Core Strengthening and Yoga

By Mia Taylor posted on on Wed 11th Aug, 2010 11:13 pm

It is stated that up to 85% of the population experiences lower back pain at least once in their lifetime, and the medical costs associated with it make up approximately $34 billion in direct costs.  Alternative therapies are receiving much more attention and clinical value especially as patients themselves become more interested in holistic care and self-management.  Those who practice yoga regularly can attest to the incredible benefits for decreasing lower back pain and for developing a strong core.  A consistent yoga practice has shown these benefits to be true and research now is supporting what many practitioners already knew.

It is common for many sufferers of lower back pain to have weakened deep abdominal and superficial lower back muscles.  These two regions form what is called the Abdominal Brace.  Any alignment-based yoga practice serves to develop core body strength because the very nature of holding the pose correctly encourages the abdominal “brace” to contract for the support and steadiness of the whole body.  When the core contracts in this way, the muscles become stronger and their endurance increases.

In an article by Williams et al. (2009), Iyengar yoga was studied for use in patients with chronic lower back pain and the results were astonishing.  The outcome measures were functional disability, pain intensity, depression and use of medication to treat.  Experimental group subjects attended bi-weekly yoga classes for 24 weeks and practiced for 30 minutes at home on non-class days, with a DVD and book materials.  Measures against a control group found that in all outcomes, those who participated in the yoga group experienced statistically significant reductions in pain, depression and medication use as well as increased functioning.  This study performed a 6- month follow up and found that results were maintained with those who continued a yoga practice.

While this study required a large time commitment from the subjects (over 5 ½ hours per week), it demonstrates the potential benefit of what even just a few yoga practices a week could achieve.  Practicing yoga, whether it is once or twice a week or daily, should be included in an overall prescription for back health.  Yoga, weight training, core body development can serve as complimentary treatments for prevention or reversal of LBP.  In addition, yoga is a relatively affordable solution and one that can reduce dependence on or need for pain medications and serve to lower overall medical costs. A consistent, well rounded, yet suitable yoga practice can offer so many benefits along with back and mental health.

Reference:

Williams, K., Abildso, C., Steinberg, L., Doyle, E., Epstein, B., Smith, D. et al. (2009). Evaluation of the effectiveness and efficacy of Iyengar yoga therapy on chronic low back pain. SPINE, 34(19), 2066-2076.

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