Physiotherapy group treatment for patients with fibromyalgia—an embodied learning process

Abstract

Purpose: To study how patients with fibromyalgia (FM) experienced physiotherapy group treatment comprising pool exercise and education.

Method: Nineteen patients with FM were interviewed and the transcribed interviews were analysed using a phenomenological life-world approach. The participants' mean age was 45 years and their mean symptom duration was 10 years.

Results: Physiotherapy group treatment was experienced as an embodied learning process, comprising the themes: positive experience of body, sharing experiences of living with FM and creating new patterns of acting. The positive experience of body comprised the following categories: experiencing relaxation, experiencing physical capacity, acknowledging limitations and changing the pattern of activity. Sharing experiences comprised the following categories: not being alone and sharing joy. Three patterns of participation were identified: reciprocity, distancing and remaining outside. Creating new patterns comprised the following categories; calming down, creating a new relationship to self, creating a new relationship to social roles and creating new patterns for managing pain.

Conclusions: The study indicates that physiotherapy group treatment was experienced as an embodied learning process. Positive experiences of body were intertwined with a new relationship to self and objects in the world. Interactions between the co-participants promoted the process of creating new patterns of thinking and acting in the social world.