By Amber Gilge
The spinal column is one of the most vital parts of our body and can also cause us the most pain and discomfort. It supports our body, protects the spinal cord and nerves, and plays a huge part in our posture and movements. Thus, back pain can greatly affect the quality of one’s life. Back injuries can be highly preventable through the proper exercise and posture.
The most common treatments for back pain include medication, physical therapy, exercise, a change in lifestyle, or surgery. Yoga provides a mild form of exercise that strengthens the back muscles and skeletal system. It can help in preventing the occurrence and re-occurrence of back injuries that could lead to chronic back pain. Asanas (yoga postures) tone your back muscles, which make it more flexible, alleviate pain, and improve posture.
There are many different reasons for back pain. According to Gary Kraftsow, author of Yoga for Wellness, tension and pain in the back are variable and are related to the condition of curves in your spine and the muscles supporting your spine. Examples of back pain are mild to severe pain in your upper back or thoracic region and mild to severe pain in your lower back or lumbar region. Some suffer from mild to severe rigidity and restricted movement in either or both upper and lower back.
With back conditions, it is important to assess the cause of the back pain. If there is serious damage to any of the discs in your back, it is very important that you seek a professional medical diagnosis. This damage usually causes numbness or tingling sensations in your legs and feet or sharp, immobilizing pain in your back. While yoga therapy can help in the healing process of damaged discs, the wrong practice could worsen the condition. The practice of yoga can be very beneficial to diagnosed disc problems after the acute pain has passed.
When you are working with tension, restricted movement, or chronic back pain, there are three main factors to take into consideration. These factors are musculoskeletal condition, neuromuscular patterns, and the biomechanical relationship between your spinal curves.
Your musculoskeletal condition is simply the state of your spine and the muscles surrounding it. One example of a musculoskeletal condition is excessive curvature of the upper back, which is called kyphosis. Excessive kyphosis can result in what is commonly referred to as hunchback and can result in an inward collapse of the chest. This can also affect the curvature of the lower spine resulting in a condition referred to as military spine, which is a flattening of the curvature of the lower spine. Lordosis is another condition considered musculoskeletal, and this is excessive curvature of the lower spine, which can lead to compression on the discs in your lower back. Scoliosis is a third condition, which is a curved lower spine, and this can flatten out your lower curvature and cause compression on the discs as well. According to Kraftsow, all of these conditions are related to corresponding muscular imbalances, chronic muscular contractions, and/or muscular weakness.
Back conditions can begin as a result of an injury or repetitive movement, or a person can be born with it. Often, a tendency toward a back condition or curvature of the spine begins early in the life while bones are still developing. These conditions can then be aggravated by repetitive behavior until it becomes a chronic condition. One example of this is that kyphosis can be exacerbated by long hours hunched forward at a desk.
Neuromuscular patterns are moves your muscles have been trained over time to make and do so automatically. Often these movements aggravate and worsen a back condition. An important aspect of yoga for back pain is that of retraining new and structurally beneficial movements to counteract the neuromuscular patterns you may have developed over a lifetime.
The biomechanical relationship between your spinal curves means that when one curve is out of balance, the other will overcompensate to make up for it. Your muscles contract to support any part of your body that is out of vertical alignment, and this can create muscle fatigue, soreness, and muscles strengthened and trained in a way that causes neuromuscular conditioning in a negative way. One example of this is a woman in the last part of a pregnancy. Her lower back becomes swayed, and weight is pulling her forward. To compensate for this, her upper curve becomes greater to pull some weight back and balance her body. Although she may feel more balanced, it is causing negative neuromuscular conditioning because of this biomechanical relationship.
According to a West Virginia University study funded by the National Institute of Health, people with lower-back pain who practiced yoga did much better at overcoming back pain as well as depression. The study lasted three years and showed lifted mood, less pain, and improved function in the group who did yoga postures compared to a group who received standard medical therapy. “The yoga group had less pain, less functional disability and less depression compared with the control group,” said Kimberly Williams, Ph.D., research assistant professor in the Department of Community Medicine. “These were statistically significant and clinically important changes that were maintained six months after the intervention.” Yoga participants took 90-minute classes twice a week for 24 weeks, doing postures targeted to relieve chronic low-back pain. Follow up continued for six months after the end of classes or therapy. Lower-back pain in the United States represents the largest category of medical reimbursements according to Williams.
