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| What sort of yoga can a person do who has had a broken neck 2years ago and now is affected in the feet, ankles, hands and arms? |
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| groovelite - 2007-03-07 8:21 AM
What sort of yoga can a person do who has had a broken neck 2years ago and now is affected in the feet, ankles, hands and arms?
A Yoga Exercise learnt from an experienced teacher in a private class, preferably from a teacher with good anatomical knowledge such as dear Nick has. |
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 8442
    
| GL - it depends on how the healing has progressed and what permission the student has had from the doctors. Also, what is "affected"? Pain? weakness? It really depends. But I would say no inversions for a long time and no vinyasa. This student would need to be watched closely, as Neel says. |
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| Greetings friends,
Fracture of cervical vertebra may not be as dramatic as it first sounds. Bones heal with time, usually within about 8 weeks. Any impingement of the nervous system directly impacted by the fracture would be corrected at surgery at time of injury. Usually fracture sites throughout the body heal with more internal strength than the bone around the fracture site. It's as if an extra level of bone matrix collars the injury of old fracture sites. You can pick them out of x-rays quite easily. In 24 years of practice I've treated many patients who have suffered neck fractures, adjusting their necks chiropractically without any problems.
The symptoms mentioned in the feet, ankles, hands and arms suggest a problem that is continuing to concern those who are responsible for helping out in such cases. That is, even after a fractured bone, or for that matter a muscle strain or joint sprain, have all healed at the injury site, pain and other untoward signs still bother many. This has been called a regional pain syndrome, or neuropathic pain. It is characterized by a larger area of pain than was previously experienced, and by an increased sensitivity to pain from the injured area than was originally present. These new signs can persist chronically. As the name of the diagnosis suggests, the problem is in the nervous system rather than in the original injury site. The nerves from an injured area become overly sensitized to normal stimulation and respond inappropriately. How to cool out the nerves becomes the management question.
Orthopedic and neurological interventions have not been particulalry helpful with neuropathic pain syndromes, relying on Big Pharma for the most part. But yoga does provide some hope in this regard.
Briefly stated, resting in aligned postures which bring the involved nerves into physiological attenuation (the injured nerves are stimulated secondary to posture), then using a conscious breath to override or inhibit the inappropriate nerve responses, we can begin to make some progress on neuropathic conditions.
The analogy of inhibiting nerve responses is akin to refusing to scratch your nose when it itches. We are conditioned by pain or discomfort to move away from it. Our bodies are excellent at finding the most comfortable posture to avoid discomfort. Instead of constantly having the nervous system "train" us as to how to hold the body in gravity as the result of injuries, we can begin to excercise some control over such responses. Instead of moving away from the discomfort, we can accept it (in resting posture) by attending to the innate blissfulness inherent in a healing breath. This may seem like distraction at first, but is finally another rich observation of the miracle of our human ability for self-healing.
My grandson asks a simple question and I go on answering it. He'll interupt, "Just yes or no." I hope this is more helpful than confusing. Please advise.
Michael |
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| thankyou, you are a book of wisdom |
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| Wow dmbones, that was just simply a brilliant and comprehensive response. I am currently reading about breathing (in David Coulter's Anatomy of Hatha Yoga) and have begun to understand the importance of such a simply, seemingly automatic bodily function. I thankfully do not have an injury to overcome, but I find your response to be useful to practice in general. I will think of your words when I find myself in an asana that is difficult for me and causes some discomfort, and I'm sure it will help me. I have found through experience that much of the discomfort is alleviated when I let go of the apprehension that goes with some new demands I am putting on my body, and willfully slowing my breathing is helpful in creating comfort. But your wonderful descriptions ("innate blissfulness inherent in a healing breath'; "the miracle of our human ability for self-healing") really put a new spin on this for me, and I am grateful for your insight. Thank you.
sp |
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| Hi BL,
Thank you for your kind words. 'Svaroopa' as I understand it means 'self bliss' and is the style of yoga originated by Rama Burch (Master Yoga Institute in La Jolla) and the person who introduced me to the concept of an innate capacity for blissfulness as a human inheritance. We are remarkably self-healing organisims, but need knowledge and practice in order to maximize these potentials. I'm for one, grateful for this path.
MIchael |
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broken neck
