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Yoga for fibromyalgia: Evidence-based benefits for pain, fatigue, and mood

Summaries 1 min 779

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Created On: 04/02/2026

Fibromyalgia is a chronic pain disorder eliciting widespread pain, mood issues, fatigue, and sleep impairment.

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Key take away

Yoga improves fibromyalgia symptoms, including pain, fatigue, mood, muscle strength, and coping strategies.

Background

Fibromyalgia is a chronic pain disorder eliciting widespread pain, mood issues, fatigue, and sleep impairment. Conventional treatments often fall short due to unclear causes and limited effectiveness. Yoga, a holistic mind-body therapy combining movement, breathing, meditation, and stress management techniques, is emerging as a valuable complementary approach. This systematic review evaluated the effects of yoga on fibromyalgia symptoms and examined the quality of current research.

Method

An extensive search of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) was conducted using Google Scholar, Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus, ScienceDirect, PEDro, and Cochrane Library. Adult participants with fibromyalgia undergoing yoga interventions were included. Methodological quality was checked using the PEDro scale.

Result

In total, 3 RCTs (reported in 4 publications) involving 116 female volunteers (aged 18–60 years) were included. All studies reported remarkable improvements in fibromyalgia impact questionnaire (FIQ/FIQR) scores favoring yoga, with 3 trials also reporting reduced pain. Yoga interventions exhibited clinically meaningful improvements in anxiety, depression, fatigue, coping strategies, and muscle strength.

Follow-up analyses indicated that benefits were largely maintained, including enhanced physical strength, improved symptom perception, increased acceptance, and better coping mechanisms. The average methodological quality of studies was 6.5 (Good).

Conclusion

Yoga proved to be a safe, effective complementary therapy for fibromyalgia, improving pain, fatigue, mood, physical strength, and coping abilities. High-quality, large-scale studies are needed to further validate these benefits.