This Health Alert is intended for readers interested in learning about the prevention, diagnosis, and management of back pain.
Yoga practitioners have long touted this ancient exercise as a back pain treatment. Now there’s scientific evidence to support this claim.
A major study on the use of alternative therapies found that almost 60% of people who consulted a medical doctor for back pain had tried some sort of alternative therapy. There is mounting evidence that yoga can relieve chronic back pain. The yoga poses, combined with breathing techniques, help relax muscles and calm the mind.
Now a study reported in the Annals of Internal Medicine (Volume 143, page 849 ) provides scientific evidence that gentle yoga seems to work just as well as traditional exercise to relieve chronic lower back pain.
Researchers studied 101 adults who had experienced mild to moderate lower back pain for at least three months. For 12 weeks, one group (chosen at random) attended a weekly 75- minute gentle yoga class. Another group exercised weekly for 75- minute sessions of aerobics, strength training, and stretching. A third group received a book recommending fitness, lifestyle changes, and tips for managing back pain.
By the last treatment, those in the yoga group reported significantly more pain relief than those who got the book and slightly more pain relief than the exercise group. The benefits persisted; 14 weeks later, the yoga group continued to say that their pain was still getting better. Why did they do so well? The researchers believe that yoga instills a sense of relaxation and increases awareness of how you sit, stand, and walk.
