Yoga teachers 'risking serious hip problems'

[nitpicker]

https://www.bbc.com/news/health-50181155

Yoga teachers 'risking serious hip problems'

By Caroline Parkinson
Health editor, BBC News website

3 November 2019
Yoga's popularity does not look like it will wane any time soon. Its physical benefits for flexibility and balance, as well as its spiritual connection, mean it's practised by millions across the world. And that means a need for more and more yoga teachers.

But now, there is a warning they may be putting their own hip health at risk.

Benoy Matthews, a leading UK-based physiotherapist, warns he is seeing increasing numbers of yoga teachers with serious hip problems - many of whom require surgery - because they are pushing their bodies too hard.

Mr Matthews, a specialist hip and knee physiotherapist and member of the Chartered Society of Physiotherapists, says he sees four to five yoga teachers a month.

He says the problem lies in people repeatedly pushing their bodies into "prescribed" positions, when their physiology prevents it.

About half of the teachers he sees simply need advice on how to moderate the "prescribed" yoga positions, so as not to put too much stress on their joints.

But those with more advanced problems need medical treatment and surgery - including total hip replacements.
(snip)

He says it can be easy for yoga practitioners to mistake joint pain, which means they should stop the movement, for stiffness, which they should push through.
(snip)

Mr Matthews says the problem often boils down to how a person's hips are formed and how flexible they are.
(snip)

Mr Matthews says the amount of yoga teachers do, as well as the fact they might not be doing any other kind of exercise, can explain the problems that develop.
(snip)

Mr Matthews suggests new yoga teachers should be assessed. "You could see what mobility they have and what their body is allowing them to do," he says.
(snip)

[Roy Rolling]

1. Seems a Tad Broad...

But thanks for sharing.

It’s the opposite of what I would say during 15 years as a movie/TV set medic:

“Break a leg. I can fix that.”

[tanyev]

2. I believe it.

I took yoga classes for several years. I was fairly flexible when I started and I could get into all the positions without immediate pain. But after awhile, I started figuring out that some positions were starting to cause pain after class was over. I wasn't ready to stop, so I modified those positions that were bothering me. That was when I learned that even though every yoga teacher says if you need to modify it's fine, but when you actually do, many come scurrying over to "help" you do it "properly".

The final straw for me was a teacher who loved yin yoga. It wasn't a yin class, but when she took over we did yin poses for the first 15-20 min of class. If you're not familiar with yin, it's some of the same poses, but you hold it for 3 or more minutes. What had been mild lower back and hip pain became much more painful. I had to quit. I tried a few other teachers, but then I discovered a line dance class on Saturday mornings and never looked back.

[luvs2sing]

3. Which is why a good teacher..

will use props and modify poses to accommodate each student..and themselves. And a good teacher is not always a famous teacher. I learned that the hard way.

[honeylady]

4. I did hot yoga for 5 years during the 80's while in L.A.

One of our teachers had to have both her hips replaced. Hot yoga, or Bikram's yoga, stresses pushing through the pain and going for it as hard as you can. She admitted it was from doing the standing tree pose too hard and too much.

As I got older I had to stop as I kept hurting myself over and over again. I learned to push as hard as I could and just couldn't retrain myself - so I gave up.