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Studies Yoga Can Relieve Chronic Back Pain?
Back pain is a very common disease around the world. The pain can become so strong that they influence the daily tasks or even make them impossible. Researchers have now found that yoga can lead to health benefits in treating chronic low back pain.
In a so-called meta-analysis of 12 randomized controlled trials, scientists from the University of Maryland School of Medicine and other research organizations found that yoga can help treat chronic pain. The doctors published the results of their review in the journal "Cochrane Library".
In the course of our lives almost all people will eventually suffer from back pain. For this reason, doctors have long been looking for ways and means to treat the disease. Researchers are now studying the effects of yoga on existing chronic low back pain. (Image: WavebreakMediaMicro / fotolia.com) Back pain is widespread in Germany
In Germany alone, back pain is responsible for about every tenth day of absence at work. About 80 percent of Germans suffer short-term back pain during their lifetime. A large proportion of those affected are even affected in the longer term by the back problems.
Back pain is responsible for several million emergency rooms
The current review examines the health benefits of practicing yoga for so-called nonspecific chronic back pain. The data showed that in the period between 2004 and 2008 alone, back pain was responsible for 2.06 million visits to the US emergency rooms, the researchers say.
When does the pain begin to become chronic??
Some people quickly recover from their back pain. For other sufferers, these complaints can last up to three months or even longer, explain the experts. If the onset of pain persists for more than three months, it is considered chronic back pain.
Options for treatment of non-specific back pain are limited
For example, chronic back pain can be caused by diseases such as radiculopathy (a common neurological disorder). Sometimes a so-called spinal stenosis is responsible for the pain. However, in most cases, the cause of chronic low back pain remains unknown, say the authors. In such cases the pain is considered unspecific. The options for the treatment of chronic non-specific back pain are unfortunately limited. Paracetamol or anti-inflammatory drugs are often used.
Researchers examined the data of 1,080 subjects
The new review uses the results of existing research to investigate the effectiveness of yoga in the treatment of chronic, non-specific low back pain, the researchers explain. The meta-analysis used the data from various studies from the US, India and the UK. These included a total of 1,080 participants between the ages of 34 and 48 years.
Safety of the results was rated as moderate
The studies were mostly based on self-assessment and self-reporting. For this reason, the researchers in their meta-analysis reduced the level of safety of the results to moderate. When studies were inaccurate and contradictory, the safety of their results in the evaluation was reduced even further, say the experts.
Slight improvement in back pain noted
Overall, the reviewers noted that yoga improves motor function and reduces back pain in the first six to twelve months. However, this improvement was relatively small. The evaluators pointed out that the effect is not large enough to be considered clinically significant. More extensive studies with a longer period of medical observation are needed to assess the long-term health effects of yoga, the authors explain.
The analyzed studies had short follow-up examinations
Our findings suggest that yoga exercises can lead to little improvement in the symptoms of lower back pain, says lead author Susan Wieland. However, the results come from studies with short follow-up examinations. Right now, the evidence for the positive effects of yoga to help people with chronic low back pain is low to moderate in quality, adds Wieland. The yoga exercises in the studies were also developed specifically for back pain and people should also remember that the studies reviewed in the yoga classes were run by experienced practitioners, adds the expert. The effect of yoga training at home on back pain can not be deduced from the study. (As)