Yoga could decrease the age-related curve of the upper spine known as dowager’s bump or hyperkyphosis.
The spine in the chest region is normally kyphotic, or curved slightly with the concave side in front. Hyperkyphosis refers to excessively curved spine. A kyphosis angle = 40° is currently used to define hyperkyphosis. To assess whether a specifically designed yoga intervention can reduce hyperkyphosis, researchers identified 118 healthy Americans, aged above 60 years, with 95 of them being female.
Though none of the participants had any physical limitations, about three-quarters reported body pain during the 4 weeks prior to the study, and 60 percent said their pain was frequent or daily. The participants were divided into two groups - 58 were put in the active treatment group that attended hour-long yoga classes 3 days per week for 24 weeks. The control group (remaining 68 participants) attended a monthly lunch cum seminar and received information through mail.
It was found that those who did yoga for six months saw their upper spine curve reduced by about 5 percent compared to those who did no yoga. Those with greater spinal flexibility showed a 6 percent improvement in their upper spine curve, which suggests yoga when the spine is relatively more flexible may be most effective. Compared with spinal curve measures at study entry, the yoga group showed lesser spinal curvature, while the control group had increased curvature, after 6 months.
The yoga group showed significant improvements in upper back pain and were less likely to report early awakening or insomnia. Yoga participants also had slight improvements in height and in time needed to stand up from a chair.
The study shows that yoga treatment can help prevent as well as manage hyperkyphosis.