Seattle study finds yoga may offer relief to back pain sufferers

• Those who practised weekly 75-minute yoga classes made greater progress than those who took part in strengthening and stretching classes.
• The Annals of Internal Medicine study also found yoga was more effective than using a self-care book on back pain.
• After another 14 weeks they also reported less pain, and used less pain relieving drugs.
• Current treatments for low back pain include pain relievers, such as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and muscle relaxants.
• Dr Sherman said: "Although exercise is one of the few proven treatments for chronic low back pain, its effects are often small and we haven't known whether one form is better than another.
• It is thought that many people practice yoga to try to relieve back pain - but there has been a lack of firm evidence to prove its worth.
• The yoga students in the Seattle study learned 17 poses from viniyoga, a style that is easy to learn and typically allows poses to be adapted for use by various body types.
• Dr Sherman stressed that anybody interested in learning yoga for relief of back pain should chose an experienced instructor.
• There have been reports suggesting the increasing popularity of yoga has led to a raft of injuries among people who either push themselves too hard, or who do not use a qualified instructor.
• Dr Alan Breen, director of the Institute for Musculoskeletal Research And Clinical Implementation, said previous research had suggested that strengthening and stretching exercises were no more effective than other types of exercise for chronic back pain.
• However, he said: "Yoga requires learning about exercise as well as doing it, and active treatments, where patients take the initiative, are already recognised to be better than ones where they are just passive recipients.