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Yoga can significantly reduce pain intensity and activity limitations for chronic back pain. Including it in the treatment recommendations could probably help many affected people.
A new study involving experts from the University of Magna Graecia in Catanzaro (Italy) examined the effect of yoga on chronic non-specific lower back pain. The results are published in the English-language “Journal of Orthopedic Research”.
Eight-week yoga program
A total of ten women with chronic back pain and eleven healthy women took part in the current study. The participants took part in a yoga program over a period of eight weeks.
The first session took place in a clinic, the subsequent sessions were carried out at home, with remote treatment taking place, the researchers report.
Significant reduction in pain intensity
The treatment was associated with a significant reduction in pain intensity in the participants with chronic low back pain, the research team said. On a 10-point visual analogue scale, yoga reduced the average pain score from 6.8 to 3.3.
Yoga also showed significant improvements in the so-called flexion-relaxation phenomenon (FRP), which is often absent or disturbed in people with back pain. The initial value at the start of the study rose from 5.12 to 9.49 after the yoga classes, the experts explain.
Altered perception of pain
Based on the results, it can be assumed that yoga can positively influence the neuromuscular reaction during trunk flexion and pain perception in people with chronic low back pain.
“It was interesting to show what role yoga could play in the treatment of chronic back pain,” emphasizes study author Dr. Alessandro de Sire in a press release.
The study’s results suggest that yoga can help people with back pain relieve it naturally through postures, breathing exercises and mindfulness practices, the team said.
Evidence for the effects of yoga
The new study results are in line with previous research that also found positive effects of yoga on back pain.
A study published in the English-language journal “Annals of Internal Medicine” came to the conclusion that yoga is associated with a significant improvement in pain and activity restrictions even after a year.
Another study published in the Cochrane Library also suggested that yoga improved motor function and reduced non-specific chronic back pain, although the benefit was considered relatively small.
Taken together, the study results strongly suggest that yoga can help relieve back pain and the associated limitation of activity, which significantly increases the quality of life of those affected.
Nevertheless, the experts expressly point out that further research is necessary to analyze the long-term effects of yoga on back pain in more detail. (as)