Hey guys! Today I am taking some pain to write about back pain. Yes, writing about pain is indeed painful. So is the reading. But, if you are in pain at this time, will feel great soon. In the “Back Pain Yoga Cure Series,” you will be served some deep insights on back pain- the causes, preventions, and “YOGIC CURE” for your ailing back.

Back pain exists everywhere- from my home to yours. Parents, in-laws, aunt-uncle, everyone seems to have contracted some kind of back pain. Children being the only exceptions, Thank God!

An estimated 10% of the world’s population suffers from pain in the lower back. According to a recent study by the Annals of Rheumatic Diseases, one in ten people around the world are afflicted with LBP making it the world’s leading cause of disability.

Why a series on the Back Pain Yoga Cure?

Really, I never knew that it will turn out to be a soap opera. When I started with “Back Pain Yoga Cure”, it was all in one. But when it extended beyond 10,000 words, I had to reconsider, considering our attention span! Also reading this length may trigger another kind of back pain, I thought!

With a promise to address most of the back pains, this series will serve the very purpose of a painless life.

9 Common Types of Back Pain, You Should Be Aware Of

Our back is a complex system of muscles, bones, cartilage, and nerves.  Age, weight, lack of fitness are some of the causes of back pains. It’s important to be alert and exercise, regularly. Maintain a healthy weight and avoid lifting heavy objects. Since the back is involved in almost all of our daily activities, it can get injured pretty easily.

1. Sciatica–The sciatic nerve, which starts in the lower back and runs down the back of each leg—becomes pinched and creates lower back pain and a sharp pain in one or both legs, especially when sitting.
2. Fibromyalgia-Fibromyalgia is a disorder characterized by widespread musculoskeletal pain accompanied by fatigue, sleep, memory and mood issues. Researchers believe that fibromyalgia amplifies painful sensations by affecting the way your brain processes pain signals
3. Osteoporosis-Menopause and other age-related factors deplete calcium and phosphorous present in the bones. Brittle, weak bones may break or collapse and create compression fractures.
4. Arthritis– Whe inn the discs in the spine lose their ability to absorb shock, the bones rub together and create bone spurs.
5. Pinched nerve– The nerve is pressed right up against the bone or muscle groups.
6. Pregnancy– Extra weight in the front can put a lot of strain on the back and cause a back-ache.
7. Bulging or slipped disc– One of the soft discs between the vertebrae extends out over the edge.
8. Referred pain– Intense pain in another part of the body may cause pain in the low back or groin. This is a common symptom of kidney stones, for example.
9. Cancer– Cancer of the spine or in nearby organs may trigger back pain.

7 -Ways You Can Soothe Acute Back Pain at Home

What if all of sudden your back starts soaring at the time an important meeting is fixed? Or maybe visiting a doctor too frequently is not in your habit (just like me!). Following are some remedies to get you going instantly. But in any case, don’t overlook the symptoms of pain for longer. If condition prevails, you may need to take an appointment with a doctor.

An anti-inflammatory as a first-aid

Like naproxen or ibuprofen. Since inflammation is a common cause of acute back pain, taking an anti-inflammatory is the best first-aid.

Check your time on the bed

Resting a day or two is rewarding. But a sedentary lifestyle can further deteriorate the condition. Gradually trying to step into your daily routine can be more healing.

Mind your sleeping posture

Love to lie on the back? Slip a pillow under your knees to reduce stress on the back and spine.  Want to switch on sides- place a pillow in between the knees and curl your legs up toward the chest.

“Sleeping on the stomach is generally not recommended as this almost always leads to hyperextension of the back,” says Dr. Chang. Learn more about how your sleep position impacts your health.

Hot and cold compression

Cold compresses work best if your back is inflamed. Signs of inflammation in the back include swelling and feeling hot and sensitive to the touch. Alternatively, heat therapy works best for stiffness by increasing blood flow to the area.

Try restorative yoga poses

Restorative yoga poses are the best when you are in pain.

Always use supports to cause less strain on the back. Avoid poses that strain the back.

Look for a good Physiotherapist

Yes, good not an average one. You can point him/her from a long queue of visiting patients. “The goal of physiotherapy for managing back pain is to show you the proper stretches, and pain management techniques to avoid aggravating the pain further.

Review your mattress

Yes, you may have this achy back because of your mattress. According to the National Sleep Foundation, 63 percent of people say that their back pain improved after getting a new mattress.

“Depending on how firm or how soft the mattress is, it may put your spine out of alignment”. Finding a right mattress is crucial in curing your back pain.

