Yoga For Chronic Back Pain

San Francisco Chiropractor and Chronic Back Pain Doctor Comments:

I was checking around for some information on Yoga, and I came across a good article on the www.revolutionhealth.com website. The article is entitled:

Yoga And Back Pain. Here is an excerpt from the article (by Dr. James Herndon, MD):

At the end of treatment...and for 3 months after...patients treated with yoga had slightly more relief than those in the exercise group and "significantly more pain relief than those in the 3rd group" who received tips for managing back pain, fitness and suggested life style changes. The authors concluded that in their opinion yoga did so well because patients had an increased awareness of how to sit, stand and walk as well as "a sense of relaxation."

I have known about the benefits of yoga since I started practice, as I shared space with two very good yoga instructors...they performed gentle yoga stretches and massage on my patients. Chiropractic and yoga is a very good combination.

However, just like I always say to my patients that ask if they should do yoga...Make sure you perform yoga under the tutelage of a master. And only start off with gentle yoga if you have chronic back or neck pain. You can work your way up to more advanced levels over time.