Hold it: yoga can cause as many injuries as other sport

 Yoga is more dangerous than previously thought and causes as many injuries as regular sports, a study has found.

The discipline is said to boost physical and mental well-being, but was found to cause musculoskeletal pain – mostly in the arms – in more than one in 10 participants.

The scientists behind the research, which was published in the Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies, also found that the practice worsened over a fifth of existing injuries.

Prof Evangelos Pappas, of Sydney University, the study’s lead researcher, said: “Yoga may be a bit more dangerous than previously thought.

“Our study found the incidence of pain caused by yoga is more than 10 per cent per year, which is comparable to the rate of all sports injuries combined among the physically active population.

“However, people consider it to be a very safe activity. This injury rate is up to 10 times higher than has previously been reported.”

His team assessed more than 350 people who attended yoga classes at two studios over one year in New York. The study found that most “new” yoga pain was in the upper extremities – shoulder, elbow, wrist, hand – possibly due to downward dog and similar postures that put weight on the upper limbs.