A research study from Boston Medical Center recently found that gentle yoga can be as safe and effective as physical therapy in easing back pain. That’s not too surprising – there are literally hundreds of studies with similar findings.
The exciting part is that the researchers have published for free the guidebook for students.
The researchers worked with yoga teachers, doctors and physical therapists to develop guidelines for yoga to address general lower back pain. They also developed a teacher manual so there would be a common standard in the yoga ‘treatment’ group.
320 people were divided into one of three groups. Either they did yoga, received physio or just received education over 12 weeks. The following 40 weeks, yoga participants went to drop-in yoga classes or did yoga at home. Physio participants received booster sessions.
They found that the people in the yoga and physio groups had about the same amount of improvement in pain and functioning over time. And at the end of the first 12 weeks, about 50% of yoga and physio participants were still taking pain medication compared to 70% at the start.
But the researchers did caution “I’m not recommending that people just go to any yoga class” and they pointed out the research was focused on people with general pain back – not specific injuries or diagnosed health conditions.
If you have back pain and you’re thinking about going to a yoga class, check out my article on how to decide if yoga is right for you.
