YOGA FOR BACK PAIN

Back problems poses as the one of the most common aliment and the major cause of disability under the age of forty. Back pain incorporates minor muscle, ligament, and joint problems in the lumber spine and surrounding tissues.

While a simple action like sneezing or getting out of a chair can trigger back pain, physicians believe that the pain is due to years of subtle injuries and trauma to the back. Sciatica, a condition most commonly caused when the shock-absorbing disk that divides two spinal vertebrae bulges out and presses a nerve root exiting the spinal cord, causing pain which radiates down the leg, sometimes all the way to the foot.

The general cure to back pain is complete bed rest but latest findings reveal that lying around is actually not working and leads to an increase in pain. Prolonged bed rest results in loss of muscle mass (up to 3 percent per day), and loss of strength interfering with your rehabilitation, and forces overworking of other muscles to compensate.

Physicians now advise gentle activities the first day.

When back pain is untreated & persists it can lead to muscle spasms in different locations that can be more hurtful than the original issue resulting on a conveyor belt that leads to surgery.

Yoga poses as a complete cure for backache and is more effective overtime.

Yoga’s approach is to focus on postures alignment, psychological health and work and living environment.

Yoga also professes that there is a connection between back problems and psychological tension. When the body’s stress-response system is activated, tension in muscles surges, which results in pain.

In essence the Yoga perspective links back pain to posture alignment, muscle stiffness and weakness, and lack of body awareness.

MAJOR CAUSES OF BACK PAIN IN TODAYS LIFE STYLE

The most important is “Right Posture”. A person with right posture has a spine that curves gently forward in the lower back and backward in the upper back. This S-shaped curve works as a shock absorber for the pressures placed on the spine. Flattening and arching can cause compression of the vertebrae and the spinal disks between them, causing pain, inflammation and irritation of the nerves prostituting from the spine.

The sloped shoulder, forward head position, and C-shaped slump of the upper back, resulting from long duration desk jobs and typical wrong posture for computer and digital addicts can lead to chronic back pain.

 In some people, partly due to tightness in the hamstrings, the pelvis tips backward and the lower back rounds, reversing its normal inward curve. This position puts excessive strain on the spinal disks in the lumber region and can lead to herniation and sciatica.

Some people get back pain because of excessive flexibility in their joints. Pain can result from arching the lumber spine too much, exaggerating the normal lower back curve. This situation, known as swayback is more seen in women, and can be exacerbated due to the hormonal changes during pregnancy (and the weight of the baby).

Yoga clarifies that stomach crunches & sit ups can help the backache to a certain extent but in order to resolve the root issue, a number of Asanas, Pranayamas systematically address weakness, as well as lack of flexibility, in the four different layers of muscles in the abdomen. Independent of the effect on individual muscles, Asanas and Pranayamas aid back pain relief by improving the circulation that brings nutrients to the intervertebral disks while removing toxins. Gelatinous shock absorbers that cushion vertebrae that are adjacent to each other, the disk don’t have their own independent blood supply, and thus depend on movement of surrounding structures to aid in the delivery of nutrients. Movement causes the disks to be compressed, which squeezes out stale disk fluid, and then to expand, bringing a fresh supply.

 Yogis believe that Asanas, Pranayamas and Bandhas, with their systematic stretching, blending, wringing, and soaking of the disks are particularly effective at delivering the oxygen and other nutrients the disks need to remain healthy and pain free.

Attention to breath, Pranayamas, as always, is part of the yogic prescription for back pain. Slow deep, continuous and rhythmic breathing help calm down an hyperactive stress-response system, which can lead to muscle relaxation.

With the fuller exhalations that occur when the abdominal muscles assist in pushing the air out, more oxygen is brought into the body on the subsequent breath. In addition, the deep inhalations and exhalations gently massage the spinal column, which also helps bring nutrients to spinal disks.

According to Yoga lack of body awareness is crucial too. Many people with wrong postural habits may simply be unaware. It becomes natural to bring the awareness of alignment learned during Yoga practice to your everyday life, like the habit of slumping in an office chair, on a couch, or even standing in line, washing dishes, picking up the laundry, watching TV, or engaging in any of the routine activities that are part of everyday life.