Why Yoga is The Best Practice to Heal Your Back Pain

The magnitude of suffering from any kind of pain may heighten because of perception.

Negative psychological and emotional factors don’t necessarily change the physiology of the back, but once coupled with negligence in nutritional intakes and a sedentary lifestyle, may cause havoc on overall health.

Role of mental factors may be further. Psychological and emotional factors are the primary influence in the sensation of pain and can physically alter the body.

For various reasons, high stress and negative emotions may actually cause back pain, especially in lower back and hips area. This is the main reason why hips-opener yoga poses result best in coping up stress and anxiety.

Yoga enables you to concentrate your energy on breathing and maintaining posture. The systematic breathing increases oxygen flow to the brain and sets a rhythm within the body and mind.

Further, this action added with mindful-meditation has the power to alleviate stress and anxiety, therefore, easing back pain caused by psychological and emotional factors.

Thus, reducing the perception of the pain (through yoga and meditation) can reduce the overall feeling of back pain.

Understanding the Heeling-Mechanism of Yoga

Yes, it is crucial at this point to understand the mechanism behind Yoga-science of yoga! For an in-depth understanding, please check YOGA BY ANATOMY.

Yoga Poses work in two ways:

Strengthening from holding yoga positions

Hence providing your core big strength.

Yoga poses such as the downward facing dog, cat and cow pose, cobra pose, plank pose, just to mention here,    gently strengthen the muscles in the back, as well as the abdominal muscles.

Back and abdominal muscles are essential components of the muscular network of the spine, helping the body maintain proper upright posture and movement. When these muscles are well conditioned, back pain can be greatly cured.

Stretching and relaxation from yoga

Hence relaxing your muscles.

Yoga postures incorporating stretching and relaxation such as forward fold, child pose, and diamond pose to name a few. These poses reduce tension in stress-carrying muscles. You may require to hold gentle poses anywhere from 10 to 60 seconds or 3 to 4 breaths. While in a posture, certain muscles flex, while others stretch, promoting relaxation and flexibility in muscles and joints.

Yoga Poses to Strengthen Your Core and Alleviate Back Pain

Following yoga poses, if done regularly, will make your core and overall body strong enough to keep you ache-free.

Click the link given to download the tutorial for that pose.

Download here- Prayer Pose and Raised hand pose

 Download here- Hand to foot pose and downward facing dog pose

  Download here- Cat and cow pose

Download here- plank pose and diamond pose

Download child pose, cobra pose, and savasana

Wrapping up back pain yoga cure series

I think it’s time to conclude this part of the Back pain series. You got familiar with common types of back pains and the first step you can take when you are struck with pain.

Yoga poses mentioned above are from my “Yoga For Beginners Series”. These are the basic but most important part of a yoga flow. Please download the poses if you have not yet.

Further, it is not needed at all if you already practice yoga. If this is the case, I’m sure you are healthy and pain-free human like me (presently!). Yes, I used to be in pain earlier, but my yogic life made me a happier ever being!

In the coming up series, You will be reading ( learning and curing) other kinds of Back Pains, which I briefly discussed above, under the heading “9 Common Types of Back Pain, You Should Be Aware Of”.  Causes and the yoga poses associated with them, all one by one. So please Stay in touch for a healthy back @2019. The best way is to subscribe and get everything in your inbox.

Thanks a lot for accompanying up to here! If you have your friends, mom-dad, and near and dears, with a problematic back, share with them. They will, in turn, be thankful to you! For any query, please feel free to leave your response.

The post Back Pain Yoga Cure, The Series On Yoga For Super Healthy Back@2019 appeared first on yogarsutra.

Yoga and Skeletal system- The Interdependence

In order to bring a clear understanding of yoga and skeletal system, it is crucial to know the harmful side effects of the digital age on our overall bone health.

When we switch from a physical model of working to the digital mode, our body responds differently. Ignoring our body stress signals may emerge in the form of a disease and distress. Peeping into a fraction of my life story will explain the things more clearly.

Being Ambitious and Competent

I am a happy and satisfied human being normally. You may ask how come? Are you very smart and competent? Or you have all your ambitions fulfilled and wishes granted? My reply is a firm NO.

I can explain in a few words that you can believe. The very first thing I did to remain in peace was to withdraw myself from any kind of rat-race in my workplace. To say in a more simple way is that I stopped thinking to be superior than my colleagues. So I remained out of my boss’ GOOD LIST.

Also, I avoided working extra hours in order to save some quality time for my family, at the cost of losing some remuneration.

