Yoga May Help Reverse Bad Posture and Prevent Hunchback Syndrome
Concerned about developing an unflattering curvature in your spine as you get older? Many people find that they become increasingly hunched over as they get older. Even if they try to stand straight, they find themselves slumping back again after a short while.
If this describes you, you might consider wearing a posture brace throughout the day, and also taking up an exercise routine to strengthen your posture support muscles, reverse bad posture, and prevent back pain. According to one recent study, yoga might offer a way to relieve or even reverse bad posture and the early stages of hunchback, a common source of back pain.
Conducted by researchers at the University of California at Los Angeles and published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, the study aimed to determine whether yogic corrective posture exercises could reduce hyperkyphosis or kyphosis.
Kyphosis, or in common terms: hunchback, is the forward rounding of the upper back. A slight rounding is normal, but severe rounding–more than 40 to 45 degrees–is termed hyperkyphosis in medical language.
Not all people who develop hyperkyphosis appear to have a hunchback. Your back may appear normal, other than the pronounced slump. Whether you develop a hunchback or not, hyperkyphosis is a serious condition. It can occur for a variety of reasons: developmental problems, osteoporosis with vertebral compression fractures, spinal trauma, or degenerative diseases such as arthritis. Kyphosis doesn’t just prey on the elderly; it can affect otherwise healthy adults, adolescents, and even children.
While mild kyphosis may go unnoticed for years, as the condition worsens a whole slew of painful and even life-threatening symptoms sets in. Severe kyphosis often causes back pain, and it puts pressure on the lungs, strain on the nerves, and can damage tissues and other organs, causing pain and all sorts of problems.
Treatment for kyphosis will vary based on the cause of the curvature and its damaging effects.
Symptoms of kyphosis include:
- Fatigue
- Slouching posture or hunchback
- Spinal stiffness or tenderness
- Mild back pain
In the early stages or in the most mild cases, kyphosis may not produce noticeable symptoms.
Yoga Improves Bad Posture
The kyphosis study conducted by the researchers took 168 women and men age 60 and older, who had a kyphosis angle of 40° or greater. Major exclusions were made for the use of assistive device, serious medical comorbidity, inability to hear or see adequately for participation, and inability to pass a physical safety screen.
The members of the study participated in a two-group, 6-month, controlled, randomized, single-masked trial in a community research unit.
One group, the “treatment group” attended a one-hour yoga class for 3 days each week over the course of 24 weeks. The control group received regular mailings and attended a luncheon seminar each month.
At the end of the six months, the study did find a difference in the two groups. Those in the yoga-practicing treatment group experienced a 4.4% improvement in flexicurve kyphosis angle and a kyphosis index improvement of 5%, while the control group showed no improvement. However, the practicing the corrective posture exercises did not display any statistically significant improvement in Debrunner kyphometer angle measurement, physical performance measurements, or self-assessed health-related quality of life.
The study concluded that the improved results in flexicurve kyphosis angle of the yoga treatment group demonstrate that Hyperkyphosis can be treated, a significant finding on the road to developing treatments or prevention methods.
The researchers anticipate that future studies will compare the effects of yoga to other intervening methods for kyphosis and hyperkyphosis. It is possible that using longitudinally precise measures of kyphosis while focusing on individuals with more mutable spines could enhance the effects of treatment for forward head posture.
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