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Yoga is not recommended for people with lower back pain. When I started having back pain, somebody suggested to me yoga. Everything went great for three months,

Yoga is not recommended for people with lower back pain. When I started having back pain, somebody suggested to me yoga. Everything went great for three months, the pain was still there but lesser , and I felt good and fit. Then one day, while doing surya namaskar, I felt a pain ripping through my spine and fell down, unable to move. I consulted an M.D , and he immediately asked me if I had been doing surya namaskar. Tldr; yoga is great , but not for all.

rsync 9y ago
"Then one day, while doing surya namaskar, I felt a pain ripping through my spine and fell down, unable to move. I consulted an M.D , and he immediately asked me if I had been doing surya namaskar." This is important. Yoga is very powerful and I think everyone should incorporate yoga movements into their fitness regime. However, typical yoga classes and even established yoga movement series (like the Ashtonga primary series) are heavily weighted towards forward folding/bending which is the last thing you want to do with a weak/injured back. This doesn't mean you shouldn't do yoga - it means that you should understand the physiology of a bulging/blow disc and build up your strength (perhaps with other yoga exercises/poses) to the point that you are strong enough to do that forward folding ... and even then maintain caution and moderation. With a fully rehabbed/asymptomatic L4/L5 I am doing heavy freeweight squats and deadlifts and even inverting during BJJ - but I would still be cautious and even modify portions of a typical yoga class ...
- zacurry 9y ago
  I fully agree with you. I had never felt as good as I had while I was doing yoga. The problem is , most yoga practitioners (atleast the ones I consulted in india) consider it like some sort of magical cure for everything. I was asked to do surya namaskar , despite them knowing I had back pain . I went to one of the most reputed centres here, and all I got from them were pseudo science mumbo jumbo. I have got much more valuable info from this HN thread. Thank you for sharing for you experience. Your story has given me hope , I feel motivated to learn more about backpain and find a solution tailored for me. I also feel this sort of information (personal stories of knowledgeable people) should be more easily accessible for people.A non profit , trust worthy website like Wikipedia, or even a github wiki.
flash42 9y ago
I really like this HN thread. It is a wonderful series of coming outs! I want to reply on all comments here and ask and ask and ask. But this post is most relevant, because I started doing surya namaskar on my non-training days, and in general when I only an hour or so to move my body a bit. Do you remember the exact conditions when you fell down (movement, which part of the day, what did you do before, etc). Have you been practicing yoga alone or with a teacher, group? Did you went in and try figuring out what caused your pain? Are you on track with it now? If yes, what has changed? Will you go back to your Yoga practice or you feel that it is dangerous for you? Thanks!
- zacurry 9y ago
  One year back, I started having back pain. I could not sit for more than 45 minutes. I had tripped over the steps some months back and I was thinking it must be because of that.I went to a Dr and took an x-ray. The diagnosis was that it had nothing to do with the fall , an everything to do with my long working hours. The doctor also advised strengthening my core . He referred me to a physiotherapist , and after 1 month of regular therapy I could now sit for around 3 hours before light pain would start. I felt ready to start exercising and zeroed in on yoga. I started practicing with a group of people , led by an instructor. It was very intensive (hatha yoga) and most exercises involved stretching your arms and touching your feet.Other exercises like the bow pose, crow pose and head stand was also there. Sometimes, while I was sitting and touching my foot, the instructor would use his body weight to push my spine down from behind so that my stomach touched my knees. This may be the reason , but am not sure. So, after 3 months of this , I felt better and fitter than ever before and joined another yoga studio near to my home. Here, the poses were not as tough as the other place, but was done considerably faster. 1 month after joining there, I am bending down to touch my knees , and lightning strikes.I couldn't walk and was bedridden for a week. The time must have been around 7 pm. I went after work and did some warm ups as usual. Coming to the reasons, I can think two things : the instructor exerting his force on my spine and the faster pace of the exercising. This is onle conjecture though. Right now ,after some months of physical therapy and no other exercise, I have no pain while sitting. I certainly plan to go back to my yoga practice. However , before I do I need to get some expert advice and some tests done. I hope this answered all your questions! Edit:just to be clear, the two reasons I stated are in addition to the main point I made, that some yoga poses are not safe for everyone.