Sounds so unconvincing? Yes, not everyone has the liberty to live like this. It is possible only when you have good financial support and a mindset which can set your ways to live your life. This definitely makes you believe in “Happiness comes from within”.

Life is unpredictable

So while living with all the inner happiness with my perspectives, life took an unexpected turn. Roughly four years back due to the recession and some unknown reasons we had to face severe salary cuts.

Suddenly I lost all my perception of inner happiness!! This made me realize that those rejected remunerations were not needed because I had handsome earnings. My tranquillity with myself lost the sight.

Also the opportunity of earning extra remunerations from working extra hours vanished.

“The problem has many companions and always approaches you with all of them”.

So what should I do now in order to achieve my earlier tranquillity? Do I have some talent which could earn me money to meet out losses from the salary cuts?

After a lot of trials and errors reply came to me was online teaching and problem-solving assignments. It was a nice, fulfilling, and money- yielding job. So I went to Physics lab simulations with ‘Colorado’ and solving maths assignments.

All this made me sit in front of my laptop for 5 to 6 hrs a day. I had two results. First was a decent earning, a pleasant feeling and another was a horrible experience.

The body always signals overuse

It all happened when I was about to complete a very long Maths assignment. I felt severe pain in my back. It was near around the intensity of damaging a bone or muscles. Something terrible happened to me I thought. My this fear had a quick confirmation of a severe headache and head spinning. There was a feeling of numbness in my arms and limbs. Even balancing myself felt a tough task. An obvious visit to the doctor resulted that I was a patient of  *Cervical Spondylitis. These were the **Side Effects Of Digital Age. And the cure was physiotherapy and medication.

The conclusions of my story are:

• It is not bad to be ambitious.
• It is not bad to have extra talent.
• And, It is very good to engage in many ways of earning extra money.
• But, It is too bad to make your body work extra without proper nourishment and relevant form of exercise.
• Prolonged seating in one posture in front of my laptop resulted in bone-related serious health issues.
• If I had an in-depth knowledge of my body and of the skeleton system it was hard to abuse it.

Our Skeletal System: Bonafide Bones

Our skeletal system is a series of long and short bones connected to each other by *joints. The skeletal system defines our body structure.

It also supports the body movements in combination with the Muscular system and plays an important role in protecting our soft, delicate and very important internal organs.
This system has approximately 300 bones at the beginning which remain around 206 after reconstructions and joining. Bones are very crucial body element because the Blood Cells are produced in the bone marrow.

Bones are also the storehouse of important minerals like calcium and phosphorous. They also release hormones that help to regulate our blood sugar level.
Bones are hard from outside and soft in inside. The soft part is porous. Bones are living tissues like that of other body tissues. These tissues are growing and reshaping much faster in a young body.

This process depends majorly on individual lifestyle, i.e. on the nutritional intakes, physical activities, stress level, and relaxation patterns.

Joints:

Let us know our joints in detail. Our skeleton joints are majorly classified as-
1.Synovial Joints: These joints have cartilage and some fluids at the end of the bone. These fluids lubricate the joints and prevent them from the friction. Synovial joints are named after their name and nature of the operation, viz

• Hinge Joints(knee, elbow): These joints ensure180 degrees of movement between the joining bones, which is analogous to a hinged door! having just a single direction movement.
• Ball and socket joints(shoulder, hips, wrists): These joints ensure 360 degrees of rotation between the joining bones, which is analogous to the rotation of a ball on a socket!

2.Saddle Joints: These joints are found in thumbs, middle ear.
3. Fibrous Joints: These joints have no fluids and bones have solid tissues. Our pelvis and spine have these joints.

• RELATED: THE HUMAN BODY IS TRULY A MIRACLE

We have a wonderful body which is clever and a miracle as well. Our bones charge and discharge according to the weight and response to the “weight and efforts” they bear.

So if we are a very active person doing our daily chores and follow some exercise and body relaxation techniques, complemented with nutritious food, our body and bones will be in good condition. With all this, we are helping our bones and joints and resulting in increased bone density and flexibility.

On the other hand, if we have a sedentary lifestyle which means less physical movements, we are making our bones to suffer badly.
This can be a result of a serious injury causing restrictions in movements of a single body part or the whole body itself. This will again result in depleted bone density.

Yoga And Bone Health

Yoga is recommended in all the situations, in recovery from an injury and regain bone strength-gentle, restorative yoga poses should be considered first. Gradually more challenging one can be switched to.

Yogasnas works quite differently from the high impact exercises like jogging, aerobics, and weight training. If not supervised properly may cause harm to joints and contribute to bone fracture.

