Back pain & tightness since starting Bikram

It sounds like the flank muscles are getting tight from being over used in class.You are prob just pushing a little to hard in the side and back bends:-P In half moon DONT push just breathe and do a light stretch to the side. In back bends make sure you lift in the chest then bend back but mostly with your upper spine. You should NOT feel a big compression in your lower back and it should not be painful

I stopped yoga for 3 weeks due to my yoga studio being closed because of demonstrations here (Bangkok), and during that time my back started to feel better. Once back, it’s hurting again.

Well, you have EXCELLENT verification that the yoga is a huge factor. Listen to that! Do not be like me … keeping on, thinking the yoga would cure me.

The back tightness that happens when I’m seated is relieved a lot when I remain seated, push my chest forward and butt out (still seated).

If there’s a herniated disk condition, you get relief by doing that because you’re creating an exaggerated lordosis (indented curve of the lower spine), which relieves pressure on the disk that is bulging to the rear. It’s kind of like a seated mini-backbend.

I, too, hope you can keep doing Bikram yoga, but if you find your condition improving by doing exercises for herniated disks, and avoiding forward bends (and seated twists), you probably do have a herniation and will have to make MANY SIGNIFICANT modifications to the poses in order to keep doing the yoga. I couldn’t do extensive modifying in my studio, so I stopped. As you learned from the “Not good for everyone” thread, stretching type yoga may not be for you. Stretching does not strengthen. A chief function of muscles, tendons and ligaments is to hold bony structures in place.

Finally, if you think you might have a herniated disk, please please study up on it and do the things that will help it heal. If you don’t, you may one day face surgery. I am desperately trying to avoid that now.

Hello all hot yoga lovers,

I am experiencing EXACTLY the same problem as Jen!

First of all, I do not know if I can post here on Jen’s post, so if not please tell me where I can, and excuse me Jen if I post here too.

Secondly, I am Swedish and I go to hot yoga class in Stockholm. I may not know all the terminology in English so excuse me if I ask a lot of questions.

I started hot yoga about a little more than a month ago, and I have gone to my chiropractor several times since then. I practice regular yoga also, once or twice a week. It was my chiropractor who recommended me to do hot yoga, she knows my back problems since years back and she also practices hot yoga. She also treats me sometimes with acupuncture.

I have a hyper-mobility in my lower back, I do not know how you say this in proper English but I hope you understand.

Camel Pose I can do easily. Then I have super stiff hips, I looked at your hip opening exercises, and after hot yoga practise it is slowly slowly getting a little bit better. In Eagle Pose I just finally managed to put my toes around my calf with one of my legs… but in Toe Stand pose I can not bend down and sit, it is too much effort for my lower back, my left leg, stiff hips etc.

On my left leg I have had an Achilles tendon rupture in 1998 and I have a weaker calf on that side. In some poses I just try to stand with a straight leg, like on the Standing Head to Knee pose, and not bend the knee and still be in balance, it is enough training for me! The knees hurt in some poses, like Fixed Firm pose, so I do them gently.

I do not have a hernia, my chiropractor tested it with several exercises last time I saw her on Tuesday this week. The back tightness that happens when I’m seated is NOT relieved when I remain seated, push my chest forward and butt out. It feels worse when I put my butt out. Since I started hot yoga I have so much pain in my lower back, sometimes it feels like I have problems to walk and sometimes the pain is very distinct (like I suppose a hernia would ache). I have taken several pain killers, now I have not gone to hot yoga for a week. I practised regular yoga this Wednesday but with bent legs all the time and not to much forward bends or the “dog stand”, and I tried not to stretch as much etc. It feels OK since then but I am still sore in my back, I feel “tired” in the lower back and sometimes I have pain. Of course now I do not dare to take my bike to work as well, I think it might aggravate my lower back problem.

My chiropractor was the one who sent me a copy of your newsletter Gabrielle. It was the one about Hernia Or Not, You Need To Know This!
Since then I do nothing else but read, look at your videos, download your pdf etc.

I even bought a smaller ball to practise core strength like you show in your video. 🙂

So now to your questions Gabrielle:

1. Can you tell me does your back hurt ON THE WAY down to the floor in Hands to Feet pose?
[em]Sometimes. My chiropractor said to me she thinks I am trying too hard, I stretch too much, I think she is right.[/em]

2. Does it hurt IN Hands to Feet pose?
[em]Yes.[/em]

3. What about your Standing Sep Leg Intense Stretch pose? Same questions: ON the way to the floor? And then in the pose?
[em]More in the pose, same here I stretched too much, but now I know better and to stay with bent legs and not so wide. Sometimes it is difficult to go up and out of the pose.[/em]

