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The following is a summary of “Effect of physical activity education on shoulder girdle pain and muscle strength in participants with fibromyalgia: a pilot experimental study,” published in the May 2024 issue of Pain by Couëpel et al.

Exercise and education combined with a focus on upper limb interventions are becoming the leading approach to managing fibromyalgia pain.

Researchers conducted a retrospective study to assess whether immediate pain and muscle capacity improvements occur in patients with fibromyalgia receiving physical activity education compared to a control group.

They randomized 56 participants with fibromyalgia into two groups: an experimental and a control group. The intervention involved watching a five-minute video on fibromyalgia, pain, kinesiophobia, and physical activity. The control group watched a neutral video about beavers of the same duration in Quebec. Afterward, participants completed a task involving repeated unilateral shoulder abduction to induce muscular fatigue. Maximal voluntary contraction (MVC) was assessed for shoulder abduction, pain level, and pressure pain threshold (PPT) in the upper limb before and after the task. Electromyographic activity of the upper trapezius and middle deltoid muscles was also measured. Two-way repeated measures analysis of variance compared MVC, PPT, and pain level changes between groups pre- and post-task.

The results indicated that the experimental group had a notably lower pain increase in the middle deltoid muscle (P=0.002), as measured by the verbal pain rating scale. No significant interactions or main effects of Group and Time were observed for pain levels in the upper trapezius and elbow extensor muscles or for any PPT measures. Electromyographic data suggested neither group experienced muscle fatigue during the repeated contraction task, as indicated by median frequency values.

Investigators concluded that a short educational video on physical activity reduced reported pain in patients with fibromyalgia front shoulder muscle (middle deltoid) after repeated arm lifts, with no signs of actual muscle fatigue measured by electrical activity.

Source: frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpain.2024.1328796/full