Yoga, on the other hand, improves the joints health by stimulating the release of lubricating fluids thus reducing the frictional pain and the effects causing tears and wears responsible for osteoarthritis and osteoporosis.

A thoughtfully designed yoga program, consisting of various yoga poses, applies bone strengthening body weight to tone and strengthen the bones in the hands and wrists, arms, spine, neck, head, and feet.
Yoga poses should be adapted and modified within the limit to suit all age groups and body structure.

Stress and bone health

Unavoidable stress may be a cause of our bone-decay. A prolonged stressed body releases a hormone called adrenaline, causing depletion of calcium from our bones hence making them more brittle and prone to osteoporosis.

Body posture and skeletal system

one common problem related to our lifestyle is compression and misalignment of the spinal cord. Yoga plays a crucial role in maintaining the correct body posture. T

he stretching, twisting and bending yoga poses help us to maintain an upright and balanced body posture.
Yoga postures also minimize the risk of collapsing which becomes prominent after a certain age. Collapsing occurs due to the weakness of bones and muscles and inappropriate body posture.

Best selected yoga poses for the healthy skeletal system

1. Slow and complete yoga breath 
Five sets of “inhale and exhale” three times a day are the most recommended and doable method to achieve the relaxation hence aligning and soothing our spinal cord. Setting an alarm, say at 9 am, 1 pm then 6 pm will definitely get the job done.

• Sit down in lotus or half lotus. This can be done by sitting on the chair.
• Keep your core upright straight.
• Release tension from all the joints and muscle groups, one by one.
• Deep inhale, count to five.
• Slow exhale, count to ten.
• Repeat five times

 Related- Meditation for Beginners

2. Spinal twist

Seated twists do wonder to our core, by aligning our vertebrae and spinal cord. It rejuvenates the bones after a long working session. It opens our hips and ribcage.

• Sit down upright with leg-spread in front of you.
• While inhaling fold one leg giving your body a horizontal twist. Position your hands as shown in the picture to achieve the complete pose.
• Release the pose slowly while exhaling.
• Repeat with other leg and opposite side twist.

3. Cobra Pose

As we walk, sit or even lie down, we tend to lean forward. This habit contributes to a bad posture. The cobra pose helps to revert this kind of forward curvature of our core.

• • • Lie down flat on your stomach.
    • While inhaling raise your face and then chest.
    • Keep both hands in supporting position as shown.
    • Stay there for a few breaths.
    • Return back to initial position while exhaling.

4. Boat Pose

The simple looking, but not so simple doing a pose. The boat pose requires some patience to achieve the balance. Its benefits include simulations of thyroid and prostate glands. It does wonder to improve your waistline. It gives a nice stretch to your hamstrings. The most important changes it brings to the posture by strengthening your spine and hip flexors.

• • • Sit upright with leg spread in front of you.
    • While inhaling, apply pressure on both hands to lift your legs up.
    • You need to bend back a bit to achieve that perfect V shape.
    • Spread your hands as shown to stay in the pose for few breaths.

5. Cat and Cow Pose

The cat-cow pose is a combination of two poses, the cat pose, and the cow pose. It prepares us for most activities as a warm-up session does. It does wonder in relieving lower back pain. This pose strengthens our bones also works well for neck and shoulder pain.

It is recommended for the prevention of severe ailments like osteoporosis and osteopenia, arthritis or stiffness of the hips and spine. 

However, if you are already suffering from any kind of bone-related disease please consult your doctor first. Researchers reveal that forward bends may harm the weak bones further. So yoga poses involving a forward curvature should be avoided. A backward curvature is found to be safe and rewarding.

• • • Start from the knee and hand pose.
    • While inhaling open your chest, push your ‘head and back’ to get a back curvature of cat pose as shown.
    • Exhale to switch dynamically into a forward bend of cow pose as shown.

If cow pose is causing any kind of discomfort, instead of bending forward, stay on table pose/plank or on the beginning position i.e. knee and hand position, then switch back to cat pose.

Thank you so much! I hope this article helped in knowing your bones and skeletal system altogether. In case you are in a job that demands a lot of your time glued with a chair, it’s time to be awaken. Take some active rest and do some yoga poses in the office itself. Don’t know how? Learn Here.

For more detailed information on the topic of OFFICE YOGA, Please check my book “A Complete Book on Office Yoga”. 

The book comprises 12 Chair Yoga Tutorial, Healthy Office Lunch Recipes, Sleep Guide for Millenials.

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