Clinical Research Studies

Background: Chronic low back pain is notoriously difficult to treat and is a primary contributor to lost work days and excessive health expenditures, and whose treatment has, in part, contributed to the opioid crisis. Surgery is only an option in a minority of these patients, usually confined to those with structural instability. Yoga is an ancient modality whose benefits are currently being studied. There is enough data that the most recent ACP guidelines have included yoga as a treatment for chronic back pain, but more data needs to be generated regarding the efficacy of this modality in treating the chronic back pain population. Methods: We will perform a prospective, randomized trial with the hypothesis that yoga is superior (non-inferior) to usual care for chronic back pain. Inclusion criteria will be adult patients who have had chronic back pain (pain above the gluteal cleft of at least 3 months duration). Exclusion criteria will be patients who have an indication for surgery: fracture, infection, scoliosis, or spondylolisthesis. The study arm will involve a yoga protocol devised by Eddie Stern - a renowned Ashtanga yoga practitioner, and can include NSAIDs. The control arm will involve usual care - 6 weeks of physical therapy, NSAIDs, and epidural steroid injections. Outcome measures will be assessed by VAS, ODI, and SF-36 surveys to be given at 3 months, 6 months, 1 year, and 2 years.