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Yoga Could Help Alleviate Chronic Back Pain

Chronic and debilitating back pain is one of the leading causes of disability

in our world.  The good news is, a new review of previous research suggests a carefully implemented yoga program could help you get moving again, even if it’s just a little.

The review, which was conducted by researchers from the University of Maryland School of Medicine, examined 12 studies from the UK, the U.S. and India. It aimed to analyze the effects of specifically-designed yoga programs on 1,080 participants diagnosed with long-term lower back pain. All of these participants were given yoga programs by qualified instructors, thereby ensuring that the care was tailored to their needs.

Yoga’s popularity has exploded in the past few years,

with data suggesting a 50% growth rate in the U.S. alone between 2012

and 2016; that’s an increase from 20.4 million practitioners to 36 million. Are you one of them? I know I am.

Many of us who practice yoga, which in today’s form can be far removed from your traditional Indian practice, claim varied health benefits, from easing your pain to improving tyour mental health. Fitness enthusiasts also credit yoga with increasing their flexibility and overall performance in their chosen sports.

The issue is, there is relatively little in the way of large-scale, quality research to support many of these claims — especially in terms of using yoga to treat specific conditions, like lower back pain. Getting a clear picture of its effects on your body, if any, is crucial, and that is what this review aimed to do.

Does yoga offer back pain-fighting benefits?

After examining the data, researchers found a modest effect from yoga

compared to no exercise at all when it was practiced for 6 months. They also found some small evidence of reducing your pain and improving your mobility. For many, this will confirm their previous assumption: yoga may be one way to ease your back pain.

However, researchers found little evidence to suggest that yoga was noticeably better than other forms of back pain-relief exercises. It may be that, when it comes to lower back pain, most carefully chosen exercises are better than no movement at all. Or, perhaps, the studies did not follow patients for long enough to really gauge how beneficial yoga might be. I find that yoga helps my lower back pain so I’ll continue to do it.

Poor quality data hampers examination of yoga’s effects

There were several issues with the quality of data the researchers

examined, and their review notes this fact. For one thing, the participants knew why they were reporting the impact of yoga on their pain relief, and this could have biased the results.

There were also some questions raised about funding for these trials. One trial was directly funded by a yoga institution, while 3 others did not declare their funding sources. Again, while there was no evidence for manipulation of figures in the data, a chance of bias certainly exists.

The major problem, though

and the one that these researchers in this review hope to remedy, centers

on the lack of long-term data available. This research could only provide moderate quality data on how yoga affected participants up to the six month mark. So far there have been no long-term studies to support claims that yoga has lasting benefits and can ease your back pain.

A note of caution: practice yoga with guidance

The researchers also delivered a note of caution with this research. Around

5% of the sample said they experienced greater back pain as a result of starting the practice compared to those who did not exercise. The researchers point out that this isn’t specifically a yoga-related problem, and there was no convincing evidence to suggest a greater likelihood of pain compared to other exercises, but it stresses the need for medical guidance when taking up any new exercise, particularly when used to relieve your pain symptoms.

What can we take away from this study?

The lesson for consumers is, if you have chronic low back pain and you’re

interested in trying yoga, and your doctor agrees, it’s worth a try. But be sure you’re attending a yoga class where the yoga is designed to be helpful and safe for people with back issues. And make sure your teacher is well trained. It will minimize your chances of injury and maximize your chances of seeing a benefit.

This review did not find measurable improvements

in depression-related symptoms that accompany your lower back pain, but a growing number of small-scale individual studies have found that a regular yoga practice can improve your moderate anxiety and depression-related symptoms. Again, I find this to be so for me. I like yoga.

What’s more, given that the United States also faces an escalating opioid crisis, pursuing treatments that can help keep you off pain medication for longer is crucial.

This isn’t to suggest that yoga is a cure-all for U.S. health

policy problems, but we owe it to the millions of people who deal with chronic pain to look into alternative, low-impact practices like yoga – and the only way we can do that is by investing in quality research’

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Do you practice yoga? If so, do you find it beneficial for both your mind and your body? I know I do. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if you could control most of your aches and pains, and occasional depression and anxiety with exercise and good food?  As you age, and even for those younger, this is important. Why not start taking care of your mind and body while young, so you don’t have all the issues associated with aging. Oh, sure, you’ll still have some, but why not minimize them when possible…  I hope to hear from you about your experiences…

Have a great healthy day!