Functional exercise training better than stretching exercises for reducing pain in fibromyalgia patients, finds study

A new study published in the journal of BMC Advances in Rheumatology found that functional exercise training was more helpful than stretching exercises in lowering pain and improving quality of life in fibromyalgia patients. Fibromyalgia is a non-inflammatory disease marked by widespread muscular pain and associated symptoms. A low pain threshold (allodynia) and heightened sensitivity to pain stimuli (hyperalgesia) are common symptoms of fibromyalgia, which is regarded as a pain-regulation illness.

Numerous types of physical training for this group have been investigated using high-quality randomized clinical studies that included strength, flexibility, aerobic conditioning, and multicomponent exercise therapies. Thus, Giovana Fernandes and colleagues investigated the efficacy of a functional exercise program in lowering pain, improving functional capacity, increasing muscular strength and enhancing flexibility, balance, and quality of life in fibromyalgia patients.

82 women with fibromyalgia were randomly assigned to two groups. The functional exercise group had 45-minute sessions twice a week for 14 weeks. The stretching exercise group engaged in flexibility exercises of the same duration and frequency. The outcome measurements included the visual analog scale for widespread pain, the Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire for health-related quality of life, the Timed Up and Go test for functional performance, the one-repetition maximum for muscular strength, and the Sit and Reach test on the Wells bench for flexibility. The Berg Balance Scale measured balance, whereas the SF-36 measured overall quality of life.

By comparing the functional exercise group to the stretching exercise group after the intervention, the former showed a statistically significant decrease in pain (interaction p = 0.002), an improvement in health-related quality of life as assessed by the Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (interaction p < 0.001), and an improvement in the general health state domain of the SF-36 (interaction p = 0.043). Improved functional capability, muscular strength, flexibility, and balance did not significantly differ across groups. Overall, this study showed that, after 7 weeks, the functional exercise training program may reduce pain and improve disease-related quality of life in people with FM, and that these improvements persisted for up to 12 weeks beyond the conclusion of the intervention.

Source:

Fernandes, G., Nery, M., Meireles, S. M., Santos, R., Natour, J., & Jennings, F. (2024). A functional exercise program improves pain and health related quality of life in patients with fibromyalgia: a randomized controlled trial. In Advances in Rheumatology (Vol. 64, Issue 1). Springer Science and Business Media LLC. https://doi.org/10.1186/s42358-024-00422-7