"The Impact of Proper Breathing Techniques on Fibromyalgia Symptoms"
- Julian Simpson
- Jun 15, 2024
- 2 min read
Updated: Apr 29, 2025
"The Impact of Proper Breathing Techniques on Fibromyalgia Symptoms"
Fibromyalgia (FM) is the second most common rheumatologic disease after osteoarthritis.1 The etiology of FM remains elusive despite being a chronic syndrome and affecting approximately 6% of the world population
The characteristics of fibromyalgia are :
More often in females
CHRONIC widespread pain in your muscles
generalised fatigue
anxiety and depression
cognitive decline
non-restorative sleep
Here's where Fibromyalgia gets tricky. Often patients present with many different Fibromyalgia, including:
diabetes, obesity, allergic rhinitis, small-fibre neuropathy, kinesiophobia, other rheumatological pathologies (hypermobility spectrum disorder, Ehlers-Danlos syndrome), intestinal dysfunctions (irritable bowel syndrome, celiac disease), neuromotor imbalance, vestibulocochlear disorders, Raynaud’s phenomenon, orthostatic intolerance, pelvic floor dysfunction and sexual dysfunction, orofacial area dysfunction, loss of cervical lordosis
What is Fibromyalgia:
Fibromyalgia is Neuropathic pain that appears following a lesion of the nervous tissue, at a central or peripheral level, with or without inflammatory processes, with painful symptoms (acute, intermittent, paraesthesia)
Approximately 45% of patients suffer from balance disorders, with a reported number of falls of approximately 16 times per month compared to 6 times per month in healthy subjects.
Why is Breathing important for Fibromyalgia Patients?
It has been suggested that patients with Fibromyalgia have higher sympathetic system activity than healthy subjects and that shallow breathing increases the response of the same autonomic system
A correct inspiration stimulates the action of the vagus nerve (parasympathetic), while a non-exhaustive breath stimulates the type IV diaphragmatic afferents; a constant activation of the latter afferents could be speculated to cause the increase of the sympathetic system activity
Patients with Fibromyalgia have a decreased vagus nerve volume, (which affects up to 90% of parasympathetic afferents)
Researchers in 2024 concluded that inspiration positively influences motor actions, through the stimulation of the parasympathetic system.
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Reference
1. Lomas-Vega R, Rodríguez-Almagro D, Peinado-Rubia AB, et al. Joint assessment of equilibrium and neuromotor function: a validation study in patients with fibromyalgia. Diagnostics. 2020;10(12):1057. doi: 10.3390/diagnostics10121057 [PMC free article] [PubMed] [CrossRef] [Google Scholar]
Alshahrani MS, Reddy RS, Alshahrani A, Gautam AP, Alsubaie SF. Exploring the interplay between ankle muscle strength, postural control, and pain intensity in chronic ankle instability: A comprehensive analysis. Heliyon. 2024 Mar 5;10(5):e27374. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e27374. PMID: 38486775; PMCID: PMC10937675.
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