USA, October 25, 2011 (online.wsj.com): A new study, believed to be the largest of its kind, suggests that hatha yoga’s effectiveness at relieving low back pain is attributable to its stretching component rather than to its mental effects.
The researchers studied 228 adults who had chronic low back pain with no known physical cause. Three groups were formed. About 90 subjects were assigned to a 12-week stretching class and a similar number to a 12-week hatha yoga class with individually adapted exercises; both of these groups were also instructed to practice 20 minutes a day at home. The remaining 45 subjects were given a 200-page self-care book providing instruction on exercises, stretches and lifestyle modifications for relief of low back pain as well as management of flare-ups.
The study measured changes in back pain and functional status at the beginning of the study and at six weeks, 12 weeks and six months. Patients in the yoga and stretching classes reported similar results, both far surpassing the self-care group. About 50% of patients in the yoga or stretching classes reported feeling much better or completely better in relation to their back pain and function, compared to about 20% of patients in the self-care group; likewise, the yoga and stretching groups reported decreased medication use (again, in similar numbers) compared to the self-care group.
[HPI note: Some reporters are claiming the study found no mental benefits in yoga. But the study dealt with low back pain, not yoga’s mental effects. In any case, it is incorrect to equate hatha yoga–the practice of placing the physical body into various positions, as in this study–with the entirety of yoga, whose other branches focus on the mind. Moreover, pain relief is simply a side benefit, not the purpose of hatha yoga.]