Is yoga a good way to address back pain? for Questionland Seattle

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Is yoga a good way to address back pain?

I had a pretty bad bike crash several years ago...add years of snowboarding, mt biking, and bad posture and I feel old. The misalignment that resulted from the original injury seems like it has spread into my other arm, lower back, neck, and on and on. I've been trying to get massages to treat it with nominal success. Can yoga help with pain, range of motion, and generally getting stuff realigned, or would it place more stress on me?

RandiBeever asked in Fitness & Exercise 10 months ago | Report

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I know this will get down-voted and that I am a loner on this one, but in my personal experience yoga is a great way to GET back pain if you don't know exactly what you are doing and have someone watching you.

I have never had back pain, but I tried doing yoga for a little bit. I took some lessons to make sure I got the idea and then tried it at home with a video. I did something nasty to my back but thankfully it went away after a few days. Tried again more carefully... same result.

So my advice is... don't try this at home!

Charles B answered in Fitness & Exercise 10 months ago | Report

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I don't know much about your specific back injury but gentle yoga often helps chronic back pain. Find a class focus on injury recovery and be very communicative to you teacher about your injury. You shouldn't push yourself too hard other wise you could hurt something.

I also would suggest acupuncture. It has helped me a lot however I don't I have any injury related pain.

Finger Games answered in Fitness & Exercise 10 months ago | Report

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I have to agree with Charles B on this one. I did yoga for years and then developed lower back pain in my late 30's. I tried everything including cortisone shots but the thing that helped the most was stopping yoga. Specifically forward bending. Even now, if I do any forward bending stretches, it feels so good while I'm doing it but then my lower back kills me for days afterward.

Marty Unger answered in Fitness & Exercise 10 months ago | Report

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There is a school called "Yin Yoga" that is more about connective tissues, joints, and bones than the muscle focus of standard yoga. It is less intense so you would be less likely to "add injury to injury", and focuses on stretches; seems like it would also be better for your pain issues.

I really know very little about yoga - I have only taken one "session", and it happened to be yin yoga. It was very gentle, and the teacher was very focused on avoiding injury and accommodating people with pains, injuries, or disabilities. But based on that experience, I think it might be a good fit. The drawback is, It's not too widespread so may be hard to find a class/teacher.

Here are some links:
http://www.yinyoga.com/
http://www.yinyoga.com/ys1_0.0_what_is_yin.php
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yin_yoga

Bion Satir answered in Fitness & Exercise 10 months ago | Report

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I threw my back out a few years ago and had surgery as a result. If it's serious pain, you need to do all that you can to keep pain manageable. (Even if it's not serious, sounds like you need to be very pro-active to keep it from getting worse.)

-Yoga is alright, and some answers below have more detail.

-Stretching: extremely important, even just 15 minutes a day. Think of it as yoga-lite. I can't tell you how many guys don't stretch before exercising, and then wonder why they're in pain.

-Chiropractic: controversial, but if you can find a good one, they're worth it.

-Bastry: better than any chiro (assuming you're in Seattle), they have lots of different treatments for back pain.

-My favorite: Banya5 (banya5.com) in south lake union: russian/turkish spa. The sauna followed by the cold plunge does wonders.

Good luck!

Lose-Lose answered in Fitness & Exercise 10 months ago | Report

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it also wouldn't hurt to consider tai-chi. not only is it a good way to gently stretch, but it's very relaxing.

mmmcheezy answered in Fitness & Exercise 10 months ago | Report

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Have you also considered chiropractic? It really helps with the feelings of misalignment by actually straightening out your spine, and even if you don't have insurance, visits usually aren't too expensive.

Griffin answered in Fitness & Exercise 10 months ago | Report

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I have heard about better success with pilates. Some trainers/instructors may specialize more than others. I heard about a woman in Madison Valley named Olga who helped a friend with a back injury. I also noted a small studio on 19th Ave E that does small sessions focused on healing injuries, it is about a block north of Vios on the side street to the east in case you are interested.

agness answered in Fitness & Exercise 10 months ago | Report

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