Study reveals how you can relieve lower back and neck pain
"Research has shown that within two to three sessions, you can have an 80% reduction in pain in your lower back and an 81% reduction of pain in your neck."
Back pain | Picture: Pixabay
Gugs Mhlungu was in conversation with Lesley Meyer, a physiotherapist with a special interest in chronic pain.
Listen to their conversation in the audio clip below.
Lower back pain is the leading cause of disability globally - that's the findings of the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017.
The study notes that close to 600-million people globally are affected by back pain at some point in their lives.
It was also found in 2017 that there were over 288 - million cases of neck pain worldwide.
"Often when people experience pain, they are to scared to move because they think they might cause more damage and that's the totally wrong thing to do.You start moving slowly."
Lesley Meyer, physiotherapist
A new study is bringing hope to those suffering from these pains.
The study, published in September 2022, shows that pandiculation can relieve chronic back and neck pain by releasing chronic muscle tension.
According to the Somatic Movement Center, "pandiculation is generally defined as the act of stretching oneself and yawning, especially upon waking."
They go on to explain that "pandiculation is our nervous system’s natural way of waking up our sensorimotor system and preparing us for movement."
"The yoga and Pilates people have been adding these techniques but they haven't necessarily called it pandiculation."
Lesley Meyer, physiotherapist
"Research has shown that within two to three mornings of stretching your body with a combination of yawning and focusing on the sore bits that are problematic, you can have an 80% reduction in pain in your lower back and an 81% reduction of pain in your neck."
Lesley Meyer, physiotherapist