Controversy
A small percentage of yoga practitioners each year suffer physical injuries analogous to sports injuries. In regard to the practice of yoga itself, especially hatha (physically active) yoga, there are controversies over the legitimacy of "prescribing" yoga for individuals afflicted with particular conditions due to the risk of injury associated with the practice. There have been reports of yoga-related injuries and this is one reason why the practice of yoga as alternative therapy is questioned. These include carotid artery tears, bulging intervertebral discs, rotator cuff injuries, ganglion cysts, compression of the spine (vertebral column), vertebral artery dissection, and hyperextension of the neck. According to Gary Kraftsow, author of Yoga for Transformation, many asanas aren't suitable for everyone. Orthopedic surgeon Jeffrey Halbrecht, medical director for the Institute for Arthroscopy and Sports Medicine in San Francisco, warns that both experienced and novice yoga practitioners can experience injuries. "Yoga is marketed as such an innocuous thing," says Loren Fishman, assistant clinical professor of rehabilitation medicine at Columbia University in New York City. "But without care, injuries can absolutely happen." 'Strenuous' yoga has been connected to a form of stroke in young women. Practice of yoga has also been linked to causing hyperextension or rotation of the neck, which may be a precipitating factor in cervical artery dissection.
While much of the medical community views the results of yoga research to be significant, others argue that there were many flaws that undermine results. Much of the research on yoga has been in the form of preliminary studies or clinical trials of low methodological quality, including small sample sizes, inadequate blinding, lack of randomization, and high risk of bias. As of 2011, evidence suggests that yoga may be at least as effective at improving health outcomes as other forms of mild physical exercise when added to standard care. What is found most concerning regarding the legitimacy of yoga as a method of healing is the current lack of specificity and standardization regarding the practice of yoga. One recent study examined the difficulties of implementing yoga-based therapies and methods of healing without any detailed, standardized and vetted descriptions of the asanas promoted as being beneficial for healing. This research calls for the creation of supported intervention practices that could be distributed and applied for use in clinical practice for patients.
Read more about this topic: Yoga As Exercise Or Alternative Medicine
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