Text version of Yoga as a Complementary Health Approach
Yoga Is One of the Top 10 Complementary Health Approaches
More than 13 million adults in the U.S. practiced yoga in the previous year.1
Yoga use increased from 5.1% to 6.1% between 2002 and 2007.1
Why People Practice Yoga2
58% do it to maintain health and well-being
16% use it to treat specific medical conditions
10.5% use it for musculoskeletal conditions
Of those who used yoga for specific conditions, 22% said their doctor recommended it
Back pain is the number one reason people use complementary health practices3
Yoga’s Impact on Low-Back Pain
Back pain is the number one reason people use complementary health practices. Studies found people practicing yoga who experience low-back pain had:
- Significantly less disability, pain, and depression after 6 months than patients in standard care.4
- More pain relief than from a self-care book.5
- Better function than usual medical care.6
Practice Yoga Safely
Follow these tips to minimize your risk of injury:
- Talk to your care provider
- Find a trained and experienced yoga practitioner
- Adapt poses to your individual needs and abilities
September 2013
To learn more, visit nccam.nih.gov
Back to Full Infographic: Yoga as a Complementary Health Approach
1 http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nhsr/nhsr012.pdf (299KB PDF)
2 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2533368/
3 http://thelancet.com/themed/global-burden-of-disease
4 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19701112
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