Health Network News

The health of our back impacts our well-being in numerous ways. Anyone suffering from back pain has experienced just how debilitating back pain can be. As recurring discomfort turns everyday tasks into painful chores, a person’s mood, energy, and well-being often gets affected as well.

Yoga therapy targeting back pain is showing promise as a new, alternative treatment for back pain. Back problems often originate in the soft tissues, and as a consequence, the most effective back pain treatments are typically non-surgical and non-prescriptive, targeting the soft tissues instead. Yoga offers therapy for back pain, because it helps relieve chronic tension and tightness in the soft tissues, addressing back pain at its root.

A study published in 2005 in the Annals of Internal Medicine showed that people practicing yoga for back pain experienced greater pain relief than people who received a combination of exercise and knowledge of proper back care. Yoga exercises for back pain have also been recommended by the American College of Physicians and the American Pain Society as a way to treat chronic back pain.

Yoga helps people suffering from low back pain, shoulder, or neck pain in four major ways:

1. Yoga strengthens weak muscles, particularly the core muscles. Yoga for back pain strengthens weak muscles by engaging and toning the body’s core posture muscles, thereby giving the spine’s muscular support system greater strength and stability. In this way, yoga for back pain takes the pressure off the spine and improves posture. This is a key element in lasting back-pain relief.

2. Yoga enhances flexibility. Back problems often arise when chronically tight muscles and soft tissue pull on the spine at unnatural angles. Yoga stretches increase the suppleness and flexibility of the soft tissues, and this in turn releases the strain caused by chronically tight muscles pulling the spine out of its natural alignment. By stretching out and releasing tension naturally, yoga relieves the pressure on the spine, in turn reducing back pain.

3. Yoga enhances circulation. Yoga also relieves back pain naturally by increasing the flow of oxygen and nutrient-rich blood to the soft tissues around the spine. By alternating compression and release of pressure, yoga postures create a pump to flood the body with oxygen-rich blood, clear out toxins and deliver vital nutrients to the soft tissues. For people who sit at computers all day, this is particularly helpful, as prolonged sitting will lead to compression of the spine and restricted blood flow. Yoga stretches relieve back pain by decompressing the spine and improving circulation to the vertebrae and vertebral discs.

4. Yoga reduces stress. Finally, yoga may help combat back pain by inducing greater relaxation. With all the stresses of everyday life, our nervous system often becomes constantly engaged in “fight or flight” mode. In this mode, our muscles-and especially those around the spine-tighten up. This constriction frequently leads to neck tension, tension headaches, and recurring back pain. Yoga therapy helps settle the mind and create greater relaxation in the body, shifting us from “fight or flight” into the rejuvenating “rest and digest” state. In this relaxed state, the body no longer fights to maintain readiness for battle, but begins to heal itself.

Like any holistic healing modality, yoga isn’t just useful for relieving chronic back pain, it offers numerous other therapeutic benefits. Yoga enhances the flow of vital energy in the body, and this in turn improves our overall health. For this reason, someone who starts practicing yoga to get natural relief for back pain may also find that they have more energy, greater emotional balance and overall greater well-being.