For a minute, David Moore looks like Christopher Reeve doing the Superman pose. Then he looks like a swan flapping its wings. Then a huge letter A, then a football, then a tree, then the Angel of the North. It’s a bewildering array of poses, but for David these yoga positions have become a part of his weekly routine.

He believes they have banished the back pain he once thought he would just have to live with.

David is 58 and works in an office, and like many who work in offices filled with rubbishy chairs and desks at the wrong height, he has had persistent back pain. “The back problem was always there to some extent,” he says. “I do a desk-bound job and drive a lot and I would get lower back pain after a long drive or sitting all the time. I put it down to wear and tear, and age.”

David had tried exercising in gyms, but got bored and slipped into life on the sofa. Now he comes to the Balance studio off Great Western Road in Glasgow for a yoga session twice a week.

“I found it difficult at first,” he says, “but felt immediate benefits. The twinges were still there for a week or two but it was not so bad as before. The pain was diminishing over time. It took weeks rather than months.”

David pushes his shoulders back so his spine is as straight as a lamppost. “It helped me become more aware of how I was holding myself too,” he says. “I still have to be aware of what I’m doing and how I’m doing it.”

David is clearly a convert to the pain-busting qualities of yoga and now there is evidence that it can work for others, too. A new study from the US, published in the latest issue of the journal Spine, has shown that twice-weekly yoga sessions like David’s can relieve pain. The study looked at 90 patients with chronic lower back pain. After 24 weeks, the patients taking part in yoga sessions noticed significant improvement in disability and pain intensity.

Mick McMenemy, lead clinician of Greater Glasgow Back Pain Service, is not surprised by the results of the study. He says: “Although there’s all sorts of things going on in a yoga class that can make you feel good, the yoga research makes sense. You do always have to be selective who you recommend it to, though. I ask, ‘What do you like?’ All the evidence on back pain is that you should return to what you’re used to do, but yoga in principle is a good idea.”

However, Mick says there is no doubt that being physically active is good for back pain. He believes there is a lot of bad advice on management of the

condition – the worst being told to lie down – and would like to put that right. His team is working on a relaunch of the Working Backs Scotland website, which, when it goes lives next year, will aim to reach as many people as possible via Twitter, Facebook and YouTube and give practical, evidence-based advice.

Mick explains that there are different sites of back pain – neck, thoracic and lower back – but that the treatment is similar for all of those. “The first question to ask is, ‘What have you stopped doing?’ It’s about returning to normal activities; start easy and build up as necessary. A lot of health professionals say ‘take it easy’, which might be good advice in the early stages, but only for the first few days.

“People tend to stop moving after they strain their back; it’s standard for people to do that. Twenty years ago the received wisdom was to lie down, but not only is that not helpful it is harmful because people become immobile and may even become depressed. There’s more and more evidence that you should keep moving.”

Mick has just come from a consultation with a patient at the Western Infirmary in Glasgow and says that misplaced anxiety about back pain is common. Such pain is normal, he says, even pain that persists for two or three days. “Lots of people get headaches and very few of them are serious; it’s the same with back pain. In 99% of cases who go to the GP with symptoms it will not be serious. Four out of five people will complain about back pain in their lives. Less than 1% will ever need a surgical opinion, let alone get surgery.”

He stresses what he calls red flags to look out for. “If you are a child or elderly person and you are complaining about lower back pain, we would take extra special care of that. A history of cancer would also be a red flag.”

Mick says the key to recovery is unlikely to lie with anyone but the sufferer and what he or she does. “Sufferers often go and see people who are not particularly skilled at what they do. Be cautious about taking on any approach that says it will definitely fix you: there is no passive treatment, ie, a treatment that is applied to you rather than one you take part in, that has been proved to be a cure-all.”

The answer for many people could lie in the brain. “There is a large and real psychological element to the management of pain; it’s crucial to how you cope or do not cope,” he says. Conquer the fear of moving and you will probably defeat the pain. Give in to the fear of moving, and the problem will just persist.”

David Moore knows that advice works. He still gets the odd twinge, but instead of taking it easy he does some of the yoga positions that he has found particularly good for his back. These include the Cakravakasana, known as the cat and cow stretch, which is done on all fours, and the Bhujangasana, or Sphinx, which David has found good for aligning his spine head and neck.

“As soon as I feel a slight sensation or twinge I do one of the postures,” he says. Back pain may be normal, but on the floor of a little yoga studio, David has found his own way to beat it.

Back pain and how to beat it

• Back pain can strike in the upper or lower back, but the treatment is similar for both. Acute back pain is new and sudden pain which lasts up to six weeks. Chronic back pain is pain that lasts beyond the normal recovery time of three months.

   

   

   

• Only a tiny minority, about one per cent, of back pain is serious. It is normal for aches and pains to last for some time, but that doesn’t mean the pain is serious.

   

   

   

• Resting for more than a day or two may make the problem worse - your back needs a lot of movement so the sooner you get moving the better.

   

   

   

• Do use something to control the pain such as paracetamol. Heat and cold can also be used. In the first 48 hours try a cold pack on the sore area for five to 10 minutes at a time. Something hot like a hot water bottle can also help. Be realistic about treatments that involve machines or equipment or manipulation. There is no quick fix.

   

   

   

• Anxiety and stress can make pain worse. Exercise can reduce this but you might also consider relaxation exercises.

   

   

   

• Some people find that a firmer mattress helps - you could try a sheet of chipboard under the mattress.

   

   

   

• Remember: do not stay in one position for too long, move a little further and faster each day and don’t stop doing things.

   

   

   

• For more help and information, visit www.workingbacksscotland.scot.nhs.uk

   

  BackCare, the charity for healthier backs, also has a helpline on 0845 130 2704 and a website at www.backcare.org.uk.

   

   

• Balance yoga studio is 118 Napiershall Street, Glasgow. 0141 332 8800 or visit www.balance.co.uk