Chronic pain has impacted approximately one in four Americans and acute pain strikes millions more. In fact, according to the National Institutes of Health, pain affects a greater number of Americans than heart disease, diabetes, and cancer combined. Yoga is one means of treating pain, both acute and chronic, that has been around for thousands of years and is growing in popularity. Studies are showing promise, although some precautions should be taken when using yoga poses to address pain issues.
Yoga and Chronic Pain: The Brain
Chronic pain actually acts as a trigger that changes the structure of the brain. It has been found to lessen the volume of gray matter as well as reducing white matter connectivity integrity. These changes have been linked to anxiety, impaired cognitive function, and depression. Newer research has found that the practice of yoga can relieve chronic pain and affects the brain in the opposite way. Yoga seems to use neuroplasticity to strengthen the connectivity of white matter and to use neurogenesis to bulk up the volume of gray matter. How the brain responds to pain is different in yoga practitioners and those who abstain, as well. The latter experience the typical fight or flight response, while the former have an activated parasympathetic nervous system to produce a calmer, tending reaction instead.
Yoga and Chronic Pain: Management
Yoga can assist people who suffer from low back pain, arthritis, migraine, fibromyalgia, and other chronic pain conditions. One study from the Annals of Internal Medicine discovered that a weekly yoga class was more beneficial for increasing mobility than the general standard care. For various types of pain management, yoga positions and motions should be modified for personal needs. Yoga instructors should be informed of any health limitations so that positions can be keyed for individual purposes. It should be noted that yoga is not an instant solution, but a process to manage pain over time.
Yoga Poses for Problem Areas
Knee pain can be alleviated with the twisted figure four, the tadasana, and the makarasana. The latter two are more relaxed and a good place to start; the first is more about manipulating the joints in a fashion to relieve pressure. For knee pain, avoid postures that require kneeling. Warrior poses are helpful to strengthen thigh muscles and support the joint.
Ankle pain can be addressed by first warming up the joints by pedaling the legs in the hovering puppy pose. A good stretch for before and after working the ankles in this way is the child’s pose, particularly with the toes untucked. Tender ankles should be respected when using warrior lunges; do not go deeply into them to avoid pressure on the joint. Ankles can also be strengthened with the mountain pose up on your toes with the ankles squeezed toward each other.
Low back pain is helped by yoga as it massages and soothes the muscles for the relief of lumbar discomfort. Regular practice of yoga can decrease tissue inflammation in these areas. A good place to start is lying on your back on the ground with the knees brought into the chest. Roll from side to side in order to massage the necessary area. This leads well into the happy baby position to compress the hips and stretch the whole back. Lower left back pain can be assisted with a supine twist or a figure four.
Neck pain is helped in much the same way as back pain when practicing yoga consistently. Stretch while the muscles are strengthened and open the space between the cervical vertebrae. Loosening the jaw is also helpful. In standing postures like chair or tree, try interlacing your hands behind your head to strengthen the neck. The head should be pressed into the hands very lightly for roughly five breaths.
Conclusion
Studies are very promising for the treatment of chronic and acute pain by the mindful, consistent practice of yoga. The link between yoga and pain relief is not yet fully understood, but research continues, as does relief.
