Is Your Chronic Back Pain Making You Depressed?
Learn how Yoga can help from Joanne Duchaine of The Energy Club.
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Is Your Chronic Back Pain Making You Depressed?
Joanne Duchaine - Group Fitness & Pilates Director, The Energy Club
A recent study funded by the National Institutes of Health showed that yoga can help relieve lower-back pain and the depression associated with it better than conventional medicine.
The study, published in the journal Spin, had researchers assign people with chronic back pain to either traditional treatments like pain medication or twice weekly yoga therapy for 24 weeks. The participants in the yoga program had reduced pain and greater function; they also showed a more significant reduction in symptoms of depression. Six months after the yoga regimen ended the participants were still feeling the benefits. Physical exercise has been accepted by a wide variety of experts in many fields as a vital factor in the healing process of back pain.
What a Good Yoga Instructor Can Do:
If you suffer from back pain it is best to get an okay from your doctor before starting any new exercise regiment. Once you’ve received the green light from your doctor, tell your yoga instructor of any specific movements that your advised you to avoid. A good teacher will be able to give you safety modifications and/or special props to use so that you can experience the full benefits of yoga without the risk.
How Yoga Can Help:
Yoga focuses on flexibility, strength and body alignment in specific movements or poses, called asanas. These poses help to restore balance in the body; strengthening weak areas and stretching overly tight areas. These imbalances (often in the abdominal, hip and low back areas) are often the culprit in back pain. These styles of yoga also use props such as blocks and straps to assist and support people in the various poses, making it easier and decreasing joint and muscle strain.
Types of Yoga Suitable for Back Pain Sufferers:
There are a variety of yoga styles, ranging from gentle to vigorous. Some styles emphasize spirituality while others, notably Hatha and Iyenger, focus more on physical postures and alignment. Both of these styles are a good choice for back pain sufferers, whereas styles such as Kundalini, Ashtanga and Bikram are more challenging and specialized – not a good choice for those suffering from pain.
The goal is to restore proper body alignment, getting the body to a place where it can again support itself, relieving the stress in body and mind.