i have nasty inflammation in most of my back and any yoga i do even carefully makes it hurt worse. what can i do? ice don’t help, heat don’t help and the only thing that does is to go to bed and do nothing and even that does not always work. cool smile

any help will be helpful, i have not done any yoga for almost 2 years and have tried to carefully do some and yikes pain again and stretching seems to make it worse.
Posted by kelly sterling-pugh on 01/21 at 01:05 PM

Hello Kelly

I am so sorry to read that you are not getting any relief.

Firstly, did you download my free ebook about back pain? It has some interesting points about bed rest and exercise. I hope it inspires you.

Secondly, would you be able to give me more information about your back pain, please?

Thirdly, I need to ask, what kind of yoga you did try? May I also ask you whether you have ever tried Hot Yoga? It would be helpful to know where you live so we might find something close, or at least give you some advice regarding poses to try.

Kind regards
Gabrielle

Posted by hennafire

Hi Gabrielle,
yes i did download the ebook and it is very good.  the back pain started 37 years ago when i had my second child.  at times it would hurt, but i could live with it.  then 5 or so years ago was in minor car accident and it hurt all the time now.  muscle relaxers help a bit but not much.  now the inflammation is all over that right side. especially that long muscle that runs along the spine.  after some time it pulls me to the right and i try to pull back to the left.  so i am not sure if it is torn muscle or what i did having the baby.  i have tried wai lana and Bikram, although at home and not in all the heat.  Bikrams makes it hurt more.  i am in fairfield iowa. don’t have much time to travel far as i am taking care of my husband who is old and bedridden now, would be helpful if there was a studio here but at least some poses would be nice to know.

thanks for all your help,
hennafire

Posted by hennafire

P.S. also Gabrielle i put a rib out of place on that same side which is also causing pain.

thanks hennafire

Hello again hennafire

Your life is full! You have brought up your family. You take care of your husband. You have put your family before yourself for a very long time.

Is it time to take care of yourself? When we do that we have more time for the ones we love.

But what can you do? (and by the way, what’s up with Iowa, no Hot Yoga studios at all! In fact, I have just spent 15 mins on the web searching for Bikram studios or even a local teacher. Not much choice and certainly nothing in the heat, I am sorry to say.)

Have you ever found someone who can relieve your pain with some massage? It seems highly unlikely that your muscles are still torn from injury 37 or 5 years ago. I assume that your back is in spasm and would welcome relief.

I would not go for deep massage originally but perhaps get a referral from your doctor for a proper body worker or sports physiotherapist. The other thoughts I had was to work with a Feldenkrais (which is gentle and restorative) or a Pilates practitioner. Swimming is also a great exercise and least one you don’t have to travel hours for!

You see, I think your body is protecting itself from creating more pain and has become misaligned. Your habitual movements over the years (which are trying to protect you) have helped maintain this misalignment.  Your new patterns of movement are now ‘comfortable’ making your condition bearable or at least manageable to some degree. You do mention in your message about trying to balance out the pull to the right with a movement to the left! This can’t be helping you functionally although body awareness is a very useful recovery tool.

When I have spoken or corresponded with students who can’t make it to a studio, I find out if it would be possible to go and have a ‘yoga holiday’ in a place where there are Bikram Yoga studios. I suggest that they go for a week and go to at least 5 classes. I suggest getting in touch with the studio first on the phone and talking with someone who can not only empathize with you and your issues but be there to guide you along. If they know you are there for a limited time then HOPEFULLY they can give you hints and tips in class that you can take home with you, ready for practice at home without a teacher. Practicing at home without some good grounding may make it difficult for you to properly self-assess correct alignment (hence the reason for the holiday).

This may be way out of the question for you. But at least I thought I would flag it. Knowing that you have attended class certainly makes discussing the poses much easier for me in this forum (but is not a prerequisite ).

Let me know your thoughts. I will be here.

Kind regards
Gabrielle

Posted by hennafire

Hi Gabrielle,
i am reading what you sent, and i am also wondering if the muscle could have stayed tight all of these years and gets tighter during movement and stress, today is busy and not much time on here so will review your post and see how it goes.

thanks for all the info you send and keep up the good work, website is nice also.

i had heard Iowa had Bikram yoga here years ago and it didn’t stay long, there is other kinds of yoga here at times.

anyway take care, more later

hennafire

Posted by hennafire

Hi Gabrielle,
finally i am back on here.  I have been reading a book called your body’s many cries for water, and i have found that drinking more water has helped reduce the pain in my back quite a bit.  The author says something about lots of pain is a cry for more water that we are dehydrated and just maybe there is something to that. i have also found that chiropractic adjustments don’t help much i have also noticed that over the years i do move differently just to keep the pain down, so i am now able to get back into yoga since the inflammation seems to be under control with drinking extra water, so time will tell if this is really working or just coinsidence. well i am off to read more of the book, take care and how is Robert holding up “under the thumb”? LOL   bye for now, hennafire

Hello Hennafire

It is great to read that you are trying different things and not just sticking with what you know (especially since ‘what you know’ may have been getting you into some physical trouble!!!).  Interesting observation regarding your chiropractic treatment. Keep an eye on that. Perhaps a different chiropractor, different treatment approach, more yoga?

Water. So important. Yoga can help you make changes to a point can’t it? But without the hydration? Everything works better. I will be interested to hear more revelations regarding your read.

If the hydration is making that much of a difference have you investigated your electrolyte levels?

Robert is nicely holed away in the office. I let him out once in a while, thanks for asking.

Warm regards
Gabrielle

Does anyone done hot yoga with chronic degenerative disc disease and a herniated disc in lumbar spine.  I’m thinking of trying it, regular yoga I can’t do a lot of the poses. So wondering if anyone has had any positive experiences with similar problems.

Thanks,
Patrick

Hi Patrick

Welcome!

Thankfully there are lots of good stories regarding the problems you mention.

We even have a few posts about hernias. I will put the links in here for you. Please feel free to ask more questions!

This pose kills my lower back
What exercises for herniated disc L5 S1
Herniated disk L5 S1

Namaste
Gabrielle