Back Pain and Yoga

2005-09-21T15:38:00.000-07:00

Back Pain and the Growing Use of Yoga: Numerous Americans suffer from back pain daily. For some, it stems from a temporary injury; for others, it is a chronic condition. As the wave of complimentary and alternative medicine (CAM) spreads over the country, more and more doctors are prescribing this type of treatment to patients, including those dealing with back pain. Among these CAM treatments, yoga is quickly becoming a regularly proposed and considerably successful solution (Barnes et al 2004). For example, the study by Saper, Eisenberg, Davis, Culpepper, and Phillips determined the prevalence and patterns of use of yoga among US adults by way of a national survey. Within this survey, a nationally representative sample of 2,055 English-speaking U.S. adults was questioned regarding yoga use, with a 60% weighted response rate. Of the respondents, 7.5% used yoga at least once in their lifetime and 3.8% used yoga in the previous 12 months. Of respondents using yoga in the previous 12 months, 64% reported using yoga for wellness, 48% for health conditions, and 21% specifically for back or neck pain (Saper et al 2004).

Effectiveness of Yoga for Back Pain: In most cases, the style of yoga suggested is Iyengar yoga. This particular type of yoga focuses mainly on the physical aspect of the body, with exercises pertaining mainly to symmetry and alignment. In order to attain this desired symmetry and alignment, a combination of props (including straps, blankets, wooden blocks, and chairs) are used in order to achieve specific postures (Williams et al 2005). Through the body conditioning gained by holding these postures, many individuals observe significant improvement in their condition. As evidence of this finding, a study performed by Williams, Petronis, Smith, Goodrich, Wu, Ravi, Doyle, Gregory, Munoz, Gross, and Steinberg compared 2 groups with chronic lower back pain. One group were controls, or those using no methods to improve their condition, and the other made use of Iyengar yoga. The 16 week study had a completion rate of 70%, with those finishing the trial showing significant reduction in pain intensity, functional disability and pain medication usage (Williams et al 2005).

Bibliography

Barnes PM, Powell-Griner E, McFann K, Nahin RL. Complementary and alternative medicine use among adults: United States, 2002. Adv Data. 2004; 27;(343):1-19.

Saper RB, Eisenberg DM, Davis RB, Culpepper L, Phillips RS. Prevalence and patterns of adult yoga use in the United States: results of a national survey. Altern Ther Health Med. 2004; 10(2):44-9.

Williams KA, Petronis J, Smith D, Goodrich D, Wu J, Ravi N, Doyle EJ Jr, Gregory Juckett R, Munoz Kolar M, Gross R, Steinberg L. Effect of Iyengar yoga therapy for chronic low back pain. Pain. 2005; 115(1-2):107-17.