Chronic back pain is one of the most prevalent and most difficult to treat medical conditions within the elderly. The issue has led to the use and abuse of medications meant to help, like opioids, which often have an even worse impact upon the health of those taking them than the original condition. Medical researchers have been working on finding an effective method of treating back pain without opioid use over the last several years, and one of the more helpful things that they have found is that yoga can help to reduce pain.
Most people who suffer from lower back pain don’t really ever do much about it. They self treat, or use over the counter drugs to help manage the pain. A lot of the time, there is no real known cause of where the pain is from, and it is ignored until it is too problematic to continue to treat on their own. This is called non-specific back pain, and was the focus of a wide reaching survey, recently.
Many people, especially older individuals, are skeptical of using something like yoga as a health technique. However, this new study put out by Cochrane Review shows that those who suffer from chronic lower back pain that use yoga have less pain and more functionality than people who do not exercise at all. This isn’t just another study showing the importance of exercise for elderly people, though–although this is still important. This study shows that a very specific type of exercise, one that is low stress and almost anyone can do, has very specific health benefits. If you or a loved one suffer from lower back pain, addressing it sooner rather than later is going to be your best choice. If you decide that yoga might be to your benefit, talk with a doctor before beginning a new exercise, and be sure that you are getting the correct type of guidance as you begin.
Back pain can lead to disability, and this particular type of disability can impact the quality of life of those who suffer from it dramatically. Those suffering from this are at a higher risk of needing senior care early in their lives, and even though in-home care is often more than enough to meet their needs, senior care can be expensive at times. While we encourage you to get the best type of senior care for your family’s unique set of needs, not needing it in the first place is even better. If simple exercises and stretches can help you or a loved one to avoid this, then this is something worth pursuing.
It should be pointed out that while most people found improvement from pain when practicing yoga, about 5 percent of those in the study saw an increase in pain. The researchers commented that this was common and probably due to the side effects of using their backs for exercise. Still, it’s important to acknowledge this risk so no one you love is hurt while trying to improve their health.
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