| Popis: |
Fibromyalgia is a painful and non-inflammatory syndrome. The main symptom is widespread and chronic musculoskeletal pain, which is often associated with other physical and emotional components, with negative impact on the quality of life of these patients. Currently, the most accepted hypothesis for the etiology of painful sensation in fibromyalgia is based on changes in the central processing of pain. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of laser therapy on pain and the quality of life of women with fibromyalgia. The study included 9 women with a confirmed diagnosis of fibromyalgia, which underwent 10 consecutive sessions with 830 nm laser and dosimetry of 5 J/cm² applied only on painful tender points of digital palpation. We conducted evaluation of pain intensity before and after intervention with laser therapy using a visual analogue scale (VAS). To assess quality of life, two questionnaires were used: the Medical Outcomes Study 36-item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36) and the Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQ), which were performed before and after the treatment with laser therapy. For the pain intensity evaluated through VAS, no significant difference was observed after the treatment, (p=3.03). Regarding the SF-36, there were statistically significant differences in overall score (p=0.018), and we observed statistically significant differences in pain variables (p=0.032) and general health status (p=0.027). In FIQ, the overall score showed statistically significant difference, as (p=0.002), and in relation to FIQ, there was statistically significant difference in well-being (p=0.007), difficulties at work (p=0.048), pain (p=0.00), stiffness (p=0.033), and sleep (p=0.021). We found that physical therapy intervention with laser therapy promotes pain relief and quality of life in women with fibromyalgia. |
