Taking yoga classes reduces the symptoms of chronic back pain , according to the largest study on the practice of this activity carried out so far in the United States and published in the Archives of Internal Medicine .
According to the authors, their experiments reveal that the patients' back functionality improved after 12 weeks of practice, in addition to reducing the intensity of pain, so that the subjects needed to consume less pain relievers . The researchers found that the benefits are similar to those of stretching .
"The clearest interpretation of our findings is that the improvements that yoga produces in the back are mainly due to physical causes, that is, stretching and strengthening the muscles, which is what it has in common with stretching exercises. "says Karen J. Sherman, a co-author of the study.