4. In Standing Sep Leg Intense Stretch pose describe what you’re doing please. Where are you hands: Coming in from the SIDE or from the BACK or somewhere in between? Straight legs or bent? Arms straight or bent?
[em]Straight legs, very separated as the teacher tells us. I saw how you suggest me to do the pose on your pictures, it looks much better… but right now I do not dare to go back, I have become afraid to go to class… I cry just by writing this to you… I am so nervous about having a serious injury. I bought a 6 months card to hot yoga, since I love it so much, but now I am afraid, just afraid…
About the arms I have problems to get them around my heels or feet, sometimes I manage to put them behind my calves, sometimes I just put them straight down on the floor with bent elbows and I stretch as much as I can, it hurts…… I realize now since I looked on your pictures that all this is wrong!
I sometimes managed to almost put my head on the floor, but it is to the price that I stretch my lower back to an extent that is far too much for my back.[/em]

5. Are you attempting the sit-up? If you are what are you able to do? If not what are you doing?
[em]I am doing the sit-ups; in the beginning it was OK to do them, now it hurts, since all my problems with my back started.[/em]

6. What can you tell me about your core strength?
[em]I think it is good; I can do your ball exercise on good days without a problem. My stomach is not bulging out I think (my chiropractor asked me this since I told her about your ball exercise, she said that if by belly is bulging out when I do the exercise it might be a muscle problem and then I have to do other exercises for my belly) but right now I do not dare to do the ball exercise either to check it out, because of my back.[/em]

I just sit here and cry in front of the computer, it is sooo hard to write to you about my back problem.
I feel so worried, sad and I do not know if I can do hot yoga any more. :'(
Before I went 3 or 4 times a week, now I have not been back for a week.
I do not know what to do. Can I go back and when in that case?

Also I want to say thank you for what you do, all that I have seen so far and read is such a great source of information, it is fantastic for people like us. Yesterday I looked at your video about elbows in my back pockets, it is amazing, I tried it, I really feel a difference and I will try it more and more, I promise you.

Namaste,
Jasse (Camilla)

In fact a recurring theme on this forum and in hot yoga studios around the world is a lack of core strength affecting many poses. One of the problems with EASY backbends (which as you say could be happening for you with your hyper-mobile back) is that your core is not being engaged. And along with your tight hips, your back is taking all the strain. So I wouldn’t be surprised if this was a key issue with you. So I would focus on chest lift, and strong legs and torso in backbends and not going for flexibility. You need some balance in the work of your muscles opposing your back.

Thank you so much for your fast answer Gabrielle!

I think all you say might be right.
Even my chiropractor said what you say above that she thinks my back is taking all the strain. I will ask my studio if I can suspend class for a while, I know I can do it for a month, like when we have vacation, but if I having back problem I do not know. What should I tell them, that I have a back problem, and that my chiropractor asked me to take a pause?

When I sit in a chair straight with my shoulders in good position and my spine erect it is right now tiring for lower back, I can’t seam to hold the position.
Before I often tried to really sit on my butt bones, if you know what I mean.
Right now I prefer to lean forward, rest my elbows on the table, or having one hand under my chin to support me and have a [em]rather[/em] straight back in that position instead.
I do not like to roll the pelvis back, it doesn’t feel good.

Or sometimes I lean back on the chair (my office chair I put in the position that it is not fixed but it moves when I lean back), same thing with the chair at home.

When I come to think of it I never like to sit in a chair actually, I prefer to lie down on the sofa to watch a movie on the television.

And right now I notice when I write to you that I sit with a rolled back (very bad position with rolled shoulders), that gives me most relief right now.

Can’t believe I am writing a whole page about how I am sitting… 😉

About the other things you wrote I will look into that.
My body is not squashed onto your legs, I think there might be a little space there, so I will try with bent legs like you suggest, but not now, later.

I just started to look in B C’s book about Bikram Yoga and how he tells us that this journey is a lot about pain, to achieve something we have to go through pain and so on, and that his way is the only way. I feel sick when I look in this book, almost no pictures, no index about pain, tight hips, lower back problems and so on. Wonder why?

I believe that I have fooled myself with the heat, and that I have stretched too far in the positions with the heat, since I did not feel anything in the beginning but more and more as I went along. My husband is very worried, he doesn’t want me to do hot yoga anymore… He says it is not normal to be in such pain, he can’t understand why I do all this.

I am as upset as you, didn’t think that all this would happen to me.
Thought hot yoga was good, but as you say, of course we listen to what the instructor says, and if they say it is normal that it hurts, it must hurt to make progress and so on, at least I listen to them. But I will not do that anymore.

I will listen to my own body!

