Fibromyalgia & Chronic Pain LIFE Spring 2015, Issue 11 | Page 16

Complementary and Alternative

Programs for People with Fibromyalgia
by Scott D. Mist, PhD, MAcOM
Schools of Nursing and Medicine
Oregon Health & Science University
Many patients with fibromyalgia
have been told to exercise as one
part of the treatment regimen.
However, many are concerned
that the risks of exercise
--particularly soreness and safety-outweigh the possible benefits.
These are real risks that have to
be considered.
Complementary and alternative
medicine exercise – particularly
those with a mindfulness based
component – appear to address
these two risks. The most thoroughly studied of these include tai
chi, yoga and qigong.

W

hat is tai chi?
Tai chi – also spelled t’ai chi
or taiji – is a Chinese martial art
that is practiced for self-defense
and for its health benefits. It is
a slow and gentle moving meditation that coordinates breathing
and awareness. There are many
different styles like Chen, Wu,
Yang, Wu Hao, and Sun styles.
Often times teachers teach long
and short forms. While the dif-

16  Fibromyalgia & Chronic Pain

Life

ferent styles of tai chi have not
been individually studied for
fibromyalgia, it would be good to
inform the instructor that you
have a chronic pain condition and
to be gentle with yourself as you
become accustomed to the movements.

B

enefits of tai chi.
In studies of tai chi for fibromyalgia, historically they have
had a very high level of retention – much higher than other
exercise programs indicating
that most participants found the
movements to be gentle and easily
accomplished. In a recent review
of complementary and alternative
medicine exercise for fibromyalgia
(Mist, Firestone, & Jones, 2013)
found that tai chi was effective
for pain relief with a very broad
number of patients reporting
clinically meaningful pain improvements. Other benefits that
are being reported include reducing sleep disturbances, fatigue,
depression and improving quality
of life and self-confidence.

Sp r i n g 2 0 1 5

W

hat is yoga?
Yoga is a mind-body practice that was developed in India.
With the proliferation of yoga,
one can find many different styles
of yoga with names like hatha,
vinyasa, kundalini, bikram, power,
Iyengar and more. As with tai chi
and other forms of exercise, it is
important to practice one that
emphasizes mindfulness and gentle movement. With this in mind,
Iyengar – a subtype of Hatha yoga
– is often a very good practice in
that it emphasizes correct posture and alignment rather than
working up a sweat. Iyengar also
involves correct breathing (often
called pranayama) and uses props
to aid the proper alignment.

B

enefits of yoga. There have
been three studies of yoga
for fibromyalgia. (Carson, et al.,
2010) (Curtis, Osadchuk, & Katz,
2011) and (Hennard, 2011). Each
showed improvement in pain
with most participants having
small but consistent reductions.
While these studies were small,