Musculoskeletal pain associated with recreational yoga participation: A prospective cohort study with 1-year follow-up

Background: Yoga is a popular complementary therapy for musculoskeletal pain. There are few studies however, that have examined the risks of recreational participation for causing musculoskeletal pain.

Objectives: To examine the relationship between musculoskeletal pain and recreational yoga participation.

Methods: This was a prospective cohort study with one-year follow-up. Data were collected via electronic questionnaires, one year apart. Outcomes included incidence and impact of pain caused by yoga and prevalence of pain caused, exacerbated, unaffected, and improved by yoga. Predictors included age, experience, hours of participation, and intensity of participation.

Results: The final sample included 354 participants from two suburban yoga studios. The incidence rate of pain caused by yoga was 10.7%. More than one-third of incident cases resulted in lost yoga participation time and/or symptoms lasting more than 3 months. None of the risk factors at baseline increased the risk for subsequent incident cases of pain caused by yoga.

Conclusions: Yoga can cause musculoskeletal pain. Participants may benefit from disclosure of practice to their healthcare professionals and by informing teachers of injuries they may have prior to participation. Yoga teachers should also discuss the risks for injury with their students.