Flaherty Mary, Connolly Martin
School of Psychology and Social Science, Edith Cowan University, Perth, Western Australia.
Physiotherapy Department, Osborne Park Hospital, Perth, Western Australia.
Int J Yoga Therap. 2014;24:43-50.
Tactile acuity in the back relates to voluntary lumbo-pelvic control and is lower in chronic low back pain (CLBP) patients. Two-point discrimination (TPD) thresholds are higher, indicating decreased tactile acuity in patients with CLBP. Yoga has been shown to help relieve CLBP.
This study investigated the hypothesis that regular practitioners of yoga have increased tactile acuity (i.e., lower TPD thresholds) when compared to matched controls who regularly perform gym-based (resistance training or aerobic-type) exercise.
Tactile acuity in the low back was assessed using TPD in 16 long-term practitioners of yoga (5 Ashtanga, 5 Bikram, and 6 Iyengar practitioners) and 16 age- and gender-matched healthy controls who exercise (with weights and aerobic exercise).
The yoga practitioners' TPD was lower than that of the exercisers, indicating greater tactile acuity in the low back. While there was no difference between the TPD of the practitioners of different yoga styles, the TPD of the Ashtanga yoga participants were significantly lower than those of the exercisers. The yogis whose main reasons to practice yoga were for "meditation or increased mindfulness" and for "well-being" showed a nonsignificant trend of higher tactile acuity than those who did yoga for "physical exercise." There was no association between TPD threshold and cumulative amount of yoga practice in terms of hours per week and years of experience. However, increased hours of exercise per week correlated with higher TPD.
The findings suggest that there may be a relationship between yoga practice and enhanced tactile acuity in the low back.
背部的触觉敏锐度与腰骨盆的自主控制有关，且在慢性下腰痛（CLBP）患者中较低。两点辨别（TPD）阈值较高，表明CLBP患者的触觉敏锐度降低。瑜伽已被证明有助于缓解CLBP。
本研究调查了这样一个假设，即与定期进行基于健身房的（阻力训练或有氧运动类型）锻炼的匹配对照组相比，经常练习瑜伽的人具有更高的触觉敏锐度（即更低的TPD阈值）。
使用TPD评估了16名长期瑜伽练习者（5名阿斯汤加瑜伽练习者、5名高温瑜伽练习者和6名艾扬格瑜伽练习者）以及16名年龄和性别匹配的进行锻炼（包括举重和有氧运动）的健康对照组的下背部触觉敏锐度。
瑜伽练习者的TPD低于锻炼者，表明下背部的触觉敏锐度更高。虽然不同瑜伽风格练习者的TPD之间没有差异，但阿斯汤加瑜伽参与者的TPD显著低于锻炼者。将“冥想或提高专注力”以及“幸福感”作为主要瑜伽练习原因的瑜伽修行者，其触觉敏锐度比将“体育锻炼”作为瑜伽练习原因的人略高，但差异不显著。TPD阈值与每周练习时间和练习年限等瑜伽练习累积量之间没有关联。然而，每周锻炼时间的增加与更高的TPD相关。
研究结果表明，瑜伽练习与下背部触觉敏锐度的提高之间可能存在关联。
