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Less Pain, More to Gain
Fibromyalgia (FM) is a disorder that affects 5-6 million people in the U.S. Typical symptoms of FM include chronic, widespread pain and tenderness to light touch. Patients often describe being extremely and painfully sensitive to stimuli as gentle as cloth brushing against their skin. Other FM symptoms can include fatigue and sleep disturbance. The cause of FM is not known, but may be related to changes in the central nervous system.
The Biodex machine measures muscle strength during specific arm movements such as pushing or pulling. Subjects are concurrently asked to rate any pain associated with that movement. Photos courtesy of the School of Health Professions.
Studies have found that exercise can reduce pain and fatigue in some FM patients. Although exercise is frequently prescribed as a treatment for FM, FM patients report exacerbations of their pain with activity and surprisingly little is known about which specific types of exercises should be recommended.
To better understand the relationship between exercise and FM, Dr. Erin Alice Dannecker, an Assistant Professor of Physical Therapy in the MU School of Health Professions, has initiated a study to evaluate the pain of various types of muscle contractions in FM patients.
“If a particular type of exercise is especially painful, the FM patient is not likely to stick with the therapy,” Dannecker said. The idea is to identify the least painful movements that will produce the most benefit.
Using a Biodex machine, a state-of-the-art system that measures muscle strength during different types of movements, Dannecker is able to obtain feedback from FM patients and correlate different pain levels with specific muscle contractions.
The goal of the study is to identify optimal exercise therapies for FM, to reduce the patients’ pain and increase their physical activity.
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Dr. Erin Alice Dannecker, Assistant Professor of Physical Therapy
The Biodex computer software records muscle torque data during muscle contractions.
Page last updated on: August 25, 2009
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