Study Finds That Mild COVID-19 is Causing the Sudden New Onset of Fibromyalgia Symptoms
Nikhil Prasad Fact checked by:Thailand Medical News Team Nov 11, 2025 1 month, 2 weeks, 2 days, 20 minutes ago
Medical News: Silent Pain Epidemic Emerging After Mild COVID-19 Infections
A new comprehensive scoping review by independent researcher Shiloh Plaut from Israel has shed light on a growing medical mystery — the sudden development of fibromyalgia-like symptoms among individuals who had mild or non-hospitalized COVID-19 infections. This
Medical News report reveals that the research analyzed 228 published studies to understand how SARS-CoV-2 infection can lead to persistent pain, fatigue, and neurological disturbances that mimic chronic conditions such as fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS).
Study Finds That Mild COVID-19 is Causing the Sudden New Onset of Fibromyalgia Symptoms
The review underscores how many people who recovered from seemingly minor COVID-19 cases are now living with chronic pain, exhaustion, and cognitive fog. These symptoms, once dismissed as psychosomatic, are now being recognized as part of a broader post-COVID condition, which affects up to 35 percent of patients according to global estimates.
Mapping the Overlap Between Long COVID and Fibromyalgia
Plaut’s study systematically reviewed data from scientific databases such as MEDLINE, Web of Science, and APA PsycINFO, identifying inconsistencies in how researchers define and measure long COVID and fibromyalgia-related symptoms. The report found that numerous studies used varied diagnostic tools — including the Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire, Central Sensitization Inventory, and Fatigue Severity Scale — but lacked standardized criteria. This inconsistency, the author noted, makes it difficult to compare findings across countries and determine the exact biological link between the coronavirus and chronic pain syndromes.
Many studies documented that COVID-19 patients who were never hospitalized still developed persistent musculoskeletal pain, fatigue, and cognitive dysfunction months after infection, meeting the 2016 American College of Rheumatology’s diagnostic criteria for fibromyalgia. This finding challenges the notion that fibromyalgia is purely a neurological or psychosomatic disorder, suggesting instead that post-viral inflammation and tissue remodeling may play a role.
Exploring the Biological Mechanism Behind Post-COVID Pain
The study highlights an emerging theory involving myofibroblast-driven extracellular matrix remodeling — essentially microscopic changes in connective tissue that may cause chronic tension, stiffness, and pain throughout the body. This mechanism, combined with central sensitization (a state where the nervous system becomes overly responsive to pain), could explain why patients continue to suffer long after viral clearance.
Other contributing factors identified include immune dysregulation, autoantibody activity, and possible persistence of viral fragments in tissues. The paper also points to overlaps between postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), chronic fatigue, and widespread pain seen in both fibromyalgia and long COVID, suggesting a share
d pathophysiological basis.
Call For Standardized Research and Better Treatment Approaches
Plaut emphasizes that the lack of clear definitions and standardized tools in long COVID research is hampering progress toward effective treatments. The review calls for large-scale population studies with uniform diagnostic frameworks, as well as more hypothesis-driven research into neuromechanical and connective tissue abnormalities.
The author argues that fibromyalgia and long COVID may both represent a non-autoimmune connective tissue disease with neurological and mechanical components, rather than a purely mental or sensory disorder. This new model could eventually transform how chronic pain syndromes are diagnosed and treated.
In summary, this study provides crucial insight into the biological underpinnings of chronic pain and fatigue following mild SARS-CoV-2 infections. It reinforces that long COVID is not just a lingering respiratory illness, but a multi-system condition affecting nerves, muscles, and connective tissues. The findings highlight the urgent need for a multidisciplinary approach combining neurology, rheumatology, and immunology to develop effective therapies and restore quality of life for millions of sufferers.
The study findings were published on a preprint server and is currently being peer reviewed.
https://www.preprints.org/manuscript/202510.2489
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