The hidden dangers of yoga and tips on how to avoid hurting yourself
- Yoga provides many benefits but can also exacerbate carpal tunnel syndrome, destabilise joints and contribute to tendinitis
- For wrist health, for example, avoid poses like the wheel
Yoga is known for its many mind-body benefits: it releases tension, can prevent injury, creates more flexibility, adds strength and balance, and calms the mind. In fact, it is the most commonly used non-mainstream health approach among US adults, with the amount of practitioners increasing 50 per cent between 2012 and 2017 – from 9.5 per cent of all adults to 14.3 per cent.
What new yogis may not be aware of, however, is that despite its reputation as a gentle, low-impact practice, yoga carries risks, as with any exercise routine. The practice can exacerbate carpal tunnel syndrome, destabilise joints, and contribute to strains, sprains and tendinitis.
A study published in 2016 in the Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine reported that there were close to 30,000 yoga-related injuries seen in US emergency rooms from 2001 to 2014, and that injuries per 100,000 participants grew from a rate of 9.6 per cent to 17 per cent. Most injuries were to the upper body and constituted strains and sprains. The greatest injury increase was in people age 65 and older.
That doesn’t mean older adults, or anyone, should steer clear of yoga. But before you try downward-facing dog pose, which looks like a canine stretching, you need to know the risks of yoga, the appropriate types of yoga for you – and ways to stay injury-free.
“I see quite a bit of yoga-related injuries,” says Bobby Chhabra, an orthopedic surgeon with the University of Virginia Health System. “Mostly it’s overuse injuries like tendinitis and sprains. It’s rare for patients to have traumatic injuries from yoga.”
