Is yoga good for rheumatoid arthritis?
Friday, November 20th, 2009 at
12:12 am
I have been begging my mom to go to yoga class with me because her rheumatoid arthritis is getting worse. Her hand is deformed from it. She thinks it will make it worse,but even her dr. said she needs to do yoga or she will be paying 00.00 a month for shots for her arthritis. Has anyone had a good experience with yoga?
Filed under: Alternative Medicine
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By practicing Yoga, a person with R.A. will definitely enhance the physique and life can be greatly enriched. Yoga poses help strengthen joints – crucial in preventing and dealing with arthritis. It makes joints function normally, thus reducing stiffness. With its virtue of balance, yoga helps regulate the levels of uric acid in the body. Obesity may also be avoided through its practice. Yoga can lead to an overall healthier lifestyle that can enhance resistance to other sicknesses as well.
Basic asanas which can help in dealing with arthritis:
Easy Pose: One of the classic meditative poses is usually performed after doing the Corpse Pose. Helps in straightening the spine, slowing down metabolism, promoting inner tranquility, and keeping the mind still.
Single Leg Raises:
Are performed in order to prepare the body for other exercises. Benefits the legs, lower back muscles, and abdominal area. One leg is raised while the other one stays on the floor.
Shoulder stretches: are great in relieving stress and tension in shoulders, as well as entire upper back.
Neck Exercises:
Many people hold tension in their necks and shoulders, leading to stiffness, bad posture, and tension headaches. Yoga can ease tension, increase flexibility, and tone the muscles.
These sites also have excellent info:
http://www.abc-of-yoga.com/yoga-and-health/yoga-for-arthritis.asp
http://www.arthritis.org/conditions/exercise/Yoga/default.aspwww.pioneerthinking.com/ara-yogaguide.html
http://www.hopkinsarthritis.som.jhmi.edu/mngmnt/yoga.html
If her doctor recommended yoga then obviously it is good for RA. My sister has JRA (juvenile), which does not cause deformations, but is very similar and they encourage any kind of low-impact exercises and stretches for the effected joints. Sounds like yoga would be really good for slowing the effects of this disease. However, if her deformed hand makes it impossible to do certain postions, than you should be understanding. And also, it is painful for them to stretch outside of their very limited ROM, and since difficult stretches are such an important part of yoga, she may feel very limited.
This ancient Indian practice is well known for its physical, psychological, emotional, and spiritual benefits and is often recommended in the West to relieve musculoskeletal symptoms. In one small study, men and women with RA had improved grip strength in their hands after practicing yoga for only 15 days. Women in this study showed greater improvements than men. Certain yoga "asanas" (postures) strengthen the quadriceps and emphasize stretching. People with arthritis should begin asanas slowly and they should be performed only after a warm up. Yoga is best performed under the careful guidance of a reputable instructor.
yoga will definetly help her with her artritis her doc already said it was a go therefor all that need to be done is for you to convince her that her health is important to you and that this would be good for you both check out other forms of low impact excercise maybe she wants something diff or she doesn’t know wut yoga is