Treatment of chronic low back pain with yoga and Ayurvedic Kati Basti therapy – A randomized controlled trial

Chronic low back pain (CLBP) affects a significant proportion of the population and impairs the quality of life and ability to work of those affected. This study investigates the effectiveness of yoga and Ayurvedic Kati Basti therapy compared to yoga alone in patients with chronic low back pain.

Method

The study included 40 patients who were divided into two groups:

Yoga and Ayurveda group (n=20): 1-week residential program with yoga (IAYT) and Kati Basti therapy with Ksheerbala Taila.

Yoga only group (n=20): 1-week yoga residential program without additional Ayurvedic treatments.

Both groups were assessed for pain intensity, disability and depression before, after treatment and after three months. The following were assessed:

Visual Analog Scale (VAS)

Oswestry Low Back Pain Disability Index (ODI)

WHOQOL-BREF (quality of life assessment)

Beck’s Depression Inventory (BDI)

Results

1. Yoga and Ayurveda group:

VAS: Pain reduction by 29.20% after one week and 19.86% after three months (p=0.000).

ODI: Degree of disability decreased by 28.86% after one week and 19.81% after three months (p=0.003).

BDI: Depression scores decreased by 26.26% after one week (p=0.006).

Quality of life (PHY): Improvement of 12.28 % after one week (p=0.014).

Psychological health (PSYCH), social health (SOC), environment (ENV): No significant changes.

2. Yoga group only:

VAS: Pain reduction by 32.97% after one week and 29.21% after three months (p=0.000).

ODI: Degree of disability decreased by 34.20% after one week and 30.53% after three months (p=0.001).

BDI: Depression scores decreased by 27.9% after one week (p=0.014).

Quality of life: No significant improvements in PHY, PSYCH, SOC or ENV.

The combination of yoga and Kati Basti therapy led to significant improvements in pain reduction and disability, but showed no significant differences compared to the yoga group. Both groups showed similar progress in terms of pain and depression reduction. Future studies should focus on longer-term interventions and larger sample sizes to better validate the specific effects of Kati Basti.