Oops! And it’s gone again - chronic back pain

“Many know the feeling. You are fit, healthy, strong and flexible. Yoga is part of your life, but despite being committed to regular practice and a healthy lifestyle, there is one part of the body that seems particularly vulnerable - the back.
Yoga is increasingly seen as a way of strengthening this vulnerable area, with many doctors recommending it to their patients as conventional medicine fails to solve the problem. Back pain is now so common that it is estimated nearly five million working days are lost each year and that half a million workers report back pain.
Perhaps the acceptance of this dishabilitating and painful condition is that expensive invasive surgery is rarely prescribed. Most back pain eases within eight weeks, but will often recur.
The crippling pain and disability that accompanies bouts of back pain can affect life and work, leading to loss of employment and permanent disability. The body, out of balance, and in many cases locked in a cycle of pain and temporary remission, is unable to repair itself as the causes of the problem are never completely recognised...”

This article, written by Wendy Jacob, continues to talk about how Yoga can help relieve chronic back pain. It covers observation, discussion, and dealing with pain, and continues with some useful asanas, some of which are modified.

For those interested, the BBC website is currently (as at 10 June 2007) carrying an article on research into back pain and Yoga.
Please see http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6725967.stm.