Yoga DOES help back pain
For those of you who have been hesitant to attempt twisting yourself into pretzel-like positions for the sake of ultimate zen relaxation and the increased flexibility that yoga promises, you’re in luck. It also is officially linked to decreased back pain–at least according to a recent study posted at Psychology Today:
New Twist on Back Pain
Yoga is not just for yuppies anymore. If you’re one of the 65 million Americans who suffer from chronic back pain, you may want to give the routine a try. A Seattle study found that after 12 weekly classes of low-impact viniyoga, participants were more likely to be back to their regular routine than people prescribed conventional exercise. After six months, yoga buffs had less discomfort, used fewer pain relievers and had more range of movement.
Reason enough? Ask your back after a few weeks of this low-impact exercise and you might even surprise yourself.
Explore other posts about: exercise, pain relief, yoga
Stumble it!
Robin Rothenberg wrote,
After years of chronic illness, pain and fatigue, yoga has really been my personal path to healing. In addition to the chronic fatigue and constant pain, I had sciatica, SI problems, herniated discs – you name it. I had no idea what my first yoga class would lead to! It took full on dedication to the process and 10 years to grow a decent immune system. At 48, I feel healthier and more energized than I did at 38, 28 or 18 years old.
I have studied yoga for over 20 years, teaching and becoming a yoga therapist along the way. I was compelled to make this healing process available to the public, and the result is The Essential Low Back Program. I have been working on this project for the last 8 years with The National Institute of Health who funded a study looking at yoga therapy for the treatment of lower back pain. We collaborated with the Group Health Center for Health Studies, and the results were so exciting that the Annals of Internal Medicine picked it up. It is a simple and affordable at home practice, and I am very excited to make it available to everyone. (Please visit www.yogabackcare.com to learn more.)
Link | July 8th, 2008 at 12:57 am
MH wrote,
This is great news! I’ve written some articles about yoga and have always wanted to give it a try–another natural remedy for back pain is the Joint Medic cream–works fast for me and is very soothing.
Link | July 12th, 2008 at 8:05 am
Knut Holt wrote,
Most orthopedic problems, like pain and stiffness in the joints, muscles and back, are not due to any specific disease in progress. Such problems are mostly symptoms of wearing, small injuries and tense muscles. The problems rise because of wrong use of the body during work and spare time. They also rise because of constant stress and lack of rest. However, if something is not done to treat such simple problems, they can over time evolve into a more serious condition or damage. Here are some simple advices to avoid or cure such orthopedic problems.
- Variate the way you sit or stand during work and other activities. Any position will exert pressure at certain areas of your body and restrict the flow of blood and lymph through these areas. There is no sitting and standing position that are so physiologically correct that it should be held a long time. Frequent variations of your position will ensure that no body area will get a restricted blood flow over a long time.
- You should however avoid working positions that exert excessive burden on specific body areas, for example position where you must lean forward so that your back is heavily strained. Also avoid positions that heavily restrict the blood flow in a body area. If you for example sit on a too high chair, the front rim of the chair will press heavily up into your thighs and the blood flow to your legs will be heavily restricted.
- Take a break at regular intervals where you walk a little around. This can often be done without interrupting your work. Most people have activities during the day that require sitting, walking and standing. Just blend these activities throughout the day.
- When you are doing hard physical work of any kind, do not have a heavy work load at the same body parts for a long time. Try to switch between task so that you variate your work load.
- Do not do heavy work or lifts that you are not accustomed to by training or practice. If such work is necessary, find someone to help you to alleviate the burden, try to divide the work in smaller pieces or find some tools to lessen the burden.
- Have some exercise for your muscle strength at lest every third day. Weight-lifting is a good method of training up your muscle strength. You do not need to train with very heavy heights to make your muscles and joints much more resistant against wearing and injuries. Moderately heavy weights that everyone can lift is good enough for this purpose. Sport activities like playing ball, skiing or swimming where you use your whole body will give the same positive effect and in addition they will strengthen your condition. Activities like jogging or cycling are good for your lower body, but they must be combined with activities that also strengthen your upper body.
- Take a few minutes to stretch out every day. Have also a good session of stretching exercises at last every third day. It is important to take time to stretch out every part of your body in every natural direction. If your back or some limb is excessively curved or bended toward one particular direction, it is important to stretch out enough time in the opposite direction. Yoga is a good way of stretching out.
- You must take some time each day to stress down to lessen unnecessary tension in your muscles. Sitting down some time and listen to calming music each day can help you to stress down. Some daily meditation is a good method of reducing the stress level. Taking a siesta in the middle of each day is still another method of relaxation and stress reduction. Having a regular good nights sleep of around 7 hours after each day will also reduce your stress level.
- Massaging stiff and painful areas can help to give relaxation, increase flexibility, increase blood flow and speed up the healing process. You can massage yourself or let a friend do it. Using a liniment or ointment that smoothes the massage movements, alleviate pain and stimulate blood circulation will increase the efficiency of the massage. You should always massage in the direction of the blood flow. During the massage, use light pressure at the beginning and gradually increase the force, but do never massage so hard that it feels uncomfortable.
- A good diet will give your joints and muscles greater resistance against damage and stimulate to faster healing of small damages that occasionally occur. Food containing omega-3 fatty acids are especially valuable, like fish, seafood, marine oils, flaxseed oil and olive oil.
Link | August 11th, 2008 at 7:22 am