Curr Rev Musculoskelet Med (2008) 1:39–47 DOI 10.1007/s12178-007-9004-1 Yoga and pilates in the management of low back pain Susan Sorosky Æ Sonja Stilp Æ Venu Akuthota Published online: 6 November 2007 Humana Press 2007 Abstract Many interventions for the management of low back pain exist, however most have modest efﬁcacy at best, and there are few with clearly demonstrated beneﬁts once pain becomes chronic. Therapeutic exercise, on the other hand, does appear to have signiﬁcant beneﬁts for managing patients with chronic low back pain (CLBP) in terms of decreasing pain and improving function. In addition, because chronic pain is complex and does not ﬁt a simple model, there have also been numerous trials investigating and demonstrating the efﬁcacy of multidisciplinary pain programs for CLBP. It follows that interventions that treat more than one aspect of LBP would have signiﬁcant ben- eﬁts for this patient population. Yoga and Pilates which have, both been gaining in popularity over the last decade are two mind–body exercise interventions that address both the physical and mental aspects of pain with core strengthening, ﬂexibility, and relaxation. There has been a slow evolution of these nontraditional exercise regimens into treatment paradigms for LBP, although few studies S. Sorosky (&) Desert Pain Institute, Phoenix, AZ, USA e-mail: ssorosky@cox.net S. Sorosky Midwestern University, Glendale, AZ, USA S. Stilp Boulder Orthopedics, Boulder, CO, USA S. Stilp V. Akuthota Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of Colorado School of Medicine, New York, USA V. Akuthota The Spine Center at the University of Colorado Hospital, Aurora, CO, USA examining their effects have been published. The following article will focus on the scientiﬁc and theoretical basis of using yoga and Pilates in the management of CLBP. Keywords Low back pain Yoga Pilates Therapeutic exercise Core strengthening Rehabilitation Many interventions for the management of low back pain exist, however most have modest efﬁcacy at best, and there are few with clearly demonstrated beneﬁts once pain becomes chronic. Therapeutic exercise, on the other hand, does appear to have signiﬁcant beneﬁts for managing patients with chronic low back pain (CLBP). In a system- atic review of the literature evaluating exercise therapy for non-speciﬁc CLBP, the authors concluded therapeutic exercise is effective in decreasing pain and improving function in this patient population [1]. Studies examining speciﬁc exercise techniques for LBP including core strengthening have reported even more promising results. In addition, because chronic pain presents with many facets and does not ﬁt a simple model, there have also been numerous trials investigating and demonstrating the efﬁ- cacy of multidisciplinary pain programs for CLBP. It follows that interventions that treat more than one aspect of LBP would have signiﬁcant beneﬁts for this patient pop- ulation. Yoga and Pilates which have both been gaining in popularity over the last decade are two mind–body exercise interventions that address both the physical and mental aspects of pain with core strengthening, ﬂexibility and relaxation. There has been a slow evolution of these non- traditional exercise regimens into treatment paradigms for LBP, although few studies examining their effects have been published. The following article will focus on the