Yoga and back pain
In case you have back pain problems and think that yoga might help you it’s a must that you ask your doctor about this first. Pain in the back is quite often associated with biomechanical imbalance in the structure of the spine. And taking that into account your doctor may spinal structures. Your doctor can inform you about:
- certain movements to not be performed
- the right amount of physical challenge in your condition
- safety tips
- possible interactions between your medications and active exercises
How can a yoga instructor help you?
After speaking with your physician you have to inform your yoga instructor about your peculiar requirements. If it’s a good instructor he or she make everything possible to meet these requirements and free you of any possible discomfort. It’s important to discuss these things as you want your yoga practice to be beneficial as well as safe.
Keep the balance
Yoga is all about achieving and maintaining a delicate balance between muscle strength and flexibility, which are often the reason for back pain if imbalanced. Muscle tension in such regions as shoulders and hips strongly affects the spine, and yoga is employed to help relax the muscles and ease the tension, which is very beneficial for relieving back pain. Besides, you gain muscle strength and more flexibility than before.
What type of yoga to use?
Yoga is known for a rich variety of styles it’s available in, ranging in intensity, concept and primary focus. Some styles have stronger emphasis on the spiritual side of things, while others have a purely physical application. If you want to relieve back pain and improve your body the best style to start with is hatha yoga. It’s quite gentle and relaxing, while still providing the necessary stretch and body relaxations. Yoga styles such as Kundalini, Ashtanga or Bikram also have a strong focus on the physical aspect but are much more rigorous and won’t be quite beneficial for starts, especially those with back problems.
Improve body awareness
Yoga is all about improving your body awareness and making you feel each and every alignment of your body, as well as being able to control and relax your body in whole. Just like Pilates it’s focused on core improvements rather than on separate aims, however yoga has less focus on abdominal work if compared to Pilates.
Where yoga can help
Taken by its very concept yoga is very beneficial for the back in general, especially with improving problems that are caused by postural alignment conditions. Doctors have found yoga more effective than regular exercises for the back, especially with patients suffering from lower back pains. These are some of the most common conditions that you can improve by exercising yoga:
- kyphosis
- scoliosis
- lordosis
- stenosis
- intervertebral disk issues
- nerve root issues
Of course, this doesn’t mean you have to stop taking Tramadol and hope that yoga will make the pain go away in a single session. On the contrary. It’s a gradual process that will require patience and will provide substantial improvements over the long run. So if you are suffering from acute pains and want them to go away, you can still use your medications (for example you can simply buy Tramadol) in order to achieve better effects. Yoga has no interactions with medications so you can still use the drugs your doctor has prescribed you with until you can do without them.