Yoga for persistent pain: new findings and directions for an ancient practice.

Currently, many clinicians treating persistent pain hear about the benefits of yoga from patients who frequent yoga centers. However, pain clinicians and researchers may not be aware of randomized controlled studies examining the efficacy of yoga for managing persistent pain. The purpose of this review is to highlight recent studies that shed light on the potential role that yoga can play in pain management for a range of conditions that can be chronically painful. The review is divided into 3 sections: a description of the basic components of yoga-based protocols for pain; a review of 9 of the 13 randomized studies located that test the efficacy of yoga for persistent pain; and a discussion of key clinical issues and future directions for yoga-based pain research and practice.