rsync 9y ago

"Then one day, while doing surya namaskar, I felt a pain ripping through my spine and fell down, unable to move. I consulted an M.D , and he immediately asked me if I had been doing surya namaskar." This is important. Yoga is very powerful and I think everyone should incorporate yoga movements into their fitness regime. However, typical yoga classes and even established yoga movement series (like the Ashtonga primary series) are heavily weighted towards forward folding/bending which is the last thing you want to do with a weak/injured back. This doesn't mean you shouldn't do yoga - it means that you should understand the physiology of a bulging/blow disc and build up your strength (perhaps with other yoga exercises/poses) to the point that you are strong enough to do that forward folding ... and even then maintain caution and moderation. With a fully rehabbed/asymptomatic L4/L5 I am doing heavy freeweight squats and deadlifts and even inverting during BJJ - but I would still be cautious and even modify portions of a typical yoga class ...

zacurry 9y ago
I fully agree with you. I had never felt as good as I had while I was doing yoga. The problem is , most yoga practitioners (atleast the ones I consulted in india) consider it like some sort of magical cure for everything. I was asked to do surya namaskar , despite them knowing I had back pain . I went to one of the most reputed centres here, and all I got from them were pseudo science mumbo jumbo. I have got much more valuable info from this HN thread. Thank you for sharing for you experience. Your story has given me hope , I feel motivated to learn more about backpain and find a solution tailored for me. I also feel this sort of information (personal stories of knowledgeable people) should be more easily accessible for people.A non profit , trust worthy website like Wikipedia, or even a github wiki.

flash42 9y ago

I really like this HN thread. It is a wonderful series of coming outs! I want to reply on all comments here and ask and ask and ask. But this post is most relevant, because I started doing surya namaskar on my non-training days, and in general when I only an hour or so to move my body a bit. Do you remember the exact conditions when you fell down (movement, which part of the day, what did you do before, etc). Have you been practicing yoga alone or with a teacher, group? Did you went in and try figuring out what caused your pain? Are you on track with it now? If yes, what has changed? Will you go back to your Yoga practice or you feel that it is dangerous for you? Thanks!

zacurry 9y ago
One year back, I started having back pain. I could not sit for more than 45 minutes. I had tripped over the steps some months back and I was thinking it must be because of that.I went to a Dr and took an x-ray. The diagnosis was that it had nothing to do with the fall , an everything to do with my long working hours. The doctor also advised strengthening my core . He referred me to a physiotherapist , and after 1 month of regular therapy I could now sit for around 3 hours before light pain would start. I felt ready to start exercising and zeroed in on yoga. I started practicing with a group of people , led by an instructor. It was very intensive (hatha yoga) and most exercises involved stretching your arms and touching your feet.Other exercises like the bow pose, crow pose and head stand was also there. Sometimes, while I was sitting and touching my foot, the instructor would use his body weight to push my spine down from behind so that my stomach touched my knees. This may be the reason , but am not sure. So, after 3 months of this , I felt better and fitter than ever before and joined another yoga studio near to my home. Here, the poses were not as tough as the other place, but was done considerably faster. 1 month after joining there, I am bending down to touch my knees , and lightning strikes.I couldn't walk and was bedridden for a week. The time must have been around 7 pm. I went after work and did some warm ups as usual. Coming to the reasons, I can think two things : the instructor exerting his force on my spine and the faster pace of the exercising. This is onle conjecture though. Right now ,after some months of physical therapy and no other exercise, I have no pain while sitting. I certainly plan to go back to my yoga practice. However , before I do I need to get some expert advice and some tests done. I hope this answered all your questions! Edit:just to be clear, the two reasons I stated are in addition to the main point I made, that some yoga poses are not safe for everyone.