Doing yoga, even via online classes, may help reduce back pain and improve muscle function, a small recent study suggests.
People with chronic lower back pain who start practicing yoga may see their symptoms improve, even if they mostly practice from the comfort of home.
In a small study, researchers offered 10 women with chronic lower back pain a series of eight yoga classes over four weeks. While the first session was in person, the rest were all offered online.
Before they started yoga, the participants rated their back pain at an average of 6.8 on a 10-point scale. By the time they finished the eight-class series, their average back pain scores dropped to 3.3, according to results published in the Journal of Orthopaedic Research.
Scientists also measured muscle activity in the spine — which is often reduced or absent in people with chronic back pain — and found this increased significantly by the end of the study.
Taken together, these findings suggest that yoga may help improve muscle function and reduce pain perception in people with low back pain. “It was interesting to show the role that yoga might play in the management of chronic back pain,” study coauthor Alessandro de Sire, MD, of the Magna Graecia University of Catanzaro in Italy, said in a statement.
Because all of the people with back pain in the study did the same yoga routines, it’s hard to say whether this type of exercise might be more or less effective for relieving symptoms than other types of interventions.
Another drawback of the study is that participants were ages 40 and younger and excluded if they had any medical issues known to cause back pain. This makes it hard to say whether or not yoga might have similar benefits for older adults or for individuals with conditions like stenosis or arthritis that can cause back pain.
However, there are many benefits of practicing yoga and focusing on breathing during poses, says Lauren Elson, MD, an instructor of physical medicine and rehabilitation at Harvard Medical School and director of dance medicine at Spaulding Rehabilitation at Mass General Brigham.
“Many of the controlled breathing techniques and yoga helped to stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system,” says Dr. Elson, who wasn’t involved in the new study. “Besides causing muscle relaxation, this causes a relaxation response in the body.”
This can reduce pain levels, decrease anxiety, and improve overall feelings of well-being, Elson adds. Depending on the yoga pose, the core may be strengthened or the muscles may be activated or stretched, which can help improve flexibility and mobility.
People with back pain who experience discomfort with certain movements may need to avoid yoga poses that force them to move in these ways, Elson notes. For example, some people may need to avoid poses that require bending forward or sitting on the floor if this exacerbates back pain. But many people with back pain should still be able to practice yoga as long as they steer clear of poses that trigger their pain.
“If you can breathe, you can do yoga,” Elson says. “That being said, if someone has a preexisting condition, they would likely benefit from guidance from a physical therapist who is well-versed in the different types of yoga, or a yoga teacher who understands their specific diagnosis.”
