Eureka! Institutional Repository

Subject: This project presents and analyzes the syndrome of fibromyalgia and presents also and analyzes medical studies where participants are following pool-based or land-based exercise therapy. It compares some similarities and differences of the studies as well as suggesting new questions to research which may have not been covered yet. In the end, physiotherapy protocols and an indicative program of therapeutic exercise in water are presented for these patients. Methods: The databases of PubMed, Cochrane library, PEDro, Medline and Google Scholar were searched. Searching criteria was female subjects diagnosed with fibromyalgia syndrome who are following water exercise since 2000 until today. Open, full article studies were total fifteen. The three of them were anascopical so they were excluded. Five of them were chosen and they are presented below. Results: Aerobic exercise whose intensity is adjusted according to the patient's needs and whose duration is increased gradually, shows to have positive effects on improvements of cardiovascular capacity, symptoms and physical fitness. In addition, the exercise in water seems to have some advantages in terms of the psychological factor and mood improvement. Conclusions: Physical capacity can be increased through exercise, even if the exercise is performed in a pool with warm water. The exercise programs in the pool may have some additional influence on symptoms and mood and suggested to patients who are facing limitations when exercising on the ground and patients who have difficulty in maintaining their activity level.