Yoga for lumbar osteochondrosis: complexes and sequences

Main causes of pathology

Recently, diseases of the spinal column have been reported more and more often in relatively young people. The risk group includes men and women after the age of thirty. The condition is preceded by systematic improper use of the spine, associated with physical inactivity and impaired metabolism.

Plow pose

Downward facing dog

Cat pose

Causes of osteochondrosis affecting the sacral spine:

violation of posture, in which the center of load on the spinal column shifts. At the same time, the distance between the vertebrae increases or decreases, the cartilage tissue, which serves as protection against damage to the vertebral areas, is erased;
abnormal metabolic processes causing the deposition of mineral salts in the intervertebral discs. The pathology is provoked by inappropriate nutrition;
systematic physical activity on the lumbar region, which is not protected by a sufficiently strong muscle corset;
predisposition to the disease can be transmitted genetically;
consequences of past infectious diseases that weaken the body as a whole.

Effective exercises

Physical exercises should be done exclusively outside the exacerbation phase; only in the absence of pain is it possible to begin them gradually. You can't force physical. loads, deliberately increasing the pace, duration, and number of approaches. They must be dosed, feasible, performed calmly and smoothly, and not provoke a painful syndrome. The wrong approach can make you feel worse.

Goal setting: muscle development

It has been established that normal muscle tension is the leading factor in resisting pathological changes in the spinal motion segment and protecting against injury. A lot depends on the condition of the muscles. Musculo-ligamentous dysfunction negatively affects flexion/extension, turns, rotation of the back, stability of the correct position of the spinal axis and the nutrition of the intervertebral discs.

The primary task is to strengthen, normalize tone, and increase the endurance of muscle structures. The main therapeutic measures are aimed at restoring the deep layers of the muscles of the back and abdomen. And the correct body position for performing exercise therapy is of great importance, so as not to overload the patient level.

What does gymnastics give?

Conducted under the guidance of a competent yoga instructor, yoga therapy can completely restore the lumbosacral spine:

joints and ligaments, which are responsible for maintaining the spine in normal condition, are significantly strengthened;
yoga helps reduce pain;
systematic exercises help remove toxins from the body and cleanse the spine of excess salt deposits;
increases the elasticity and flexibility of the muscle corset, which supports the correct position of the spinal column;
prevents pinching of nerve endings and blood vessels between discs, improves blood circulation in the affected organ;
promotes the production of the required volume of interarticular fluid to protect joints from mechanical damage.

Yoga for osteochondrosis of the lumbar spine is available to all age categories of people who want to improve the general condition of the body and remove lumbar pathology. Therapy should be applied comprehensively, combining the efforts of doctors and the patient himself.

The importance of exercise

Thematic sites post video exercises, visual illustrations, and advice from Sergei Bubnovsky and his colleagues. All this, of course, is wonderful, but remember one thing: we are not all the same! Even the same disease in each individual person has its own cause of development, nature of the course, location, severity, etc.

With a hernia like the one in the picture, gymnastics will not help.

Therefore, a therapeutic and prophylactic set of exercises, intensity, frequency and duration of loads should be developed by your attending physician together with a physical therapy instructor. A kind of exercise is a simple remedy for Schmorl’s hernia of the lumbar region, dorsal, foraminal, diffuse form. But only the right gymnastics will allow you to:

reduce pressure in the area of the hernial protrusion, and the pathological effect on the nervous structures, spinal canal and vertebrae will be reduced;
activate blood circulation, eliminate and prevent congestion and inflammation in the weak part of the spine and other segments;
improve local metabolism and nutrition of intervertebral discs and joints, thereby stopping or significantly slowing down the progression;
distribute the load evenly across departments, while safely strengthening the affected area;
restore the previous mobility and flexibility of the spinal column;
strengthen the muscular-ligamentous apparatus of the back, normalize muscle tone;
prevent the appearance of pain, achieve stable remission of the pathology, perhaps even its regression;
if surgery was performed, quickly recover and return to a normal rhythm of life, prevent relapse of the disease;
restore psycho-emotional comfort, establish healthy sleep.

First, perform strictly under the supervision of a rehabilitation trainer. You can practice calmly at home later, when you have mastered the technique perfectly. There are a number of movements that are strictly forbidden to do with a lumbar disc herniation. They will be discussed in our article.

Preparation for yoga classes

Treatment brings a healing effect if yoga for lumbar osteochondrosis is used regularly, at least twice a week. It is recommended to gradually complicate the gymnastic complex, ensuring proper breathing. You need to inhale through your nose and exhale through your mouth. In this case, the inhalation should be short and the exhalation should be long, holding your breath for 30-60 seconds. A person’s thoughts should be directed towards improving his health, and not perform movements thoughtlessly and automatically.

Mountain pose

Cobra pose

Dog pose

At the same time, it is recommended to change your lifestyle, adjust your diet, trying to eat healthy foods according to your schedule. It is advisable to understand that yoga therapy is hard work, which only with maximum effort brings success and healing.

For lumbar osteochondrosis, it is recommended to perform asanas, ranging from the simplest to the most complex. It is not recommended to select poses on your own; it is better to use the services of an instructor who can assess the patient’s physical fitness and select the most suitable exercises individually. Yoga therapy cannot be rushed: every movement must be done consciously, mentally imagining the expected result.

