New Studies Show Yoga Helps Reduce Low Back Pain!

Yoga has been around for centuries, but has enjoyed an enormous rise in popularity in recent years. If you have low back pain or you want to help reduce the wear and tear in your back that occurs naturally over time, you’ll want to read this!

Yoga for Chronic Low Back Pain

What did the study look at?
The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy of a 12 session, 3-month yoga program to “usual care”. A total of 313 people with chronic low back pain were randomly assigned to one of the two groups and all were given a back pain education booklet and “usual care” (which was not clearly explained by the authors of the study). Individuals in the yoga group also attended twelve 75-minute classes over the 3-month period.

What were the results?
The yoga group showed greater improvements in back function at the 3, 6, and 12 month follow-ups. Although the reduction in the low back pain symptoms in the yoga group was most pronounced at the 3 month mark, there was a significant reduction in pain that lasted across the entire 12 month period.

What does this really mean?
Yoga appears to be a safe and effective treatment option for individuals with chronic or recurrent low back pain. If you haven’t tried it yet, maybe now is the time to try a therapeutic yoga class and kiss your pain goodbye!

(Tilbrook HE et al. Yoga for chronic low back pain – A randomized trial. Annals of Internal Medicine 2011; 155: 569.578)

Effects of Yoga on Spine Disc Healing

What did the study look at?
In this 2011 study the researchers compared MRI images of 18 individuals (non-yoga subjects) with those of 18 yoga instructors with at least 10 years of practice experience. Neck and low back MRI images were examined on all subjects, and the authors of the study graded the degree of degeneration in the discs.

What were the results of the study?
There was a significantly lower amount of disc degeneration in the yoga instructors group when compared to the control (non-yoga) group.

So what does this really mean?
Although this is a preliminary study, and more research is needed, the results are certainly interesting and promising. If we can reduce or even slow down the degree of degeneration in our discs as we age we may potentially have a significant effect on reducing or preventing low back and neck pain. Given that 80% of us will suffer from back pain at some point in our lives, this may be an effective way to help increase our chances of living a more pain-free life!

(Jeng C et al. Yoga and disc degenerative disease in cervical and lumbar spine: An MR imaging-based case control study. European Spine Journal 2011; 20: 408.413)

Click here to learn more about the Therapeutic Yoga Classes, taught by Certified Yoga Instructor and Registered Physiotherapist, Sarah Symmes.