Medical embarrassment caused by yoga

In my country, some people are injured by practicing yoga. However, to the embarrassment of these injured people, whether it is severe paralysis or lumbar disc herniation, it is difficult for them to obtain medical support.

What does yoga, which has spread from India to all over the world, mean to modern urbanites?

In the eyes of Zheng Xinyuan, a young woman in Shanghai, it may be the beginning of her illness.

Under the dim light, Zheng Xinyuan straightened her stiff legs as much as possible, let her hands hold her feet, and keep her head close to her knees as possible. This is the most basic move in yoga poses. Although Zheng Xinyuan has been practicing it for more than half a year, she still can't master it well.

The dark and thin Indian yoga teacher came over and pressed her back down again. In his opinion, this strength is only minimal. Sometimes he even sits on the student's back and forcibly corrects the student's inadequate posture. But Zheng Xinyuan recalled,"I felt a little uncomfortable. I planned to try not to take his classes in the future."

Accidental paralysis

Zheng Xinyuan was attracted to yoga, initially just from an experience class. In October 2007, a yoga studio opened in Zendai Home, a large community in Pudong, Shanghai where she lived. Although this yoga studio is located in the community, the decoration is not crude. The Indian-style ornaments and soft lighting give people a mysterious and warm feeling. Zheng Xinyuan, who does not like sports, decided to officially register after taking an experience class. Unlike some purpose-oriented yogis, she just wants to sweat and exercise.

The intensity of her practice has remained at the preliminary stage, and "Japanese Prayer" is the pose she often does. "I just went to sweat, but I don't want to practice it well. When I saw their movements in the intermediate class, I was afraid and didn't dare to do it." Zheng Xinyuan recalled.

Soon, Zheng Xinyuan fell in love with yoga."When the music is on, the teacher speaks in a very soft voice, which really makes people enjoy and relax." She even applied for cards for her husband Ji Ping and her 14-year-old daughter. The family of three practices 2 to 3 times a week.

For more than a year, Zheng Xinyuan, who felt the charm of yoga, and her husband recommended this exercise to friends more than once. They never thought that the "exercise injuries" related to yoga would happen to them.

In January 2009, Zheng Xinyuan began to feel sore in her waist, so she stopped practicing yoga, but she didn't take it too seriously. Two weeks later, the outer side of her left calf became numb until one morning, she realized that she couldn't get out of bed-she was "paralyzed."

Her husband Ji Ping sent Zheng Xinyuan to Shanghai Changzheng Hospital. The MRI results showed that Zheng Xinyuan's lumbar 4/5 disc was herniated, the left nerve root was severely compressed, and the dura mater and cauda equina were compressed...

Zheng Xinyuan underwent "posterior lumbar decompression and bone grafting and internal fixation." Four alloy nails and other metal attachments will be fixed in her body for the rest of her life, and the treatment process cost nearly 100,000 yuan.

After Zheng Xinyuan was discharged from the hospital, Ji Ping posted the story of his wife's injury on the community forum, wanting to warn yoga practitioners, but did not specify the name of the yoga studio. Later, two owners posted a post saying that they were also practicing yoga. There was a problem with their spine, but it was not certain that it was caused by yoga practice.

Searching online, Ji Ping was surprised to find that 560,000 posts had been found for the keyword "yoga injury". Some yoga practitioners had suffered spinal injuries similar to their wives, and some even caused paralysis."practicing yoga" is their common experience.

Insufficient evidence of "sports injuries"

Zheng Xinyuan's tragedy also occurred to Li Li, who was her same age.

36-year-old Li Li started practicing yoga in Shenzhen in 2003. Because of her basic skills in dance, she quickly learned primary positions and began to try advanced movements with the encouragement of her coach. In 2006, Li Li suddenly felt severe pain in her waist after coughing. After hospital examination, her lumbar spine was damaged.

"The doctor directly asked me if I practiced yoga and said that I had seen a yoga teacher with the same condition not long ago. When he said the name of the yoga teacher, I was stunned. The teacher had published yoga books and CDs, and had also guided us in rehearsing yoga performances." Li Li recalled.

