How to practice yoga if you have glaucoma

Glaucoma is an eye disease in which the optic nerve is damaged due to increased intraocular pressure. The cause of pathology can not always be established.

If glaucoma is not treated, it can lead to blindness. Some patients in the presence of this disease are treated with a regular application of special drops, while others show surgical treatment.

Glaucoma and Yoga

People with glaucoma who practice yoga, doctors recommend not taking those asanas, under which the head is down, because it can lead to increased intraocular pressure. So, it is usually recommended to avoid a headstand or a rack on your hands.

Scientists Jessica Jassine, Gustavo de Moraes and Robert Ritch of the Institute of Glaucoma Research in New York conducted a small study in which they evaluated some other yoga postures in terms of their potential danger to patients with this vision pathology. They were interested in such poses as "dog face down", tilt forward standing, "plow" and feet up the wall. Two groups of subjects took part in the tests: half of them were diagnosed with glaucoma, and the other half acted as a control group.

Subjects were required to hold each pose for two minutes. Intraocular pressure was measured before the test as soon as they took a pose, after two minutes during the retention, immediately after returning to the home position and 10 minutes after the end of the exercise.

What were the results

Intraocular pressure in subjects from both groups increased as soon as they accepted yoga poses, however, during their retention the indices remained stable and did not change anymore.

10 minutes after returning to the initial position, intraocular pressure in people from both groups was still elevated, but in comparison with the initial values characteristic for each participant in the experiment, the deviation was insignificant. Interestingly, most of all the pressure indicators increased during the adoption of the pose "dog face down."

Recommendations from Dr. Ritch for people with diagnosed glaucoma

Dr. Robert Ritch is a professor of ophthalmology at the New York Medical College and a practicing surgeon. He believes that for people who have been diagnosed with glaucoma, it would be advisable to exclude the four poses described in the study from their training program. In the case of their implementation, yoga will not be useful for health, but rather will do much harm.

In addition, since many people have glaucoma remains untreated, the professor recommends that all people practicing different asanas be especially careful and do not overload the body during classes.

Can yoga provoke the development of glaucoma?

Dr. Ritch, based on his practice, notes that this is possible. Some of his patients practiced a ten-minute stand on their hands for several years before turning to him with their vision problems. However, the mechanism of the influence of these asanas on the development of glaucoma has not yet been established.