Yoga Resources: Lower Back Pain
The below was shared with the participants of Monday yoga March 2025 via email. Email jen at saylayoga.com to be added to the resources distribution list.
The study shares how yoga helps lower back pain with a 100+ page yoga workbook with poses and can be used as an informational resource.
118-page workbook given to participants with images of the yoga poses and instructions: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/instance/11530940/bin/jamanetwopen-e2442339-s003.pdf
Link to Full Study: Effectiveness of Virtual Yoga for Chronic Low Back Pain: A Randomized Clinical Trial https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11530940/
Pulled from conclusion: This RCT found that in a sample of adult patients with CLBP who were members of a large health care system self-insured health plan, 12 weeks of virtually delivered group yoga classes (compared with a wait-list control) led to significantly greater improvements in back pain intensity and back-related function, with maintenance of improvement at 24-weeks’ follow-up and no serious adverse events. Through reducing barriers to in-person participation, virtual yoga classes may be a feasible, safe, and effective treatment option for CLBP. Future work should include scaling virtual therapeutic yoga within health care systems, assessing longer-term follow-up and cost-effectiveness, comparing 6 vs 12 weeks of classes, and testing recruitment strategies to increase the diversity of participants.
Pulled from the abstract: Importance: Chronic low back pain (CLBP) is a common condition with substantial impact on patients, in the form of physical and emotional suffering; health care costs; productivity; and health care professional burden. Although clinical guidelines recommend use of nonpharmacologic treatments first, such as yoga, there is a gap between guidelines and implementation in clinical practice.
Pulled from objective: To compare the effects of virtual yoga classes vs a wait-list control on CLBP intensity, back-related function, sleep quality, and pain medication use.
Story from NPR about the study, “Effectiveness of Virtual Yoga for Chronic Low Back Pain: A Randomized Clinical Trial”: https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2024/11/11/nx-s1-5185967/low-back-pain-stretch-yoga
“Online yoga classes relieved chronic low back pain and slashed the need for pain-relief medications, a new study shows.”
"Their pain levels really were cut in half," said Dr. Robert Saper, the study's senior author and chair of the department of Wellness and Preventive Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic.”