Whole body vibration therapy may reduce symptoms of fibromyalgia says small study

A complementary therapy, called whole body vibration therapy, may be able to improve quality of life for people with fibromyalgia, a research team outlines in Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice.

Whole body vibration therapy involves users lying, sitting or standing on a platform that vibrates rapidly in one or more directions. The vibrations are believed to force the muscles of the body to contract in reaction, providing a form of exercise.

In the new study, a total of 20 people with fibromyalgia (average age 57 years) were split into two groups.

Half were given six different types of exercises combined with whole body vibration therapy for four weeks. The 10 people in the control group performed the same exercises on the same platform without the vibration therapy.

Although measures of depression and quality of life remained the same in both groups, those in the whole body vibration therapy group had improvements in scores on The Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire, which is used to evaluate fibromyalgia patients.

“Whole body vibration is found to be effective in reducing symptoms of fibromyalgia,” the experts conclude.

Click here to read the original research.

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