If you suffer from the pain and fatigue of fibromyalgia, you're probably already aware of how frustrating and difficult this condition can be to treat. Most conventional medical treatments available to help fibromyalgia pain give only modest relief of the pervasive discomfort and fatigue associated with this disease. It's not surprising that many fibromyalgia sufferers experience depression and difficulty sleeping as a result of their symptoms. Because fibromyalgia is thought to affect up to two percent of the population, there is a strong need for alternative treatments to help fibromyalgia. Fibromyalgia problems can result in missed work days as well as loss of productivity. Recently yoga has been examined as a possible alternative therapy for fibromyalgia. Can yoga help fibromyalgia pain?
A study carried out at the Pulmonary Division of the University of Sao Paulo in Brazil and published in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine in 2007 suggests that yoga may play a role in a role in relieving pain and reducing fibromyalgia problems. Groups of women were assigned to receive eight weeks of either relaxing yoga or relaxing yoga with touch therapy. At the end of the eight week period they were given questionnaires assessing their pain symptoms. Both groups reported improvement in symptoms, although the group receiving relaxing yoga without touch therapy had better long term pain control. The investigators believe the women in the group that received yoga only had better long term pain control because touch therapy is passive which may have reduced the women's feelings of being in control of their symptoms. This small study suggests that yoga may help fibromyalgia pain.
Since the underlying cause of fibromyalgia remains a mystery, no one is sure how or why yoga may relieve fibromyalgia problems and reduce the frequency of pain. Some patients report that exercise is effective in reducing fibromyalgia pain and and can help with the fatigue and insomnia associated with this condition. The stretching associated with yoga postures and the positive affirmations may help to reduce muscle tightness that could trigger pain and may give the fibromyalgia sufferer a greater sense of control over their symptoms.
Should yoga be recommended to help fibromyalgia pain? While one small study doesn't constitute proof that yoga helps fibromyalgia symptoms, yoga has a variety of positive benefits including stress reduction, mental calmness, and a greater sense of control over one's body, all of which should improve fibromyalgia problems. Other than the potential risk of injury which can be minimized, yoga seems to have few downsides. Using yoga to help fibromyalgia pain seems to be a safe and potentially effective way to help fibromyalgia sufferers get better control over their symptoms.
