Rotator cuff injury? Yoga cures from head to toe, including Back Pain and Arthritis

I wrote about yoga as a superior workout in A Cross-Training Secret.

You can’t kickbox every day.  So what’s the ideal secondary workout to stay in shape and complement? …

The traditional answer is running. But there is a better exercise – yoga.  Yoga doesn’t just burn calories and raise your fitness level like running; it also builds flexibility, balance, and strength.

There is much more with scientific research and clinical trials aimed at understanding yoga’s benefits better.  According to Dr. Loren Fishman in the Huffington Post article Yoga Fixes From Head To Toes: Poses For 8 Common Conditions, yoga  is proven to  reduce or eliminate migraines, neck pain, back pain, shoulder pain, Piriformis Syndrome, Knee Osteoarthritis, Osteoporosis, Plantar Fasciitis, and bunions.

In particular, he accidentally discovered and ran his own trial to prove  that a headstand fixes rotator cuff injury.  If you’re part of the estimated 40-60% of the adult population, including me, that has this injury, this is welcome news.  A $20 yoga mat is slightly cheaper than a $10,000 surgery.

Shoulder Pain: A yoga-based maneuver has erased pain and disability for more than 800 of my patients who have rotator cuff difficulties, saving them from expensive, painful surgery and at least three months of physical therapy for recovery. The Triangular Forearm Support (TFS) is based on the headstand but you don’t have to stand on your head to do it. It activates a muscle that takes over the function of the one that has been injured. Activating the muscle for a minute and then enthusiastically, fearlessly raising the arm on the bad side trains the subscapularis muscle to take over for the injured superspinadis. The injured muscle never has to work again. I have followed patients who have been cured by this maneuver — painless full range of motion for 10 years.

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