All About Pain Management and Yoga

by Nina

“Two components of yoga that helped eliminate the chronic pain were learning how to relax, and learning how to tune in to my body to recognize when muscle tension was contributing to pain. Rather than accepting discomfort, or powering through discomfort, or ignoring discomfort, I learned to pay attention to my body, to tune in to my body, to stop doing the things that made it hurt (duh!), to recognize tension and to practice consciously and actively letting it go.” —Ramona Pittman, yoga teacher  

Baxter’s interview with Shelly Prosko from several years made it very clear that western medicine is failing people with chronic pain. Even though there is now an understanding that just prescribing pain medications isn’t a good solution, simply withdrawing the medication without providing alternative treatments is backfiring. But, as Shelly pointed out, yoga can help address this problem!

Yoga provides several different pain reduction techniques that allow you to manage both acute and chronic pain. You can also use yoga to change your relationship to pain, influencing your pain perception, improving pain tolerance, and changing habitual ways of reacting to pain.

You can use pain management techniques for two types of yoga treatment:

1. Symptom Improvement. To reduce pain for any conditions that cause acute or chronic pain, such low back pain. May also assist in recovery, especially for acute sprains and strains.
2. Adjunct to Western Medicine. To aid in treatment of conditions that have pain as a main feature, such as fibromyalgia, arthritis, chronic headaches, and cancer recovery.

Because we’ve been writing about pain management for many years, I thought it was about time I provided you with an updated overview of the types of information we have! I found even more articles than I expected! For your convenience, I’ve divided the posts into three basic categories: background about pain, information about how yoga helps with pain, and specific how-to information on using yoga to reduce and/or manage pain.

About Pain 

Learning about pain will help you understand the difference between acute and chronic pain, and about the side effects caused by periods of chronic pain. With this background, you’ll be better able to use the tools we describe in our posts.

Understanding Pain by Nina. This post describes what pain is and discusses the difference between acute and chronic pain, which should be treated differently.

Friday Q&A: Questions for Shelly Prosko about Chronic Pain. This interview with Shelly Prosko gives more background about chronic (aka persistent pain), including the problems western medicine has treating it effectively.

How Yoga Helps with Pain 

Interview with Shari and Bonnie on Chronic Pain. This interview with Shari Ser and Bonnie Maeda, who teach workshops on chronic pain, discusses why yoga is particularly beneficial for helping people with chronic pain.

How and Why Yoga Helps with Pain by Ram. This article discusses specific scientific studies to help you understand why yoga techniques are very effective solutions for helping those with chronic pain.

Yoga for Pain Management by Baxter. This post gives Baxter’s quick overview of why yoga is effective for pain management.

How Yoga Helps with Pain by Nina. This overview synthesizes much of the information covered in the other posts in an organized overview.

Friday Q&A: Questions for Shelly Prosko about Chronic Pain by Baxter. This interview with Shelly Prosko includes a discussion of why yoga can help people with chronic pain in ways that current Western medical establishment is failing.

Interview with Shelly Prosko about “Yoga and Science in Pain Care”. This interview with physical therapist and yoga teacher Shelly Prosko is about the book about pain care that Shelly co-authored and co-edited.

Yoga, Pain Management, and Sound Therapy by Ram. This post discusses the effect of sound therapy in reducing the pain response.

Exciting News for People with Low Back Pain by Baxter. This post discusses the evidence that yoga is on equal footing with physical therapy as an adjunct treatment option for generalized (low back pain with no definitive diagnosis, such as spinal stenosis or ruptured disc, as the underlying cause) chronic low back pain.

Yoga Better than Injections for Low Back Pain by Baxter. This post discusses more evidence about the effectiveness of yoga for low back pain and recommends some resources.

How to Use Yoga to Reduce and/or Manage Pain

Techniques for Using Yoga for Pain Management by Nina. This overview lists all the specific techniques we recommend you use for managing chronic pain.

Changing Your Relationship to Pain by Nina. This post recommends specific yoga techniques you can use to change your relationship to chronic pain, as fear and other negative feelings about pain can actually worsen the pain.

Practicing with Pain by Nina. This provides Nina’s advice about cultivating contentment while experiencing pain during yoga practice.

Pain Management Sequence by Baxter. This sequence combines gentle poses to improve strength, flexibility, and overall movement of the body without triggering pain with poses that allow your body to rest and repair itself. The final five supported and restorative poses reduce stress levels, which can help reduce pain, and move you into the Rest and Digest state, which bolsters both healing and immune system function.

Relieving Pain Mindfully by Ram. This post discusses the benefits of using mindfulness techniques for pain management, with scientific background.

The Pain of Pain: The Second Arrow by Jill Satterfield. This post, by a teacher who lived with chronic pain for years, discusses her approach to pain management.

Acute Orthopedic Injuries by Shari. This post has recommendations for how you help reduce acute pain that is the result of an injury.

Guidebook and Teacher Training Manual for Boston Medical Center Program for Back Pain by Nina. This post provides information about and a link to a wonderful guidebook used in a successful study on yoga for back pain that is useful for students and teachers alike.

Overcoming Sacroiliac Joint Pain by Ram. This post provides background about what causes SI joint pain and describes how Ram used yoga to heal from his injury.

Friday Q&A: Jaw Pain by Cator Shachoy. In this post, a yoga teacher and jaw pain expert shares her tips.

Elbow Pain and Yoga by Baxter.This post provides information specifically about using yoga to manage elbow pain.

Friday Q&A: Pain After Knee Replacement by Baxter. This post provides tips for dealing with pain specifically after knee replacement.

Friday Q&A: Neck Pain and Fear by Baxter. This post addresses neck pain and the fear that can arise as a result.

A Literal Pain in the Neck by Baxter. This post provides background about why the neck is so vulnerable to pain and provides some background about how yoga can help.

Neck Muscle Strain and Spasm (Part 2 on Neck Pain) by Baxter. This post discusses the causes of neck pain and how yoga can help.

Tax Prep Neck: (Neck Pain Part 3)by Baxter. This post contains a sequence to relieve temporary neck pain.

Case Study: Yoga and Pain Management by Baxter. This post describes how Baxter helped a student of his with her neck pain.

Yoga for Foot Pain by Baxter. This post provides Baxter’s advice for a reader who is suffering from foot pain.

Friday Q&A: Painful Shoulder by Shari. This post provides Shari Ser’s advice for a reader who is suffering from shoulder pain.

Rectal Pain and Yoga by Baxter. This post provides Baxter’s advice for a reader who is suffering from a type of rectal pain.

Friday Q&A: Hip Pain from Dysplasia by Baxter. This post provides advice to a reader who is suffering from hip pain.

Friday Q&A: Rotator Cuff Pain by Baxter and Shari. This post provides Baxter’s and Shari’s advice for a reader who is suffering from rotator cuff pain.

 

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