Non-Surgical Solution for Neck and Back Pain
It seems that everywhere you turn, someone it talking about yoga. Hot yoga, flow yoga, and more recently, even goat yoga! (Yep, it’s a real thing…)
Yoga has been touted not only for its ability to improve strength and flexibility, but also to support heart and joint health. But one of the most researched and supported ways yoga can benefit you lies in its ability to ease lower back pain.
In a recent study from the British Journal of Medicine, researchers looked at 12 randomized studies, totaling 1,080 men and women between the ages of 34 and 48, all of whom had chronic lower back pain.1 Researchers found that those people who practiced yoga for six months or longer saw small to moderate improvements in back pain and back-related function.
This study supports other findings that yoga packs a serious punch against back pain, not to mention joint and neck pain. This was seen in several studies, including one from the Archives of Internal Medicine, which found that people who practiced yoga for 12 weeks reported improved back function and fewer symptoms, as well as a reduced reliance on pain meds—as long as six months later.2
A similar study found that practicing yoga reduced perceived stress and back pain and improved psychological well-being,3 while yet another study showed that a specific form of yoga known as Iyengar provided good short-term relief from back and neck pain.4
If you are plagued by back pain, give yoga a try. Not only can you ease the pain, but you will also be supporting many mechanisms of metabolism, including reduced stress, improved sleep, and even better heart and brain function.
References:
1. Wise J. Yoga may improve symptoms of lower back pain, says Cochran review. 2017;356:j183.
2. Sherman KJ, et al. Arch Intern Med. 2011 Dec 12;171(22):2019-26.
3. Evans S, et al. Clin J Pain. 2013 Jan 30. [Epub ahead of print.]
4. Hartfield N, et al. Occup Med (Lond). 2012 Sep 25. [Epub ahead of print.]
Posted in: Back Pain, News Briefs
