(RxWiki News) Yoga may effectively ease chronic lower back pain, according to a new study.
In fact, this study found that yoga may be as safe and effective as physical therapy for relieving lower back pain in some patients.
For this study, 320 low-income people with lower back pain were given 12 weekly yoga classes designed for people with back pain, 15 physical therapy sessions or information on how to cope with back pain. Patients were followed for one year.
Patients in both the yoga and physical therapy groups saw reduced pain, improved physical function and less use of pain medications after one year, this study found.
These findings led the study authors to suggest that yoga might work as an alternative to physical therapy for chronic lower back pain.
Check with your health care provider before starting any new exercise routine. Yoga should never replace a doctor-ordered therapy without that doctor's approval.
This study was published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
Information on study funding sources and potential conflicts of interest was not available at the time of publication.
