Collin County Living Well Magazine March/April 2016 | Page 18

CAN AN ANCiENT YOgA POSE
CORRECT SCOLiOSiS SPiNE DEFORMiTY?

F

Courtesy Texas Back institute

or the more than six million people in the U.S. who
suffer from scoliosis, performing a basic yoga pose
for a few minutes each day may dramatically improve this spinal deformity. According to Dr. Rajesh
Arakal, a spine surgeon and expert on this disease
at Texas Back Institute, scoliosis is an often painful condition which causes the spine to curve in an “S” shape.
This spinal deformity disease has
been observed
for
thousands
of years, but
the cause and
cure have been
elusive. As was
outlined earlier
this year in this
Dr. Arakal and patient.
space, even royalty such as King Richard III was not immune to this debilitating disease.
“There is no cure for scoliosis,” Dr. Arakal said. “And genetic pre-disposition is the only known cause.” This bleak
prognosis for those suffering from scoliosis recently got a
little brighter.

ExCiTiNg SCOLiOSiS RESEARCh
According to a study published in a recent issue of Global
Advances in Health and Medicine, spinal curvature of scoliosis patients was reduced by about 50 percent when they
practiced a yoga pose known as Vasisthasana. This position is also known as a “side plank.”
Researchers noted scoliosis patients who employed this
pose on the curved side can strengthen muscles in the
lower back, abdomen and spine which allows the spine
to straighten. This suggests patients who practice this side
plank pose regularly may not need corrective bracing (the
usual therapy for scoliosis) or surgery.
As noted in the article, researchers at Columbia Colleg