YOGA BETTER THAN MEDICAL CARE FOR CLBP

YOGA BETTER THAN MEDICAL CARE FOR CLBP

People with chronic low-back (CLBP) who practice yoga do better at overcoming pain and depression than people who receive standard medical treatment, according to a three-year study published in the journal Spine.

As part of the study, 90 patients with CLBP were randomly assigned to a yoga group or the group that received conventional medical therapy. Yoga participants took 90-minute classes twice a week for 24 weeks, doing postures targeted to relieve chronic low-back pain.

“The yoga group had less pain, less functional disability and less depression compared with the control group,” notes study co-author Kimberly Williams, PhD. “These were statistically significant and clinically important changes that were maintained six months after the intervention.”

“Proponents of yoga have long described its benefits in reducing back pain,” adds Dr. Williams. “But not everybody was convinced. This is a much bigger, much more rigorous evaluation than had been done before.”

The study concludes: “Yoga improves functional disability, pain intensity, and depression in adults with CLBP. There was also a clinically important trend for the yoga group to reduce their pain medication usage compared to the control group.”

Spine – September 2009;34:2066-76.
www.spinejournal.com