Fibromyalgia: Meds are Not Enough
Aerobics, Stretches and Strength Training Give Relief
For sufferers of fibromyalgia, the condition is confusing and painful, and medication does little to help. Now exercise can help to provide relief and improved function.
Monday May 12, was Fibromyalgia Awareness Day in the US, a national health observance to raise awareness about the little-known condition. However, fibromyalgia doesn’t just afflict American women. Approximately four per cent of women in all western countries suffer from fibromyalgia, a painful joint and muscle condition that affects women more than men.
Recent research shows that regular exercise, combined with education about ways to manage the disease, can alleviate symptoms and increase people’s ability to function.
Fibromyalgia Causes Chronic Pain and Tenderness
People with fibromyalgia experience chronic pain throughout their bodies for at least three months of the year, along with many specific sites of tenderness. The causes and mechanisms of the condition are not yet fully understood.
“Even with the recent approval of pregabalin by the (US) Food and Drug Administration to treat fibromyalgia symptoms, pharmacotherapy is often insufficient to resolve persistent symptoms or improve functional limitations and quality of life,” says Dr Daniel S. Rooks, one of the authors of the study on exercise, reported in the November 12 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.
“Self-management has increasingly been recommended as part of standard care for fibromyalgia, “ Dr Rooks said in the introduction to the paper, Group Exercise, Education, and Combination Self-management in Women With Fibromyalgia.
“We evaluated and compared the effectiveness of four common self-management treatments on function, symptoms, and self-efficacy in women with fibromyalgia.
“Progressive walking, simple strength training movements, and stretching activities improve functional status, key symptoms, and self-efficacy in women with fibromyalgia actively being treated with medication,” he said.
“The benefits of exercise are enhanced when combined with targeted self-management education. Our findings suggest that appropriate exercise and patient education be included in the treatment of fibromyalgia.”
Aerobics and Flexibility Exercises Plus Education
Dr Rooks, from Brigham & Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, and his colleagues, tested 207 women taking medication for fibromyalgia with 16 weeks of exercise and education.
The women were randomly assigned to four groups:
• 51 performed aerobic and flexibility exercises only;
• 51 added in strength training as well as aerobics and flexibility;
• 50 received a self-help course on managing fibromyalgia;
• 55 participated in all the exercises and the education course.
The exercise groups met twice weekly, gradually increasing the length and intensity of their workouts, with instructions to perform a third day of exercise on their own.
Six months later, the 135 women who completed the 16 week course were assessed with questionnaires and a physical performance test.
Improved Fitness and Physical and Mental Wellbeing
Dr Rooks and his team found that the women doing all forms of exercise improved their physical function, compared to those who only received the self-help course in managing their symptoms.
Even better were the results for those who had the strength training, aerobics and flexibility exercises combined with the self-help education.
“Social function, mental health, fatigue, depression and self-efficacy also improved,” he said.
And the effects were lasting.
“The beneficial effect on physical function of exercise alone and in combination with education persisted at six months.”
Dr Rooks and his colleagues concluded that doctors, physiotherapists and other medical professionals treating people with fibromyalgia include appropriate exercise and patient education in the treatment regime.
Two points need to be noted from this research:
- All the participants continued to take medications to control their pain during the study, and
- Participants had low to moderate symptoms of fibromylagia that enabled them to perform the exercises.
For more information of fibromyalgia, go to the National Fibromyalgia Association website.
See also: Getting Older People Walking
