go beyond your limits, and that includes injuring your back.

What Yoga can do is improve your flexibility, endurance, and calm you.

It made me want to call them up and ask them WHY I ever developed back pain?

I mean, I was doing Yoga LONG before my arthritis symptoms started.

It should have stopped that, right? I mean, Yoga being a magical pain-reliever and all.

(sorry, I'm not grumping at you. I'm just super PO'd at this new anti-drug push saying that all you need to do is listen to harp music and do Downward Dog).

that are effectively just infomercials that one can view in the wee hours of the morning

I hear ya, and agree

than journalism. Sure it seems harmless until some bright-eyed Yogi's marketing campaign lands OP in an existential crisis!

but for every yoga saved my life story there's a yoga sent me to the emergency room story. Personally, if I'd seen the x-rays of my neck I never, ever would have been doing headstands or shoulder stands. It seems that as yoga got very, very popular it took on a mythical power.

I've never had imaging done of my neck. My issues are hips and lower back.

Basically, never, ever, ever do head stands or shoulder stands. They both put an incredible amount of strain on the cervical vertebrae. Headstands also put insane pressure on the brachial plexus which can lead to pinching the nerves and blood vessels that serve your arms. I do get it though. It feels so cool to be able to pull your body into a headstand. I love yoga and even took a 200 hour teacher training. It was one weekend a month for 10 months. The instructor was at Kripalu when it first started. Sadly, too many yoga teachers take a 40 hour weekend course and think they know what they are doing. But about Kripalu, they have some excellent classes on line. They also have amazing programs although I don't think I'd stay there again as it's very pricey and lodging is available close by.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/08/magazine/how-yoga-can-wreck-your-body.html

I was like, wow! He's into Yoga now?

My sister says yoga helped her. She's very active and goes hiking a lot.

I just can't do yoga. Stretching makes my back worse, I don't know why.

I can walk 30 minutes nearly every day now, and plan to keep increasing
till I can do two or three miles.

Different drugs work for different people.

Different exercise works for different people.

I'm sick and tired of this current fad of telling people in chronic pain to just meditate and do yoga. I've been doing that for 30+ years now, long before I developed chronic pain. It's not a cure!!!

Sorry, just venting.....

Good for you for your walking program!! I hope you continue to improve!!

Been doing it for over 45 years. Nothing fancy, just the sun salutation with a few other poses thrown in. Even though radiologically my back looks like a mess, I'm for the most part pain free. Yes over the years I've had to go to the doc when things got painful. Usually after pulling a beached whale across my x-ray table at work. Some anti inflammatory meds to break the pain/inflammation/spasm cycle. After that go back to the yoga poses and I'm good for another few years. I've seen too many people go thru failed surgeries to go any where near that stuff..
I also use an inversion table about once a week to de compress what's left of my disks..
Works for me, YMMV
BTW 400 posts!! WhaHooo!!
m

intense yoga for over 30 years.

This recent push to take painkillers away from people who CANNOT resolve their pain issues through yoga and meditation is cruel and inhuman.

It doesn't make it worse, and sometimes it brightens her mood, so the pain in the back is more tolerable, but it definitely is not something that took the pain away.

That it's not 100%. Works for some and not for others. Like you and me, we tried it, worked for me and not for you. Time to try something else..
My friend had chronic back pain from a bulging disk. Tried everything to no avail. Finally relented and had a micro discectomy. Small incision and a little knife/nipper that just took a bit of the bulging disk off the nerve. He said he knew it worked the minute he woke from the anesthesia...... no pain. He's been fine since. Some not so lucky.
m

by a fall down some slick stairs a number of years ago.

If I catch the beginning signals of pain in time, I can avoid a full-on flaring (pain from my lower back traveling down my leg into my foot) by doing some basic postures that stretch and relax my back and legs.

That being said, yoga is not a cure-all, and there are times when more rigorous medical intervention and medications are needed.

Don't you think its completely dependent upon the individual, the type of pain, the type of condition/injury, the way his/her body processes pain, etc.? Yoga or simple stretching might work in one case whereas in another case, other medical solutions must be used.

(I've also temporarily messed up my back by trying to get myself into certain yoga positions.)

On Edit: Absolutely agree--pain medications should not be demonized.

