Observations placeholder
Fibromyalgia and saunas
Identifier
006707
Type of Spiritual Experience
Background
Fibromyalgia is a condition characterised by pain - pain of the joints, muscles and tendons. At the moment no firm idea exists of the cause although the normal suspects - viruses, toxins, bacteria, fungi, parasites and pharmaceuticals are being examined.
This paper rather lends credence to the belief that some fibromyalgia may be caused by viruses. Viruses do not like heat, our body reacts to pathogens by using heat which serves to open the blood vessels allowing the immune system to work better and destroy the virus.
A description of the experience
Complement Ther Clin Pract. 2011 Aug;17(3):162-6. doi: 10.1016/j.ctcp.2010.08.004. Epub 2010
Sep 25. Effects of thermal therapy combining sauna therapy and underwater exercise in patients with fibromyalgia. Matsumoto S, Shimodozono M, Etoh S, Miyata R, Kawahira K. Department of Rehabilitation and Physical Medicine, Graduate school of Medical and Dental Sciences, Kagoshima University, Kagoshima, Japan. shushu@m.kufm.kagoshima-u.ac.jp
Fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) is a chronic disorder that is characterized by widespread pain with localized tenderness. We aimed to investigate whether thermal therapy combining sauna therapy and underwater exercise improved pain, symptoms, and quality of life (QOL) in FMS patients.
Forty-four female FMS patients who fulfilled the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) criteria received 12-week thermal therapy program comprising sauna therapy once daily for 3 days/week and underwater exercise once daily for 2 days/week.
Pain, symptoms, and QOL were assessed using a pain visual analog scale (VAS), a fibromyalgia impact questionnaire (FIQ), and a short form 36-item questionnaire (SF-36), respectively.
All of the patients reported significant reductions in pain and symptoms of 31-77% after the 12-week thermal therapy program, which remained relatively stable (28-68%) during the 6-month follow-up period (that is, the thermal therapy program improved both the short-term and the long-term VAS and FIQ scores).
Improvements were also observed in the SF-36 score. Thermal therapy combining sauna therapy and underwater exercise improved the QOL as well as the pain and symptoms of FMS patients.
Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
PMID: 42283
The source of the experience
PubMedConcepts, symbols and science items
Concepts
Symbols
Science Items
Activities and commonsteps
Activities
Overloads
Extreme painFibromyalgia
Muscle diseases
Viral infection
Suppressions
Exercising and keeping fitWarmth