Wang Yi, a girl from Sichuan, bought a set of yoga textbooks to practice at home because she wanted to cure insomnia."It only says that people with high blood pressure and heart disease should not practice, and there is no warning that joint damage may occur."

More than two months later, Wang Yi was admitted to the hospital because of low back pain. The examination result was lumbar disc herniation. "It's also difficult for me to confirm whether it was caused by yoga. After reading a lot of information, I found it difficult to explain. I hope someone can produce authoritative medical research and explain this problem clearly."

The person who made these injured get to know each other was a person with the online name of "Halfway". His posts on Tianya and Netease blogs linked yoga to their injuries.

The 39-year-old "Halu", whose real name is Cheng Songfeng, is engaged in breeding in Nanyang, Henan. In 2006, Cheng Songfeng, who lived in Shenzhen, accidentally came to a yoga studio. When he saw that coaches were being recruited, he curiously signed up. Although he did not have a coaching qualification certificate, he was still admitted easily. After working for a few weeks, Cheng Songfeng found that many yoga poses were inconsistent with his previous understanding of the traditional China health system and exercise theory. At the same time, he also found that some yoga instructors had injuries.

Since then, he has posted his articles on the dangers of yoga on forums and blogs, ranging from the unscientific origin of yoga to the various drawbacks of commercial promotion. However, these remarks have been strongly questioned and opposed, and his blog has also been closed. "Now yoga has become an industry with huge commercial interests and strong public relations skills." Cheng Songfeng explained this.

"It is difficult for injured patients to claim compensation and they are in a weak position. In addition, it is difficult to explain the cause of the injury technically and there is a lack of evidence." In Cheng Songfeng's impression,"Only one injured person in Wuxi successfully claimed a claim."

Similarly, Zheng Xinyuan and his wife never went to the yoga studio directly to discuss this matter. "I went to a lawyer, but after analysis, the lawyer believed that if a lawsuit was filed, the best result would be court mediation. The other party might only pay twenty to thirty thousand yuan, and the cost of filing a lawsuit would be about this amount. At the end of the day, we have no evidence that directly proves yoga caused injuries." Ji Ping said gloomily.

Misplaced yoga

The original meaning of yoga in Sanskrit means "connection", which means the unity of man and nature. It balances the body through the practice of asanas and breathing control. By controlling the body, it ultimately controls the spirit and will, making the practitioner stable and happy. When the essence of yoga left India and began to spread, its true nature began to change little by little. What promoters of yoga need to let the audience see are quantifiable effects: such as weight, sleep time, physical condition, etc. They gradually only intercept a small number of its functions to inform consumers. More people think yoga is a fitness exercise.

Chen Shiyi, director of the Sports Medicine Center of Shanghai Huashan Hospital, could not help Zheng Xinyuan and Ji Ping's problems."Without further research, it is still difficult to use yoga as the cause of these injury cases. Any exercise carries the risk of sports injuries. Why are these people injured? One possibility is that these injured people are not suitable for this kind of exercise, or it may be that the exercise exceeds physiological limits."

Jia Lianshun, chief physician of the orthopedics department of the hospital, believes that yoga should not be promoted and promoted. The range of exercise and one's age must be carefully considered by yoga practitioners. People over the age of 30 are no longer suitable for yoga training. Because "the ligaments and bone structures of adults are mature, and if you practice some movements that require flexibility in your limbs, joints, especially spinal joints, will often cause damage."

Regarding the difficulty of proving evidence encountered by many yoga injured people, Jia Lianshun said: "Studying the sports injuries of yoga requires too many people, one is the operators and the other is the admirers, so no one does the research. What we can do is remind practitioners that they must be prepared and prepared first."

Born in Taiwan and trained by the College of Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Huang Zonglong is currently a traditional Chinese medicine practitioner in Shanghai. He is particularly good at traditional Chinese medicine bonesetting and is also teaching traditional China health preservation techniques. His view on the possible sports injuries caused by yoga is slightly different from that of the previous two Western medicine experts. He said: "Even if practiced correctly, yoga is not used to cure diseases, but to allow healthy people to reach a better state. If the body itself has unhealthy areas, yoga may make it worse." (Internship Editor: Li Jianhong)

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