muscle pain.
Raena Morgan: Excellent, so magnesium and hydrotherapy.
Dr. Christopher Lepisto: Yes. The last thing I could mention would be an infrared sauna or some type of sauna. Infrared saunas are nice because you can control the temperature and that's important for detoxification because above 140, we lose the detoxification through the oil glands which close. But a sauna can be incredibly relaxing, very good for promoting muscle relaxation. It's great for sports recovery and injury recovery, as well as promoting detoxification and incredible immune support.
Raena Morgan: Okay. Thank you.
Dr. Christopher Lepisto: You're welcome.
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