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Fibromyalgia syndrome is a chronic condition characterised by widespread pain, fatigue, disrupted sleep, and reduced quality of life. Non-pharmacological approaches are increasingly sought to complement standard care. Baduanjin, a traditional Chinese mind-body exercise comprising eight gentle movement sequences, has shown early promise in managing fibromyalgia symptoms, but previous research has been limited by small samples and reliance on self-reported measures alone.
This assessor-blinded, two-arm randomised controlled trial enrolled 74 adults with a confirmed fibromyalgia diagnosis at a university-affiliated hospital in China. Participants were allocated equally to either a daily 30-minute supervised Baduanjin programme for four weeks or standard therapy alone. Outcomes were assessed at the start of the trial, at four weeks, and at eight weeks. Alongside standard questionnaires covering disease impact, pain, sleep quality, and fatigue, the researchers used surface electromyography — a tool that objectively measures muscle electrical activity — as an exploratory measure.
After four weeks, the Baduanjin group showed meaningful improvements across all measured outcomes, including overall disease impact, pain intensity and extent, sleep quality, fatigue, and muscle activation, compared with the control group. At the eight-week follow-up, gains in pain extent, sleep quality, and fatigue were maintained, although differences in overall disease impact and pain intensity were no longer statistically significant. No serious adverse events occurred in either group.
Conclusion: This randomised controlled trial suggests that Baduanjin exercise is a safe and effective short-term complementary approach for reducing the symptom burden of fibromyalgia, though the durability of some benefits beyond four weeks requires further investigation.
Source: Zhang X, Luo J, Zhang H et al. Complementary therapies in medicine (2026). View on PubMed (PMID 41831529) · doi:10.1016/j.ctim.2026.103356
