Nurses study yoga, tai chi and qigong for back pain relief

Research shows positive back pain relief outcomes from engaging in yoga, qigong or tai chi.

While studies looking specifically at back pain are limited, these movement-based, mind-body interventions appear to provide back pain relief, improve pain-related disability and patients’ quality of life.

Cheryl Krause-Parello, RN

Nurse practitioners and other providers who care for back pain patients should consider introducing these interventions to promote back pain relief, especially in patients at high risk for adverse effects from medications, including opioids, according to a recently published narrative review.

The review of movement-based, mind-body interventions — yoga, tai chi and qigong — for back pain was published in the January/February issue of the journal Holistic Nursing Practice.

“I think it’s important for nurses to keep abreast of approaches for chronic pain, whether it’s back pain or headache, any type of pain,” said review author Cheryl A. Krause-Parello, PhD, RN, FAAN, who serves as a professor of holistic health and is a faculty fellow, at the Institute for Human Health and Disease Intervention. “That includes looking at pharmacological approaches, which we know alleviate symptoms, but also non-pharmacological interventions.”

Nurses need back pain relief

About 8 in 10 U.S. adults suffer low back pain during their lives, and back pain is the most common cause of job-related disability, according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.

Nurses, many whose jobs require they lift and turn patients and spend long hours on their feet, might suffer even more from back pain than other professionals and need back pain relief methods.

Researchers studying the frequency and severity of low back pain in 114 nurses working in ICUs found more than 84% of nurses experienced low back pain and 66.7% of those described the pain as moderate severity, according to a January 2014 study published in the Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences.

Low back pain is the biggest issue impacting quality of life, work productivity, absenteeism and disability among nurses, Iranian researchers reported in 2014 in Trauma Monthly. They found acute low back pain and chronic low back pain were associated not only with the ergonomic factors of frequent bending and lifting but also physical violence experiences.

A case for mind-body interventions

Evidence-based guidelines recommend using nonpharmacologic treatments, including exercise and mind-body interventions, to promote back pain relief and manage chronic low back pain symptoms.

“We’re beginning to see people looking for alternatives, especially with skyrocketing opioid addiction rates and opioid deaths,” said Krause-Parello, who also is director of the Canines Providing Assistance to Wounded Warriors program at Florida Atlantic University’s Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing, Boca Raton, Fla.

Mind-body interventions include meditation, mindfulness, hypnosis and movement-based therapies, such as yoga, tai chi and qigong, according to authors of the Holistic Nursing Practice review.

Yoga, tai chi and qigong focus on the mind-body connection with mental exercise and body awareness. While many know about yoga, far fewer understand tai chi and qigong, both of which include slow, controlled movements and a focus on breathing to enhance …read more

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