There are many different yoga asanas that help alleviate back pain. One of these poses is the shoulderstand. To perform this pose, a person lies on the back with the legs extended together. Bend the legs and bring the knees back to above the chest. Use the elbows and the upper arms as a base and prop the body by placing the hands against the small of the back. Bring the trunk to vertical position and extend the legs straight up so that the legs and trunk form a straight line perpendicular to the floor. Breathe freely and deeply in the abdomen while performing this pose. This move plays a great role in strengthening the spine.
The fish posture is another great asana for maintaining a healthy back. It bends your back in the opposite way as the shoulderstand, so it is good to perform one and then the other. The fish pose relieves the stiffness of the neck and shoulders and helps correct rounding of the back. To perform this pose lie on your back with your legs extended. Place your hands palms down under your thighs. Pressing down on your elbows, inhale and arch your back. Drop your head so that you are resting on the top of your head with your weight on your elbows.
The cobra pose is an excellent pose for those with lower backaches. This posture decreases stiffness in the lower back, enlarges the chest, and strengthens the arms and shoulders. Lie flat on the abdomen, the legs stretched out together, the soles of the feet turned up and the toes flat. The arms are bent and the hands placed flat on the floor in front of shoulders. Inhale and slowly raise the head, neck, and upper back successively, straightening the arms. You should feel the spine bending vertebra by vertebra.
The half spinal twist posture helps prevent backache and tones the spinal nerves and ligaments. To perform this move sit, bend the right knee and place the foot of the bent leg under your other leg and against your buttocks. Then place the sole of the left foot on the floor on the right side of the right knee. Reach out with the right arm and grasp the left foot or ankle – the arm is outside the left leg with the back of the arm against the left side of the left knee. Finally, twist the trunk to the left and gaze over the left shoulder.
An excellent pose to end every yoga practice is the corpse pose. This is a relaxation pose that helps you relax your entire body step-by-step. To perform this pose, follow these steps:
1. Lie flat on your back.
2. Observe your breathing without controlling it for several minutes.
3. Perform deep abdominal breathing.
4. Observe your breath again. Once it is quiet and controlled, continue to the next step.
5. Relax your body using a sequence that goes from left to right, bottom of the body to the top. You should feel drained of tension and limp.
6. Observe your breathing again and repeat the relaxation sequence for 15 to 30 minutes.
Yoga can be a relaxing and efficient way to help decrease or alleviate back pain. A simple routine of ten to fifteen minutes per day could keep back pain at bay. Many yoga postures gently strengthen the back muscles as well as the abdominal muscles. Back and abdominal muscles are essential components of the muscular network of the spine and help the body maintain proper posture and movement. When a person’s back and abdominal muscles are well-conditioned, back pain can be avoided or reduced.
Yoga also plays a huge roll in relieving tension in tight muscles by stretching and relaxing those stressed muscles. Stretching is very important as it allows blood to flow freely which allows nutrients to flow more easily and toxins to be eliminated efficiently. Yoga poses are intended to train the body to be healthy and supple. Consistent yoga practice results in improved posture and overall back health. Unlike many forms of exercise, yoga stretches both sides of the body equally resulting in better posture and alignment.
References:
The Complete Yoga Book. New York, NY: Schocken Books, Inc, 1977. Print.
Kraftsow, Gary. “Yoga for Back Pain.” Yoga for Wellness 1999: Web. 09 Jan 2010. <http://www.viniyoga.com/yogabackpain.html >.
“Yoga Benefits Back Pain Patients.” Medical News Today 02 Sep 2009: Web. 09 Jan 2010. <http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/162628.php >.
“Yoga for the Back – How Can Yoga Help Deal with Common Back Injuries.” ABC of Yoga: Web. 09 Jan 2010. <http://www.abc-of-yoga.com/yoga-and-health/yoga-for-back.asp >.
Busch, Fred. “How Yoga Helps the Back.” Spine Health 27 Jan 2004: Web. 09 Jan 2010. http://www.spine-health.com/wellness/yoga-pilates-tai-chi/how-yoga-helps-back .
Amber Gilge teaches Yoga sessions in Havre, Montana.
Tags: people with lower-back pain, practiced yoga, teaches yoga, teaches yoga sessions, yoga and back pain, yoga asanas that help alleviate back pain, yoga for back pain, Yoga for Wellness, yoga postures