Yoga May Help Ease Chronic Back Pain

A small study has found that yoga exercises – even when practiced almost exclusively from the comfort of a person’s home – may be able to significantly reduce chronic back pain intensity.

10 women with chronic back pain were enrolled in the four-week study. Over the course of the study, the women underwent two yoga classes a week, amounting to eight total sessions. The first session was completed in person, but the following seven sessions were offered online. Prior to the start of the study, participants rated their back pain at an average of 6.8 on a 10-point scale. After four weeks and eight yoga sessions, the average rating for back pain among participants dropped to 3.3 out of 10.

Yoga And Back Pain

Moreover, it wasn’t just pain scores that improved. Researchers also tracked spinal muscle activity over the course of the study, and they found that muscle activity significantly increased among participants by the end of the study. This led researchers to surmise that increased spinal muscle function as a result of yoga sessions may help to control underlying causes of chronic back pain.

“It was interesting to show the role that yoga might play in the management of chronic back pain,” said study coauthor Alessandro de Sire, MD, of the Magna Graecia University of Catanzaro in Italy, in a statement.

The study had plenty of limitations, most notably only focusing on a group of 10 individuals, and it also put everyone through the same routine, so it couldn’t pinpoint which exercises may be more or less effective at helping provide back pain relief. However, the results are still encouraging and fall in line with previous understandings of how to best treat many different forms of chronic back pain.

Perhaps best of all, participants were able to achieve the benefits of yoga classes from the comfort of their home. You may not live close to a yoga studio or chronic back pain may make spending time driving to a studio uncomfortable, but you may be able to reap significant benefits simply by carving out 20-30 minutes to perform a yoga routine from the comfort of your home a couple of times a week. There are plenty of great programs and instructional courses that you can find online that you can use as your guide, but if you’d rather connect with a professional, that’s always an option. Dr. Sinicropi can help develop a strengthening routine or he can refer you to a top-rated physical therapist in your area who can set you up with an individualized yoga program for your spinal needs.

It’s amazing just how much a few simple movements a couple times a week can help us fight back against chronic spine pain. Don’t sit on the couch and assume the issue will go away on its own. Take a few proactive steps to help rectify the problem yourself, and you may be amazed at the results.

For more information about the benefits of yoga or similar physical therapy exercises for your back issue, reach out to Dr. Sinicropi and the team at The Midwest Spine & Brain Institute today at (651) 430-3800.

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