Health & Medicine

Vibration Exercise Lowers Pain and Enhances Quality of Life in Fibromyalgia Patients

Benita Matilda
First Posted: May 30, 2014 05:08 AM EDT

A new pilot study reveals that vibration exercise help to lower pain and enhance quality of life among those diagnosed with fibromyalgia.

Researchers at the Indiana University found that whole-body vibration exercise might be the best therapy for reducing symptoms of pain and improving quality of life among those diagnosed with fibromyalgia, an illness that leads to chronic pain in muscles and ligaments.

"Our findings are promising, but it is not entirely clear whether these improvements were the result of added vibration or just the effects of being more active," said lead author Tony Kaleth, at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.

Fibromyalgia is a chronic condition that affects over 6 million people in the United States. Due to this condition people suffer intense pain all over the body. Majority of the patients are women in mid 30s to late 50s. Apart from the muscular pain and stiffness, this condition causes fatigue, sleep disorders and depression. Regular exercise is known to help patients with fibromyalgia. There is no cure for this condition.

"Many patients, however, are averse to participating over fears of pain that may be associated with increased physical activity," said Kaleth. "As a result, many patients continue to spiral downward, further exacerbating a sedentary lifestyle that often leads to a worsening of symptoms."

Due to this sedentary lifestyle people gain excess of body weight and other chronic conditions linked with obesity like hypertension and type 2 diabetes.

Whole body vibration exercise involves standing, sitting or lying on a machine with a vibrating platform that makes the muscles contract and relax as the machine vibrates. These machines are generally used by experts but are now widely seen at fitness centers too.

In several clinical populations, vibration training is mostly being studied as a significant therapeutic mode of exercise training. Though the results are ambigous and need further investigation, studies have shown that this training does lead to improvements in strength, muscle spasticity and pain.

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