Massage for fibromyalgia- with self help advice

An overview of massage needs for fibromyalgia

As discussed in our article The root cause of fibromyalgia , fibromyalgia is most often caused by pain from tender lumps in your muscles called (myofascial) trigger points bombarding your nervous system for long periods of time causing it to become sensitised. Scientists have found that stopping the pain from trigger points usually gives great improvement for fibromyalgia. Massage is an excellent treatment for trigger points, but for fibromyalgia sufferers we have the following considerations.

Special massage considerations for fibromyalgia

Massage needs to treat trigger points rather than just general massage

The massage has to be a type which will help trigger points. More general massages only have a minimal effect on these.

Massage will need to be repeated over a long period of time

While treatment can give temporary relief, as discussed in our article Why do trigger points keep coming back , trigger points are generally stubborn so it takes continued treatment over a a long time to eliminate them. In the case of fibromyalgia the trigger points will have been there a long time so this is even more so. This means a single treatment or typical short course of massages will at best only provide temporary relief.

Sensitisation will make you less tolerant to therapy

When you have fibromyalgia even a light touch can be hard to tolerate. Many forms of trigger point therapy are painful even for a person not suffering from fibromyalgia and sensitised. Any form of painful massage therapy such as pressure or friction will likely not be tolerated and even cause a flare up.

What should work

Based on these considerations, to successful treat fibromyalgia with massage you need a form of massage that is effective on trigger points and causes little if any pain. You will need to continue the sessions over a long period of time which will require large numbers of applications of therapy. Unless you are very wealthy and have plenty of time for appointments your only practical solution will be self massage. Because of this we will be showing you an easy to do very effective self massage.

What the clinical trials say

Clinical trials confirm this strategy. As the results summarised in the table below show:

• they did generally used a large number of therapy sessions over time,
• these gave partial relief suggesting that if the therapy was continued there would have been further improvement, and
• the one trial gave poor results was the one that used friction massage, which is a very aggressive and painful therapy we would never recommend for fibromyalgia sufferers.

We have also done a summary below of what the clinical trials say about other ways of treating trigger points. These confirm that trigger points generally require large numbers of treatments, which only give temporary relief.

Your practical fibromyalgia massage guide

There is a form of Thai self massage that may be reasonably tolerated and help. You can read more about it here. However, the only massage that strongly fills all the requirements including i) no pain, ii) highly effective, and iii) very easy to do on yourself is using a genuine vibration massager. Please do not confuse these with massage guns or percussion massagers. Rather than send in therapeutic vibrations these machines punch their heads in like a jackhammer. This is perfect- if you want to stir the problem up. For how to choose an appropriate machine please see our article How to choose a massager .

Special consideration when massaging fibromyalgia

Start conservatively

It is possible to aggravate fibromyalgia even with a relatively painless techniques such as vibration massage. Therefore start conservatively working within your tolerance. For example start by treating lightly and maybe just one or a small number of trigger points. This can be increased as you improve or find your body easily tolerating the treatment. If you do happen to aggravate your condition just let it settle down and proceed conservatively.

Get professional help

Fibromyalgia can be a complex condition itself, and trigger points are usually part of a more complex musculoskeletal problem. You can do most of the massage yourself, but we recommend you seek the help of a properly qualified professional who deals with trigger points and musculoskeletal problems.

Keep going even after the pain settles

As discussed in our article Why do trigger points keep coming back , once trigger points stop causing pain you need to keep the treatment going until they are properly eliminated. We recommend that you continue regular treatments until you cannot find the trigger points when you do an examination, then keep going with a regular but less frequent routine to maintain your heath.

Other self massage and trigger point therapy articles

If you found this useful please check out our other self massage and trigger point therapy articles.

• Self massage and trigger point therapy for headaches and migraines
• Massage And Trigger Point Therapy For Low Back Pain, With Self Help Options
• Massage And Trigger Point Therapy For Calf Pain, With Self Help Options
• Massage And Trigger Point Therapy For Shoulder Pain, With Self Help Options
• Self Massage And Trigger Point Therapy For Tennis Elbow
• Self Massage For High Blood Pressure
• Self Massage For Anxiety

Appendix: What the research says about individual trigger point therapies

Below is a summary of the findings of several scientific reviews of trigger point therapies (3-9)⁠⁠.

The goal of trigger point therapy

As said previously, the goal of trigger point therapy, according to the scientists, is to deactivate the trigger points. None mention having the goal of eliminating trigger points.

References

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