Yoga & Chronic pain?

For someone dealing with chronic pain there comes a level of stress. Since stress can amplify the effects of the pain doctors do their best to help patients work through all the problems the patient is having so that they can be as comfortable as possible.

That means working with not only stress but depression that also comes along with chronic pain. The depression can also come from many sources and if not treated it too will have some effects on the level and duration of the pain. Fortunately for the depression there are medications as well as counseling that can help.

For the stress there are some who will use an anti-anxiety medication¹ to help control it but what really needs to be done is the person must learn stress management. Of course that is easier said then done for people with chronic pain. While the chronic pain can be dealt with on a day to day basis the fact that it is there causes the stress. Very much a vicious circle.

While I am not an advocate of alternative methods when it comes to working with issues such as stress, they have been proven to work for some people. There are several methods of stress management but the one that has popped up most in my searching for those methods is Yoga. The fact that it generally requires nothing more then a clear space on the floor in a quiet area is probably what makes it enticing. Local libraries would have instructional books on how to perform it, making this a very cheap way of working with the stress.

Not only does stress have an effect on chronic pain, it can cause symptoms of it's own such as headaches. For some people those headaches can be intolerable, causing spells of disorientation, vomiting and possibly periods of unconsciousness.

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THE PRACTICE OF YOGA HAS BEEN credited with everything from reversing heart disease to alleviating the symptoms of menopause. Now researchers say the ancient Hindu practice may ease chronic pain.

"People suffering from chronic pain go through more than just the pain itself," explains Sonia D. Gaur of Harbor-UCLA Medical Center's department of psychology."They contend with anxiety and depression as well as medication usage. Our study found improvement in every area"

Gaur's study, presented at the American Psychiatric Association's annual meeting, recruited 18 volunteers suffering from chronic pain from ailments such as migraines and osteoarthritis. The volunteers participated in 90-minute yoga sessions three times a week for four weeks; they combined meditative breathing exercises known as pranayam with different yoga poses. The poses were designed to release physical tension.

To measure the effect that the yoga sessions had on the volunteers' pain, Gaur asked them to rate their moods and the severity of their pain at the end of each week. Most volunteers reported that their pain decreased enough to ask their physicians to decrease their medication. Although no one knows the exact mechanism by which yoga works to relieve pain, Gaur says what is more important is its effectiveness. "Some people live with chronic pain their whole lives," Gaur says. "Yoga is another way of coping with these ailment?

¹- Anti-anxiety medications are generally limited to short term use as they tend to cause drowsiness and lethargy as well the patient can develop a dependency on the medication.