Back pain is a major cause of pain and disability affecting one in four people in adults, especially adults in the working age.
Risk factors for back pain are:
– History of falling on lower back or buttocks
– Heavy lifting
– Working in jobs that need high physical performance
– Sitting long hours at work
– Low job satisfaction
– Weak back muscles
– Poor core strength
– Weak abdominal muscles
– Smoking
– Being overweight
– Abdominal obesity (abdominal fat)
– Aortic vessel calcification
Despite pharmacological, physical therapy and/or surgical treatment, approximately 50% of patients continue to have pain. Yoga alone or in combination with conventional treatment has been shown to be beneficial for back pain. Yoga helps to decrease the patients’ pain intensity, amount of pain medication use and pain-related limitations; whereas it helps to increase their ability to cope with pain, flexibility, balance and muscle strength. Their sleep quality improves, positive emotional thoughts increase, and anxiety and depression levels decrease. Significant reductions in patients with pain catastrophizing (such as -the end of the world thoughts, where pain will never heal, and surgery is inevitable with no benefit thereof) were seen.
Apart from their positive effects on muscles joints and flexibility, yoga and meditation work by modifying the stress response in the body, reducing cortisol levels, altering the brain’s pain sensory perception, and increasing BDNF levels.
The yoga instructors help patients live a more active life by teaching them ways to cope with pain and the fear of pain caused by movement.
If you have not done yoga before, first talk to your doctor and find out if yoga is appropriate for you. Do not change your medications without consulting your doctor. Learn and record the moves you can do as well as those deemed unsuitable for you. Be careful with your front bends, back bends and extreme twists. Start doing yoga with yoga therapy (Viniyoga) lessons. Although the instructor will ask beforehand, do inform him/her about your pain and/or symptoms. Never perform any movements that are painful or increase your pain during the course. Strengthen your abdominal and back muscles alongside ongoing Viniyoga classes (with exercises recommended by your doctor and/or Pilates). When you stop having pain with the aforementioned movements, you can join yin yoga classes followed by Hatha yoga. However, back pain is a recurrent condition; never force yourself, never try to go through pain and do not make any movements that your doctor does not recommend.
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