A clinical study published in Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics showed that meditation may deliver long-term pain relief benefits to Fibromyalgia patients. For eight weeks, 39 women with Fibromyalgia attended weekly mindfulness meditation classes, which focused on deepening mind-body awareness and cultivating acceptance of parts of their condition that they were unable to control. At the end of the course, and at a three year follow-up, women in the meditation group coped better with their Fibromyalgia pain than those who whose classes included relaxation training and exercise.
The meditation course partly focused on managing stressful situations, which the medical advisor for the National Fibromyalgia Association says is important. Patrick Wood, M.D. said:
Fibromyalgia pain is often triggered by some sort of stressor so learning to handle stress better can make a big difference in terms of symptoms experience.”
John Kabat Zinn at U. Mass Medical Center in Worcester started up a clinic to teach patients with chronic pain and chronic illness meditation techniques about 20 years ago. They kept excellent records and their research shows marked reductions in symptoms and re-hospitalizations.
I found that meditation was one of the few approaches that could reduce my chronic pain. Unfortunately, my pain would shoot back up when I stopped meditating.