Namaste,
Jasse

Hello there!
I am seeking some help and advice related to the same topic, I started Bikram Yoga in August last year at the College of the Redwoods, 3 to 4 times a week; the more I practiced, the more I liked. About 3 weeks ago I started practicing everyday at home as well; However,last Sunday while doing Dandayamana Janushirasana (standing head o knee)I felt a deep pinch in my lower back and after that I couldn’t complete the series; I actually could barely walk, or forward bend to retrieve something from the floor.The next day I went to class and took the practice way slower trying to respect my body. the pain got somewhat better but hasn’t gone away. I tried practice on Tuesday a home but couldn’t do the whole series. Again I went to class on Wednesday and the pain got a little worse throughout the day. I hurts to be seated, I can’t really find a comfortable position seating down. It feels like I can’t really trust my lower back, it seems not firm or strong. So I decided to do some research on the internet and found your website (looking awesome by he way!)
today will be my 1st day without practice but besides that Do you have any hints on what I could do to improve my current situation?

Gabrielle, here again is someone who has been practicing for a while, then has an event while extreme forward bending that results in sitting pain. This is classic herniated disk, probably L5-S1 or L4-L5.

I claim no vast expertise, but the research I’ve done for herniated disks in the lower spine clearly points to the great danger of prolonged stretching of the lower spine, and extreme forward bending.

A herniated disk is one of the most maddening things to have if you are otherwise fit, healthy and happy. It can plague you for the rest of your life, and require modifying almost every activity involving bending, sitting, lifting, even walking. Not to mention almost all household tasks. And worst of all, simply sitting in a chair enjoying a cup of tea and a good book can be a thing of the past, and a simple car journey can be miserable.

I wouldn’t even check back on these threads if my heart didn’t ache for all these wonderful, well-intentioned people who are encountering lower back pain that would have been avoidable if the modifications to the Bikram routine that protect the lower spine had been started much earlier.

Is there a way to warn people ahead of time?

I accept that we all take responsibility for our actions and for undertaking a strenuous routine like Bikram yoga without perhaps researching all of its effects on us. But as a caring person, with empathy for those coming after me, I long to encourage in others the caution I didn’t take.

Hi Jasse

It’s been some time. Sorry for the delay. Jasse, did you read the email about the “ahem”, the polite cough? This could be really useful for you. Especially in all those regular mundane activities like the housework. And when you move into any forward bend.

I am positive there is something that we haven’t covered yet. You are under the care of a chiropractor so together we should be able to work something out. If yoga is hurting you and there is no obvious injury then I am sure we CAN work around this with pose modifications.

Sometimes however, it can be a relief to have a further investigation (like an MRI) because then if there’s nothing evident, we can really focus in on the way you are using your body.

Sending you a PM

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hi Joni

May I ask you a few questions? 😉 Here goes: When you go to the chiropractor what specifically is your chiro waiting for (when you say he has to wait for your core to relax)? Are you lying down or sitting? Is it a spinal adjustment that he is doing on you or some soft tissue work?

Nextly: I am just wondering about your 6 pack muscles (rectus abdominis). Are they well-formed? Do you do sit-ups with the Bikram yoga scripted rounded over double exhale bouncy maneuver where you end up with a rounded back kinda bouncing over your legs with your head down?

I would like to help you but at the mo I am not really sure about what is going on in your thighs because I need some more information. Do you get the impression that it’s related to your back pain? Can you feel the pain in your back and the side of your thighs at the same time? Can you please tell me which poses you feel this in? It may be worst in triangle pose but that seems to indicate to me that you are experiencing the issue elsewhere. 😉

I would really like to know more about one’s practice before I could recommend staying away from forward bends. So, Joni, if you’re in there, please let me know where you’re at. I have been away at my Teacher Training program and have been out of action as far as the forum goes, but I am back now.

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hi Joni

Wow, a big delay.

OK, may I ask for an update?

In response to your last post way back when, I would like you to read up on the forum on how to support core strength, through sit ups. It’s a way to develop and keep a strong back while keeping well planted on the floor, not by swinging oneself up as is taught in a regular class (and causes lower back problems).

When you are in Triangle, do you feel that you are strong in that position? What I mean is, are you feeling as if you are falling towards the floor either towards that front foot, or forward, collapsing?

When you are in Tree in order to compensate for that abductor pain/strain do you feel that you have to compensate by increasing the lumbar curve (tending towards a ‘duck butt’ :cheese: )?

How are your forward bends now? Often with people with problematic L4/5 it’s hard to get IN to the pose but doing the pose itself and working the mechanism does work for them. So, Joni, just confirm it’s the entry but not the pose itself. If that’s the case then I can give you a great way to enter and exit the poses (and there are photos in my book) that will help you engage the best way of doing the poses without the risk on your lower back of entering and exiting.

Let me know

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