Gymnastics is not based on mechanical repetitions of movements, but on their smooth, meaningful execution. In each pose you need to stay for several minutes, tensing absolutely all the muscles of the body as much as possible.

Classes should be carried out 2-3 hours after eating or after maintaining the same period until it is absorbed. It is not recommended to be treated less than 2 hours before bedtime.

Beginners are recommended to repeat the movements 2-3 times, gradually complicating the asanas and increasing the frequency of their repetition. It is necessary to constantly alternate the load with rest and complete relaxation.

Treatment with gymnastics

Yoga poses for lumbar osteochondrosis

Set of exercises:

"Downward facing dog." Get on your knees with emphasis on your hands. Slowly lift your pelvis up, while simultaneously straightening your knees until a straight line is formed. Push the heels of your feet and hands, forming an angle with your body turned upside down. Stay in the pose for 30-90 seconds, holding your breath. Slowly return to the starting position.
"Cobra". Lie on your stomach with your legs together. Hands should be placed at chest level, palms down. Bend your lower back as much as possible, supporting your upper body with your arms bent at the elbows. Press the groin area firmly to the floor. The head should be thrown back. Stay in the pose for 1 minute. Then repeat the exercise, fixing the position of the body with turning the head first in one direction and then in the other. In this case, you must try to see the opposite heel.
"Mountain". Stand up straight with your feet parallel to each other. Bend forward as you exhale, trying to touch the floor with your fingers. Freeze in position, holding your breath for 1 minute.
"Cat". Alternate between maximum arching in the lower back and throwing your head back with arching your back upward, like a hump. At the same time, you should try to press your forehead to your chest. At the peak of each movement, it is recommended to hold for 1 minute, exhaling as much air as possible.
"Plow". Lying on your back, you need to slowly raise your legs, straightened at the knees, gradually throwing them behind your head. In the final pose, freeze for 1 minute, exhaling completely.
"Camel". Starting position, sitting on your heels. It is recommended to grab your toes with your hand and begin to arch in the lower back, while simultaneously lifting your pelvis up. At the maximum point, you need to freeze for a few seconds, holding your breath while exhaling completely.

It is advisable to do the exercises at a slow pace, observing the process yourself. If you feel tired or have unpleasant pain, it is better to stop exercising and contact an instructor.

What is usually associated with back pain?

There can be more than 15 causes of back pain, but the most common is pathology of the musculoskeletal system, most often a sprain of the ligamentous-muscular component. The pain can be both acute and chronic. Here it is necessary to warn our readers against active activities during the acute period. Yoga can only be effective if the pain syndrome subsides to some extent; moreover, during the acute period, incorrect and uncontrolled use of certain exercises can only cause harm. Other causes of lower back pain include: irritation and inflammation of the intercostal or lumbar nerves (radiculitis or radiculopathy), pinching of the nerve by an intervertebral hernia, impact on the surrounding tissues and the vertebrae directly by bone outgrowths (spurs), various osteoarticular pathologies (fibromyalgia, osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, spinal stenosis, ankylosing spondylitis and others). A certain problem with the spine can be caused by pregnancy, in which, due to excess body weight and relative immobility, compression of the spinal nerves and curvature of the spine is possible.

In order to relieve pain, almost any of these conditions requires unloading and stretching of the spine, and creating optimal conditions for pain to subside.

Contraindications

Yoga for lumbar osteochondrosis is strictly contraindicated in the following cases:

acute period of the disease, characterized by intense pain;
the presence of malignant tumors in the body;
increased body temperature;
cleansing period after childbirth;
recovery of the body after surgery;
pathological disorders of the functioning of human internal organs.

Therapy with the help of gymnastic exercises in such cases should be carried out only with the permission of the attending physician and under his direct supervision.

Yoga for the sacral spine is designed to alleviate a person’s condition with osteochondrosis and stop the progression of the disease. In the initial stage, the pathology can be successfully treated only with gymnastic methods, without the use of medications. However, we must remember that consultation with a doctor is necessary to avoid complications of the disease.

Prohibited exercises for lumbar disc herniation

“Clean” vertical hanging and pull-ups on the bar. Since the spine will experience a significant load of body weight, due to the weakness of the ligamentous apparatus, pathological stretching may occur, which will have the opposite effect.
Work with additional weight on the lower limbs and lower torso. Lifting weights with your legs, pressing limbs against resistance, squats and bends with dumbbells, kettlebells, or lifting heavy equipment from the floor with your hands. The danger lies in overstraining the spinal and abdominal muscles and increasing compression in the lumbosacral region.
Torso twisting. To put it simply, it is forbidden to pump the press in any way. When performing a crunch, the lumbar region is critically overworked in your case. Moreover, twisting can displace the hernia and cause pinched nerves and compression of the spinal canal.
Run, jump. You should avoid all situations where you need to run, jump or jump from some elevated object. Fast walking is also not recommended. The listed types of activity reduce the depreciation resource of the intervertebral discs, and, therefore, are fraught with aggravation of their morphological condition and the appearance of pain.

It is worth warning you against trying to do swings with the lower limbs, “mill” with the arms, all kinds of lunges on one leg, deep bends of the body down and to the sides from a standing position, circular rotations at the waist.