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Practiced incorrectly, yoga can be harmful. This has been corroborated by physiotherapists and orthopods. Dr Baxamusa of Chicago comments that yoga students are often given less than proper advice.
Yoga injuries are becoming more common with the increasing popularity of yoga. and in particular the prevalence of a more dynamic physical yoga. Some of the injuries are similar to those sustained in a dance setting.
We specialise in treating yoga injuries. These can be aligned to sports medicine and are akin to dance medicine. Yoga therapy helps by creating stability and alignment in a discipline which involves a lot of stretching. Libbie Nelson has many years of experience in this area and works with yogic principles and her wealth of experience.
Most commonly injured areas in yoga classes are:
- Backs – cervical, lumbar and thoracic spine
- Prolapse discs
- Sacro-iliac joint dysfunction
- Necks
- Shoulders
- Knees
- Hamstrings
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Common yoga injuries can be due to:
- Poor alignment
- Poses performed with poor weight transference
- Overly strong external adjustments
- Over-riding the body's warning signals
- Poor strength in the muscles stabilizing the joints
- Pushing beyond the limitations unsafely
- Inadequate warm up
- Poor breath co-ordination
- Inadequate or poor use of props
- A combination of these factors
How to avoid injury:
- Always be observant
- When a conditions acute, inflamed/painful, it`s wise to respect it
- Don't overload joints – stretch with care
- Be aware of what affects the condition – heat, cold, wind. etc.
- Be aware of the type of exercise to use or not use
- Work to a plan – changing some habits and reinforcing others
- Do the correct amount of exercise -too much or too little are both ineffective
- Exercise – stretch tight structures and strengthen weak ones
- Correct posture
- Treat the body, mind and emotions as a whole
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