Yoga for Back pain: Can it Really Help?
When it comes to common health complaints among adults in the U.S, then according to research and the available statistics, back pain is the most common of them all. This is especially true for lower back pain, with there being a sizeable number of people who choose to leave with their back pain without ever looking to seek any treatment. Those who do seek treatment can sometimes be frustrated especially when it comes to chronic back pain or may even end up being addicted to pain relieving medication. Back pain can range from mild to severe cases that may even make it hard for one to go on with their normal routine and daily activities. For those cases due to acute back pain, the pain will go away once the thing that caused it, most likely an injury to the back, is addressed. But, as mentioned above, for cases of chronic back pain, this is not always the case especially since it is usually hard to identify the cause of chronic back pain. Treatment of chronic back pain can be quite frustrating, especially since most of the time the cause can remain unknown. With the real threat of addiction to pain meds hanging over the heads of those with this condition, people usually seek out alternative treatment options. Yoga is one of these options and this article will look to investigate if it really can help with back pain.
According to research done on this topic, as is covered in detail over at frontlineer.com, yoga has been found to be quite effective at improving back function, even in some cases more effective than routine care. this means that going to yoga classes can help reduce back related problems and as such enable one to go back to their normal routines and to doing everyday activities. One thing that has come out as far as yoga and back pain is concerned is that it not only helps reduce pain, it also helps improve the functioning of the back which makes it just as effective as physical therapy, if not more. However, yoga as with all exercise related techniques, will only be beneficial for an extended period of time if one does the yoga exercises on a regular basis. In fact, the same studies showed that for those people with back pain that chose the yoga route and stuck with it, that is continued to do their exercises, were able to see benefits of the same up to over a whole year which goes to show yoga really can help with back pain.
Studies have shown that yoga is just as effective as physical therapy when dealing with back pain which is great news given that while for one to undergo physical therapy they will be required to have health insurance, the same can’t be said about yoga which makes it the cost-saving option between the two. The self-study aspect of yoga also plays a very crucial role in helping make yoga an avenue for helping with back pain. This is because this pillar of yoga, also known as Svadhyaya, helps those with back pain better understand what it is they are doing when it comes to their yoga exercises and as such are able, in the long-run, stop feeling as if they are being victimized by their back pain, which is an advantage yoga has over the other treatment avenues of back pain including physical therapy, as is covered in detail by the subject matter experts over at frontlineer.com. This aspect of education and self-study is what makes Yoga as effective as it is and is definitely the reason why it helps no end with back pain.
However, given back pain is a complex matter, it is important to work with a professional in order to come up with the specific yoga routines and exercises that are likely to benefit you as far as your back pain is concerned. Failure to do so may lead to one doing more harm than good and actually making your condition and back pain worse with the wrong exercises. The right exercises will help you strengthen the muscles of the spine as well as those that support the spine such as the pelvis, hips and legs, bringing a better functioning of the back and as such help reduce back pain. Yoga helps to strengthen one’s inner core, which consequently helps as far as their back pain is concerned. The intangibles that come with yoga, as with other meditation techniques, such as breathing better and being more centered also play a role in making yoga as effective as it is in helping with back pain. It is important to note, as is covered in detail over at frontlineer.com, that it has not been medically proven that yoga does help with completely with back pain as there is still more research to be done on the same.
From the above, even though there is still more research to be done on the same, it is clear that yoga does help with back pain, with more on this and other topics to be found over at the ever reliable frontlineer.com.