Forty-four female FMS patients who fulfilled the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) criteria received 12-week thermal therapy program comprising:
• Sauna therapy once daily for 3 days/week
• And [warm] underwater exercise once daily for 2 days/week.
Pain, symptoms, and QOL were assessed using a pain visual analog scale (VAS), a fibromyalgia impact questionnaire (FIQ), and a short form 36-item questionnaire (SF-36), respectively.
All of the patients reported significant reductions in pain and symptoms of 31%-77% after the 12-week thermal therapy program, which remained relatively stable (28%-68%) during the 6-month follow-up period (that is, the thermal therapy program improved both the short-term and the long-term VAS and FIQ scores).
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