CHRONIC PAIN. Students often find anything between mild pain relief and complete alleviation of chronic pain by using Tai Chi and/or QiGong, in some cases finding complete relief from long-term chronic pain conditions.
ScienceDaily (June 17, 2009) — A new study by The George Institute for International Health has found Tai Chi to have positive health benefits for musculoskeletal pain. The results of the first comprehensive analysis of Tai Chi suggest that it produces positive effects for improving pain and disability among arthritis sufferers.
The researchers are now embarking on a new trial to establish if similar benefits can be seen among people with chronic low back pain.
CHRONIC NECK PAIN:
NEW RESEARCH:
"The study results showed that 12 weeks of Tai Chi was more effective than no treatment to improve pain, disability, quality of life and postural control in persons with chronic neck pain," said Peter M. Wayne, Ph.D., a co-author, founder of the Tree of Life Tai Chi Center and assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. He added that Tai Chi was neither superior nor inferior to 12 weeks of neck exercises.
http://americanpainsociety.org/about-us/press-room/study-shows-tai-chi-can-help-relieve-chronic-neck-pain
WORLDTAICHIDAY.ORG COMMENTARY:
Now, if Tai Chi is only "equal to neck exercises" and not better, why not just do the "neck exercises" and not Tai Chi?
Because while Tai Chi is helping your neck issue, it is also boosting your immune system's Helper T Cell count by 50 to 100%, lowering high blood pressure, improving sleep, lessening depression, anxiety, and mood disturbance ... and that is only touching the surface of what Tai Chi Meditation offers. See below for other studies on other types of chronic pain conditions Tai Chi has been shown to help with.
Study finds tai chi effective at reducing the impact of tension headaches.
-- University of California at Los Angeles
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Study finds decrease in pain and fatigue among individuals with rheumatoid arthritis after 12 weeks of tai chi.
-- Daejeon University in Korea
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Harvard Health Publications
Back Pain and Chronic Pain. Physicians now recommend regular exercise to improve function in people who have chronic ailments, including arthritis and back pain ... Mind-body therapies such as Tai Chi, Qigong, and yoga are widely used by people who have back pain, as well as those who have osteoarthritis, fibromyalgia, and rheumatoid arthritis. A growing body of studies suggest Tai Chi may be effective for easing pain and improving quality of life for these and other pain conditions. This research also is beginning to show how Tai Chi may positively affect musculoskeletal pain conditions, such as by improving strength, flexibility, postural alignment, neuromuscular movement patterns, breathing, and psychological well-being.
Harvard Medical School Guide to Tai Chi author, Peter Wayne, and Harvard researcher, Gloria Yeh, conducted a small, unpublished pilot study in which they anonymously surveyed 144 practitioners (of Tai Chi), average age 53, two-thirds of them women, at Boston area Tai Chi schools. More than half of these Tai Chi practitioners said they had used Tai Chi for back or neck pain, and nearly all reported Tai Chi was "helpful" or "very helpful."
A handful of Tai Chi and Qigong studies in diverse populations, including cancer survivors and osteoporotic women, suggest that Tai Chi may have a positive impact on markers of inflammation. (Harvard Medical School Guide to Tai Chi. Pages 130 to 141.).
Read more at Harvard Health Publications ...
Harvard Health Publications
Arthritis. In a 40-person study at Tufts University, presented in October 2008 at a meeting of the American College of Rheumatology, an hour of tai chi twice a week for 12 weeks reduced pain and improved mood and physical functioning more than standard stretching exercises in people with severe knee osteoarthritis. According to a Korean study published in December 2008 in Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, eight weeks of tai chi classes followed by eight weeks of home practice significantly improved flexibility and slowed the disease process in patients with ankylosing spondylitis, a painful and debilitating inflammatory form of arthritis that affects the spine.
Read more at Harvard Health Publications ...
