Yoga has along list of health benefits. They include greater flexibility, stronger muscles, better posture, balance, reduced emotional and physical stress, and self-esteem. Yoga and its many forward folds have to be eliminated for the osteoporosis crowd. However, the rotational poses actually increase bone density as I will explain.
Dr. Loren Fishman, a physiatrist at Columbia University in rehabilitative medicine has been gathering evidence on yoga and bone health. And his aim was to determine whether yoga might be an effective therapy for osteoporosis. But the idea that yoga helps bone density is not widely accepted in the medical community. Knowing more than 700,000 spinal fractures and more than 300,000 hip fractures occur annually in the United States, Dr. Fishman hoped that this low-cost and less dangerous alternative to bone-loss drugs is worth pursuing.
Medication As An Intervention
Bone-loss medications can produce adverse side effects like gastrointestinal distress and fractures of the femur. Indeed, a study published in “Clinical Interventions in Aging” found that among 126,188 women found to have osteoporosis, all of whom had Medicare Part D drug coverage, only 28 percent started bone drug therapy within a year of diagnosis. But most people do know that the prescribed medications come with complicating factors and risks.
Dr. Fishman and colleagues wrote recently, yoga’s “side effects”, “include better posture, improved balance, enhanced coordination, greater range of motion, higher strength, reduced levels of anxiety and better gait.” How does yoga work to increase bone density? “Yoga puts more pressure on bone than gravity does,” he said in an interview. And “By opposing one group of muscles against another, it stimulates osteocytes, the bone-making cells.”
Here’s What’s Involved
The 12 poses, by their English names, that were shown to help the most were tree, triangle, warrior II, side-angle, twisted triangle, locust, bridge, supine hand-to-foot I, supine hand-to-foot II, straight-legged twist, bent-knee twist and corpse pose. Each pose was held for 30 seconds. The daily regimen, once learned, took 12 minutes to complete. However, Dr. Fishman does advocate that if you don’t learn to do these correctly and with modifications you can hurt yourself. It is very important to learn these poses with corrections from a qualified instructor. If you choose to try to do them without instruction they may not be effective or worse, injure yourself.
“Yoga looks like it’s safe, even for people who have suffered significant bone loss,” Dr Fishman said in an interview. Additionally, “improvements in posture and balance that can accrue from the practice of yoga can be protective”. “Spinal fractures can result from poor posture, and there’s no medication for that, but yoga is helpful”. In addition, yoga is good for range of motion, strength, coordination and reduced anxiety, all of which contribute to the ability to stay upright and not fall. If you don’t fall, you greatly reduce your risk of a serious fracture. We will be offering yoga for osteoporosis all built around these 12 poses known to increase bone density and improve balance and posture! Please contact us at info@penrosept.com if you want to join us.
Claim Your Free Report!
You can also request our free osteoporosis report by calling us at (360) 456-1444 or by clicking HERE to download it
where you can download it instantly. The report, titled
“7 Ways To Prevent Fractures If You Have ‘Soft Bones’ – How To Stop Shrinking By Improving Posture, And Decrease That Rounded Upper Back!”
details the 7 tips to live by if you have soft bones, as well as 3 simple things you can do to help ease the stress on the soft bones. Don’t delay your future of activity and healthy bones! Get your report today and let us know if you’re interested in our yoga classes for osteoporosis!
Don’t Forget Out Podcasts!
Dr. Jennifer Penrose hosts a unique show this month. The topic? Opiates and their pain management alternatives. Every day we lose more than 120 people to opiates and that number isn’t substantially changing.This episode talks about some of the risks of opiates but more importantly what other avenues you can take for pain management. Ever heard of electrical stimulation for pain? No? Give this episode a listen. Dr. Penrose also talks about what role physical therapists play in the world of pain management using holistic, personalized approaches that aren’t cookie-cutter. Also in this episode, what the facts behind CBD are. It gets a bad wrap but that’s changing. Let’s clear some of that bad air out and see what it can really do to help you.
iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/stay-healthy-south-sound/id1460144640
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3feMt6PJtvtDBcpqPV8xXcNow
On Our Website: http://penrosept.com/stay-healthy-south-sound-podcast/#sthash.qIwYQCjE.dpbs