The study was comparing yoga to traditional physical therapy. For some yoga helped with their symptoms. For some physical therapy helps. They even specifically said it doesn't help everyone. The study said about the same number of people doing physical therapy or yoga said they had a decrease in pain and other symptoms from back pain.

Here's the link to the article version of the radio snippet: http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2017/06/20/533505211/study-finds-yoga-can-help-back-pain-but-keep-it-gentle-with-these-poses

painkillers anymore.

There has been a whole bunch of similar stories in the media recently, touting alternative therapies in lieu of medications.

Also, physical therapy is something that insurance generally covers, while Yoga is out of pocket.

I've been finding it more and more difficult to get my PT covered by my insurance in the last few years. Even though it helps my pain, their rationale is that you cannot "cure" arthritis, so there is no long-term benefit to PT. I've won the last few rounds, but don't know how much longer I will.

I'm all for yoga, I've been doing it for 30 years, and I think I am in less pain because of my strength. However, it really pisses me off that there is this push to SUBSTITUTE alternative therapies for medical treatment for pain.

But they said it's not for everyone. You can't just ignore the rest of the article because of one sentence. It helped one woman that was taking ibuprofen.

The whole point was instead of just relying on physical therapy as the first referral for lower back pain that this is also something they can utilize that MAY help.

I have lower back pain (bulging disk at L5-S1). I've done multiple rounds of physical therapy, steroid packs, traction, and injections into my back. I like knowing that maybe doing these specific yoga poses and stretches may be an alternative to regular physical therapy.

Your perception of it was different than mine, that's fine.

I'll admit, I'm in a really cranky place right now because NOTHING is working for me and I'm in constant pain.
My last round of steroid shots brought no relief, so now we're going to try nerve ablation.

It just irks me to no end that in the meantime, I'm no longer allowed to take opioids, which work well for me, because doctors refuse to prescribe them now.

Not only am I suffering, but a number of people I know personally, and a number of people on this board, are all suffering because of it.

All the recent news stories in the media seem to be pushing these out-of-pocket alternative therapies. Yoga is not financially nor physically feasible for my friend who has a fused hip and literally cannot bend in the middle, and is living on SSDI. Now, he cannot even get his drugs. He's just supposed to lay around his house in pain, I guess.

So, yeah, I'm a little grumpy, and I suppose I just heard one story too many about the magical curative properties of yoga.

Drugs have their own problems, and don't work for everyone (just like yoga), but to deprive people who need them is cruel and inhuman.

backs are very complex things

yoga might help some
opiates might help some
exercise might help some
weight lose might help some
hell those damn inversion boots where you hang like a fricken bat might help some

not much helps all
cause backs are very complex things

There's nothing that this several-decade-old fitness regimen can't do!

It was about a study to see if yoga could be as helpful as physical therapy for back pain. Physical therapy being something that helps some, but certainly not all sufferers. Of course time helps many also. Conclusion of study: yoga is about as helpful as P.T. One woman interviewed who was indeed helped. Pain killers were not discussed.

That yoga classes designed specifically for back pain can be as safe and effective as physical therapy when it comes to easing pain.

That can lend itself to getting off of or reducing pain medications more quickly for certain people.

Summary of Study

http://annals.org/aim/article/2633223/yoga-physical-therapy-education-chronic-low-back-pain

Just get on Youtube and find yoga videos! Forget about silly health insurance.

..also on tv. I'm in PT because of shoulder pain. Hubby has a doctorate in Pharmacy and he thought it was pretty valid. Only thing is I would rather go to PT than suit up in yoga pants and go sweat in front of a class of buffs and cuties.
BUT... if you live in BFE and don't have access to PT then I suppose even a video on yoga or Wii would be better than nothing.

We self-paid for several years for hubby's PT (not for back pain), and thought it was very worthwhile. Yoga would have been much cheaper (but probably above his competence at that point).

...but then you fall asleep...

and it never said that Yoga magically cures back pain.

It referred to a study that contrasted physical therapy to yoga for back pain. It said most got better. It did not say that all were better or that people were magically cured.

Have you ever had physical therapy? I have. The focus is on developing other muscles to take off strain on muscles/joints/bursa causing pain. Yoga develops muscles too and can relieve pain, depending on the source of the pain.

Thanks.