Physical exercise and fibromyalgia

• Main Authors: Roberta Chiden Bueno, Merquiene Freitas Abreu, Gabriel Natan Pires, Diego Roger-Silva
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Universidade Federal de São Carlos 2012-09-01
• Series: Cadernos de Terapia Ocupacional
• Subjects: Fibromyalgia; Therapeutics; Exercise.
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.4322/cto.2012.028

Fibromyalgic syndrome is a non-inflammatory rheumatic disease which affects primarily Caucasianwomen. Fibromyalgic syndrome can be classified as primary, when there is no other associated pathology; orsecondary, when it is diagnosed related to some other pathology. The fibromyalgic patient needs to receivemultidisciplinary treatment and different areas should work together to promote the improvement of symptoms.The most common classical symptom of this disease is the chronic and diffuse pain. The specialized literaturepresents several works that point out the effects and benefits of physical exercise as a non-pharmacologicaltreatment for patients with fibromyalgic syndrome. Aerobic activity, stretching and strength training are amongthe physical exercises. Thus, this review aimed to highlight the several ways physical exercise can be useful tothe fibromyalgic patient, especially concerning the improvement of symptoms.