Conventional physiotherapy with yoga speeds healing

The recent International Yoga Day brought back focus to an ancient practice that has truly been a gift from our ancestors. The word ‘yoga’ means ‘which brings you to reality’. The practice of yoga includes breath control, meditation, and practice of specific postures or asanas for better health and relaxation.

My sister is a yoga teacher and advocates a holistic lifestyle, and as a result all of us at home are now more aware of the practice. During my medical practice as an orthopedic specialist, I see that today most ailments are lifestyle-related, and calming both the body and mind in one go is critical. Yoga accomplishes that.

A lot of patients who spend hours in front of computers or digital screens come for consultation with upper back and neck pain. Very often, just a fish pose (Matsyasana) or the bow pose (Dhanurasan) if practiced correctly and regularly will ease their chronic pain. However, it is important that yoga is supervised, as practice without guidance may result in injuries. The intensity of the practice, too, should be increased only with proper supervision and under guidance.

Physiotherapy also has its basics steeped in yoga and has much in common with this ancient practice. A patient with a case of adhesive capsulitis (frozen shoulder) approached us in the phase of complete stiffness. He was advised appropriate exercises which were a blend of both physiotherapy and yoga. Surprisingly, he responded faster to conventional physiotherapy because of the accompanying yoga practice which allowed him to return to optimal function faster.

Keeping this in mind, many hospitals have now made it a practice to include yoga as a part of their offering. At our hospital, a yoga specialist works with all our patients as we have found the practice of Yoga Nidra helps calm them and relieves their stress, especially before an important surgery. The yoga practitioner also takes classes for the hospital staff to ensure that the support medical staff and the doctors can manage their highs and lows of a busy day, along with the rush of adrenaline due to emergencies, as it’s a practice that has worked wonders.

(The writer is an Arthroscopy Specialist and Sports Injury Surgeon at Jehangir Hospital, Pune)

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