Chronic back pain is nothing to take lightly. According to the American Chiropractic Association (ACA), about 31 million Americans suffer from backaches at any one time.
If you have back pain, you may be considering using yoga for health and healing. Should you? Shouldn't you? Maybe it will help to know that many veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces use yoga for health problems just like this one.
An article published by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) profiled a group of veterans who use yoga, meditation, stretching and mindfulness to ease chronic back pain. Many servicemen and -women interview for the story reported being skeptical of the practice – until they tried it, that is.
"Before, I'd think of yoga as some old Japanese gentlemen in meditation. It's not like that – it's more like an exercise that teaches you how to breathe, and here I am and I'm enjoying it," Lewis Leithner, a 31-year veteran of the Navy, told the source.
He and his peers take yoga therapy classes at a local VA center, just like thousands of retired military retirees across the U.S. Leithner said that he and his wife have already detected a difference in his back pain levels after just three weeks of yoga treatments.
Chronic back pain is nothing to take lightly. According to the American Chiropractic Association (ACA), about 31 million Americans suffer from backaches at any one time.
People of any age can be affected by this condition. The ACA notes that, among people under the age of 45, back pain is the most common cause of physical activity limitations. However, age is a big factor in the risk of backaches. The organization estimates that up to 85 percent of Americans suffer from back pain in their lifetimes.
Yoga may be able to help, for the enlisted and unenlisted alike. A study in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine found that veterans – age 55, on average – reported reductions in chronic back pain after using yoga-based interventions.
"Significant improvements were found for pain, depression, energy/fatigue and the Short Form-12 Mental Health Scale," the authors concluded.
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Tags: yoga for health, yoga for health and healing, yoga for health problems
