Yoga to treat nonspecific low back pain

Effects of an intervention program with health education and hatha yoga on the health of professionals with musculoskeletal symptoms

Introduction

Musculoskeletal and mental disorders are relevant in the workers' disease process, and ergonomic interventions that include guidance and physical exercise consist of strategies of health promotion. Integrative and complementary practices are presented as a possibility of promoting comprehensive care and yoga consists of a therapeutic alternative.

Objective

To evaluate the effects of an intervention including educational measures and hatha yoga in musculoskeletal pain, disability, and stress in professionals of a university hospital.

Methods

We selected 125 professionals with musculoskeletal symptoms of intensity ≥ 1 who did not practice yoga and randomly assigned them to intervention (n = 63) and control (n = 62) groups, requesting answers to the following questionnaires: initial characterization, the Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire and a numeric scale, the Pain Disability Questionnaire, and the Perceived Stress Scale. The intervention group went through a 12-week program with educational measures and hatha yoga. At the end of the study period, both groups answered to the questionnaires once again. We compared data before and after the intervention and between groups.

Results

Both groups presented improvements after 12 weeks, but the difference between mean results obtained in the first and second data collections revealed that the levels of pain, disability, and stress decreased more strongly in the intervention group than in the control group. Considering that the intervention group began the program in worse clinical conditions, the program led to a reduction in the difference between groups, but this was not enough for the intervention group to reach better results than the control.

Conclusions

The intervention promoted improvements in the intensity of pain, disability, and stress among the participants of the intervention group. Similar programs could be explored in the promotion of occupational health.

Yoga and occupational health: integrative review of intervention studies

Background

Effects of yoga on physical and mental health have been investigated in several fields.

Objective

To investigate and analyze results of yoga interventions in the workplace reported along 10 years after the formulation of the National Policy of Integrative and Complementary Practices.

Method

We located 10 studies published from 2006 to 2015 which met the inclusion criteria, included in databases Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), Medical Literature Analyses and Retrieval System Online (MEDLINE), Web of Science, Scopus, Cochrane and Scientific Electronic Library Online (SciELO). Analyzed variables were: publication year, authorship, title, aims, results, and conclusions. Interventions were characterized based on yoga style, practices implemented, frequency and duration of sessions, duration of intervention, measurement instruments, and additional interventions.

Results

Our findings suggest that yoga has physical and psychological effects on workers from different professional categories. However, we did not find benefits for some conditions, and yoga practice does not have the same positive effects on all practitioners. Workers' adherence to programs influences the results of research. Many studies did not clearly describe the implemented programs.

Conclusion

The characteristics of interventions show substantial differences among programs, which enable a synthesis, but not comparisons.

Effect of Selected Yogic Practices on Pain and Disability in Patients with Lumbar Spondylitis

Aim:

The study was designed to find the effect of selected yogic practices on lumbar spondylitis.

Materials and Methods:

This was a prospective, randomized study without a control trial. A total of 172 participants with lumbar spondylitis (age 21–79 years) from the outpatient department (OPD) of neurosurgery, AIIMS, Bhubaneswar, were randomly assigned to receive yoga therapy. The module of selected yogic practices consisted of pawanamuktasana series 1 (loosening and strengthening), asana, pranayama, and relaxation techniques Yoga Nidra.

Statistics Analysis:

Within groups, comparison was done by paired t-test, and between groups, ANOVA test was carried out to determine the significant difference among the various groups under study. Correlation regression analysis was done to measure the degree of linear relationship between pre- and post-study for various groups.

Results:

Significant differences were observed with yoga therapy in instant relieve practice group, in short-term practice group, and in long-term practice group (LTPG) with better results in LTPG.

Conclusion:

Selected yoga therapy has got the better result in management of pain in lumbar spondylitis.

Effectiveness of Iyengar yoga in treating spinal (back and neck) pain: A systematic review

Considerable amount of money spent in health care is used for treatments of lifestyle related, chronic health conditions, which come from behaviors that contribute to morbidity and mortality of the population. Back and neck pain are two of the most common musculoskeletal problems in modern society that have significant cost in health care. Yoga, as a branch of complementary alternative medicine, has emerged and is showing to be an effective treatment against nonspecific spinal pain. Recent studies have shown positive outcome of yoga in general on reducing pain and functional disability of the spine. The objective of this study is to conduct a systematic review of the existing research within Iyengar yoga method and its effectiveness on relieving back and neck pain (defined as spinal pain). Database research form the following sources (Cochrane library, NCBI PubMed, the Clinical Trial Registry of the Indian Council of Medical Research, Google Scholar, EMBASE, CINAHL, and PsychINFO) demonstrated inclusion and exclusion criteria that selected only Iyengar yoga interventions, which in turn, identified six randomized control trials dedicated to compare the effectiveness of yoga for back and neck pain versus other care. The difference between the groups on the postintervention pain or functional disability intensity assessment was, in all six studies, favoring the yoga group, which projected a decrease in back and neck pain. Overall six studies with 570 patients showed, that Iyengar yoga is an effective means for both back and neck pain in comparison to control groups. This systematic review found strong evidence for short-term effectiveness, but little evidence for long-term effectiveness of yoga for chronic spine pain in the patient-centered outcomes.

Yoga to treat nonspecific low back pain

Low back pain is common and poses a challenge for clinicians to find effective treatment to prevent it from becoming chronic. Chronic low back pain can have a significant impact on an employee's ability to remain an active and productive member of the work force due to increased absenteeism, duty restrictions, or physical limitations from pain. Low back pain is the most common cause of work-related disability among employees younger than 46 years. Advancing technology and less invasive surgical procedures have not improved outcomes for employees who suffer from low back pain. Most continue to experience some pain and dysfunction after conventional treatments such as injections and surgery. An alternative treatment that could reduce nonspecific chronic low back pain would benefit both employees and employers. Exercising and remaining active are part of most guidelines' routine care recommendations but are not well defined.