Healing Stories: Fibromyalgia

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Physician: Where is the pain?

Guest: Everywhere.

Fibromyalgia is primarily characterized by chronic and widespread musculoskeletal pain, often accompanied by fatigue, intestinal disorders, sleep issues, and mood swings. Affecting up to 8% of the global population, it is observed to be more prevalent amongst women. In the August of 2022, a 34-year-old woman with fibromyalgia approached our Ayurvedic Doctors searching for cure to her layered troubles.

In the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) maintained by the World Health Organization, fibromyalgia is classed as a disorder of pain processing due to abnormalities in how pain signals are processed in the central nervous system. Reasons for the condition continue to elude modern science. The research and treatment protocol for fibromyalgia over the years have naturally moved to a multi-disciplinary route.

Battling with weight issues and lower back pain since a younger age, 7 years back our guest woke up to a tingling sensation around her scapular region, with the pain spreading rapidly in the following weeks. The guest was diagnosed with fibromyalgia and brain fog, soon accompanied by mood swings, depression, diabetes, and sleep deprivation due to constant pain. A restless mind and a tired body are not helpful for managing pain, but after 8 years of attempting to find relief for her aching muscles with the aid of pharmaceutical drugs and various movement modalities, the guest decided to turn to ancient healing techniques in the hopes of finding relief.

Ayurveda & Fibromyalgia

Ayurveda views and compartmentalizes each system within the body under a specific dosha or bio-energetic force. This ancient science works on the foundation principle of three bio-energetic forces, which are a unique combination of the five elements. The doshas rule all responses to external and internal stimuli, the dance of these three forces within the body & mind must be a well-balanced play of power & efficiency for a state of good physical and mental health.

As per Ayurveda, Vata is the force created by air and space, and it governs all movement within the body. This includes the beating of the heart, flow of breath, muscle contractions and expansions, cellular integration and disintegration, mobility, communication through the mind, and also the impulses in the nervous system.

Fibromyalgia is characterized by the dysfunction of neuro-circuits; therefore, Ayurveda looks at fibromyalgia as a Vata disorder or dysfunction of the air element. With one element going through a dysfunctional crisis, it is bound to affect the other two forces - Pitta (metabolism) and Kapha (Immunity).

The nature of diagnosis and investigation in Ayurveda and other Eastern healing traditions is based on recognizing the root cause of the problem. Similarly, Ayurveda understands fibromyalgia beyond its primary symptom of muscle pain. This was acknowledged by modern approaches only in recent years, when the pathogenesis of fibromyalgia was linked to other factors such as acute inflammation, endocrine and immune system disorders, as well as genetic and psychosocial factors.

Treatment at Ananda

People suffering from fibromyalgia frequently suffer from allodynia or sensitivity to touch, an experience of heightened pain in response to tactile pressure, as did our guest. The condition created a challenge for the doctors to administer oil therapies and massage treatments, which are often an integral part of intense Ayurvedic cleansing to rebalance the bio-energies.

The head therapists and trainers started to develop techniques to address the condition of touch sensitivity. Ayurveda therapies were chosen carefully, and the approach was reworked for abhyanga with eladi thailam, choornaswedena, kashaya dhara, phizichil, picchu with murivenna, karpuradi thaialam and pristha vamsa therapy. Specific oils like Kottamchukkadi thailam, prasarini thaialam and murivenna were chosen for each therapy to help ground the force of the disturbed air element.

The physicians of Ayurveda and at Ananda work very closely with holistic physiotherapists and transpersonal psychologists to address conditions of chronic pain. Yet, the lead physician on the case Dr Naresh Perumbuduri says, “All factors put aside, the guest’s willingness to heal is always the primary turning point in cases led by traditional healing mechanisms which often demand both mental and physical discipline.”

The commitment to a strict regime is an uncompromising pre-requisite to balance such an intense disturbance of a bio-energetic force. Vata, the disturbed force in nervous system disorders as well as in the case of fibromyalgia, is responsible for a majority of the health problems known to us.

Role of Nutrition and Lifestyle

Food is one of the most critical deciding factors for pacifying a disturbed dosha, alongside a carefully selected list of herbal teas and curative concoctions for rebuilding the metabolism and immunity. The guest was put on a strict vata balancing diet. Vata responds well to a warm and moist weather, the same applies to the quality of food required to balance the force of vata, which doesn’t sit well with anything that’s too dry, cold, astringent, stale or bitter. Eating soft foods, healthy oils, natural sweet works well, while anything dry or drying in nature must be avoided.

The process of balancing vata is parallel to transforming the air and space involved in a maelstrom into a gentle breeze; therefore, non-strenuous movements, small quiet social gatherings, avoiding excessive travelling, talking, and thinking, sleeping by 10 PM and waking up at sunrise, oiling the body with sesame oil and grounding mediations are some very effective methods which were adopted by the guest in her lifestyle.

Results of the Programme

At the end of the programme, the guest’s FIQ score (Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire) showed up to 14% reduction in pain and other overall symptoms. The client’s depression had improved by 20% and anxiety by 30%. The sensitivity to light and noise had reduced remarkably by 20% and for the first time in 8 years she witnessed a big leap of improvement in her energy levels by 30%.

These parameters worked as a much-needed anchor to help the fear of pain fade after years. The results motivated her to follow the new lifestyle and habit patterns gifted by Ayurveda.

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