After months of agonizing back pain, Suellen Rinker was at a loss.
A surgeon suggested a range of options: painkillers, medication injected into the spine, back surgery. An MRI scan revealed a herniated spinal disk, and the pain, like a stabbing ice pick, filled her days with misery and robbed her nights of sleep.
“I was taking massive amounts of ibuprofen,” the 51-year-old Portland woman says. “I did have one of the spinal shots. It wasn’t particularly effective.”
Suspicious of surgery, Rinker decided to try a therapy her surgeon hadn’t offered but her primary care physician enthusiastically endorsed: yoga. Working one-on-one with a physical therapist yoga instructor, Rinker learned to practice three simple stretching positions along with breathing exercises and meditation. After about a month of daily practice, Rinker no longer felt crippled by back pain.
“Now I’m back to hiking. I went snowshoeing this winter,” she says.