Practice yoga with caution, says study after witnessing rise in injuries

The number of people with serious Yoga-related injuries are on the rise, according to an Australian study that warns people to practice yogic poses with caution.

Researchers from Central Queensland University in Australia analysed all yoga injuries presented at emergency departments between 2009 and 2016 in Victoria.

They found that Yoga-related injuries that were serious enough to land people in local emergency department rose by almost 80 per cent during that time and ranged mainly from knee injuries, shoulder dislocations to head and neck injuries.

The enormous increase in yoga injuries could not be explained by a rise in participation rates, which were only 5.5 per cent in the same period, researchers said.

"I think people know the correct technique, but they might be pushing themselves too early, especially if you look into the influencers on social media," said Betul Sekendiz of Central Queensland University.

"There is a high focus on pictures to attract likes, so people may be pushing themselves without enough preparation or warm up to get into those poses just for the sake of a picture," Sekendiz, was as saying by 'ABC News'.

"I think on social media, the most frequent pose we see females performing is the headstand,'' he said.

The study found 66 recorded cases of yoga injuries and almost 10 per cent of those injuries were serious enough for the person to be admitted to hospital for further treatment.

Most of these occur among women aged between 20 and 39, researchers said.

"I am not saying we should stop doing yoga, but we need to look into what's going wrong here," Sekendiz said.

People need to be careful when practising any type of fitness activity, especially yoga, and to ensure their surroundings were clear of furniture or equipment, he said.

The study has not yet been published, but has been presented at a number of conferences.