Limbic reflexology for the management of fibromyalgia: A qualitative investigation of a non-drug treatment

• Limbic reflexology (LR) a non-drug treatment for the management of fibromyalgia. • Participants' fibromyalgia symptoms changed after 6-8 weekly LR sessions. • The improvement in symptoms was maintained with regular LR top-up sessions. • Participants experienced less pain, reduced fatigue, and more restful sleep. The European Alliance of Associations for Rheumatology (EULAR) in their 2017 paper recommended that an update be conducted after five years to determine whether further trials had been conducted for therapies which had scored low and whether any new therapies had emerged for the management of fibromyalgia. Limbic reflexology is a reflexology approach which targets specific problems that arise from altered function of the limbic brain network and nuclei. The aim of this study was to explore the potential of limbic reflexology as a non-drug treatment for the management of fibromyalgia, through (1) assessing if a person’s experience of living with the fibromyalgia symptoms of pain, fatigue and sleep quality changed after receiving an initial course of six to eight weekly limbic reflexology sessions, and (2) assessing whether any changes in symptoms were maintained with regular maintenance sessions. A purposive homogenous sample was used to include participants who were aged 18 and over, had a diagnosis of fibromyalgia and had completed a course of between six to eight weekly limbic reflexology sessions prior to the study. Semi-structured interviews were used for data collection, the interviews were audio recorded, transcribed verbatim, and anonymised. Interpretative phenomenological analysis was then used for the data analysis. Three women with fibromyalgia were interviewed to gain a detailed account of the impact of six to eight weekly limbic reflexology sessions, plus maintenance sessions on symptoms of fibromyalgia and its impact on their experience of pain, fatigue, and sleep quality. The following themes were identified “The experience of fibromyalgia”, “The experience of limbic reflexology”, and “The holistic impact of limbic reflexology”. Participants reported limbic reflexology improved their symptoms with less pain, reduced fatigue, and more restful sleep. This improvement in symptoms was maintained with regular sessions. This qualitative study provides new insight into the impact of limbic reflexology on physical and mental function among women living with fibromyalgia. These initial findings provide an invaluable start for further research to determine limbic reflexology’s potential as a non-drug treatment for the management of fibromyalgia symptoms.