Research In Yoga

Review and excerpts from Article “Yoga: Can it be Integrated with Treatment of Neuropathic Pain?” Source: Integrative Medicine International Journal Integr Med Int 2017; 4: 69 -84

- Shirley Telles

Neuropathic Pain (NP) is a debilitating condition that could result from Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) caused by damaged or dysfunctional nerve fibers sending aberrant signals to pain centers in the central nervous system causing severe pain that affects daily life and routine. The mechanisms underlying NP are not fully understood making treatment difficult. This review aims to discuss the implications of the mechanistic applications of yoga that can be tested and the practice of yoga can become a part of integrative treatment for NP. Long term suffering in pain is found to cause anxiety and depression leading to lowered cognitive functioning. Although there are pharmacological solutions to the management of pain, the long term usage, side effects, and prohibitive costs makes one seek out other modalities such as mind-body therapies including yoga, meditation, and cognitive behavior therapy. Yoga is a combination of physical and mental practices to create a sense of well-being hence acting as a preventive measure to facilitate the patient’s psychological healing process. It is believed to stimulate neural pathways and neurotransmitters. The systematic practice of Asana, Pranayama and meditation is expected to not only assist in relaxation and pain relief; there are speculations that it can act as a healing tool in the regeneration of nerve fibers in SCI patients. Studies have proved that modified Asana practice specifically for chronic lower back pain have relieved patients due to resultant better balance and flexibility. These indicate the potential role yoga could play in the manageme