{"id":41684,"date":"2018-03-21T21:55:48","date_gmt":"2018-03-21T20:55:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/?p=41684"},"modified":"2018-03-28T10:38:49","modified_gmt":"2018-03-28T09:38:49","slug":"amy-price-the-unintended-consequences-of-tai-chi-for-fibromyalgia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2018\/03\/21\/amy-price-the-unintended-consequences-of-tai-chi-for-fibromyalgia\/","title":{"rendered":"Amy Price: The unintended consequences of tai chi for fibromyalgia"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>I am a trauma survivor with chronic pain. My options for surgical relief and pain management have been exhausted as I refuse to have an internal pain pump and the Food and Drug Administration have denied my compassionate use request for dangerous neck and spinal surgery, because it is high risk and has a less than five percent chance of doing any good. Someone decided I might have fibromyalgia, but no one could explain to me what it was. The doctor mumbled something about maybe tai chi helping, and for me it did.<\/span><\/p>\n

I later learned that fibromyalgia is a complex and confusing diagnosis that is thought to come from an overly aroused nervous system. This dysfunction can result in chronic, intermittent pain; sleep deprivation; and fatigue. These symptoms can trigger mental distress as well as cognitive and memory problems. There is no \u201cone size fits all\u201d approach. This makes finding useful treatment difficult.<\/span><\/p>\n

The uncertainty and variation between patients that makes symptoms hard to treat, also make them challenging to research. Research can be enriched with patient and public involvement, and this is one way in which we as patients can show support for medical research. [1] In addition, interventions or treatments that show benefit are more likely to be reimbursed, and this is good for patients.<\/span><\/p>\n

Tai chi is an ancient martial art that uses slow and gentle exercises to improve balance and mental calm in order to neutralise force and increase self regulation. My balance was poor from brain and spinal damage, and I could only see the depressing future of being a patient with chronic pain. I didn\u2019t expect tai chi to work, but thought I\u2019d give it a chance.<\/span><\/p>\n

The typical regimen is an hour long class a day. This was the intervention used in a trial by Wang et al<\/a><\/span>. Initially, I could only do ten minutes, three times a week, with constant supervision, because of memory and balance problems. Gradually, over about six weeks, my balance improved and this reduced anxiety and increased strength in my broken body. The ingrained philosophy of tai chi is to leverage force rather than resist it, and I still use this strategy regularly to manage pain.<\/span><\/p>\n

Would I recommend tai chi for other patients with a fibromyalgia diagnosis? My answer is a qualified yes. These are some of the things you need to consider: <\/span><\/p>\n