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Chronic
Injury and Yoga Rehabilitation
by
Sam Dworkis
founder of www.extensionyoga.com
Because
many of us were brought up believing in the saying “no pain, no gain,”
most of us, at some time or another, will experience a yoga injury. After
all, when we were in school, our coaches and peers encouraged, and often
demanded, that we give our athletic pursuits our very best effort, even
when injured.
Many
of us have transferred that concept right into our yoga practice. In
addition, there are many approaches to yoga whose teachers encourage their
students to “push their edges.”
Yet,
even if we practice non aggressive yoga, it is normal that muscle soreness
will follow; for it is simply the natural breaking down of muscle tissue
and its rebuilding that promotes strength and flexibility, and enhances
performance.
However,
there is a point where pushing ourselves goes beyond normal enhanced
performance and enters the realm of chronic injury. There is a clear difference between “day after pain” following
a hard asana practice versus acute pain following an injury. Specifically,
‘’day after pain’’ usually diminishes in a day or two. However, if
pain persists, you might have a condition where tissue has been so
traumatized that it is replaced by scar tissue. Then mobility decreases
and pain increases which is, thankfully, responsive to rehabilitative
yoga.
Injuries
are supposed to be painful, because pain is the body’s way of telling
you there is a problem that needs to be addressed. Ignoring this message
often creates chronic injury, which becomes more common as we age. Trying
to work through pain often exacerbates what might have been a minor injury
and often creates additional unwanted fascia adhesions (scarring) along
with stressed and atrophied soft tissue.
When
chronically injured, many structures away from a primary injury also
become affected; including surrounding muscles, tendons, ligaments, joint
capsules, and especially, the fascia, which when chronically
contracted, becomes a primary cause of chronic overall pain, weakness, and
loss of flexibility.
When
applied to the healing process, yoga therapy is a non-painful and an
extremely effective rehabilitative tool. When appropriately practiced, it
works on the level of fascia, which serves to rebuild strength and
endurance, and to restore and maintain flexibility; both during and after
the therapeutic process.
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