Effects of progressive muscle relaxation exercises and yoga on low back pain and insomnia among pregnant women visiting public healthcare facilities in Lahore

Volume 1
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2025
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Abstract

Chronic pain and insomnia are common and unbearable conditions that pointedly affect quality of life of an individual. Traditional pharmacological management usually results in limited long-term benefits and side effects, triggering exploration of non-pharmacological interventions. This experimental study compares effectiveness interventions, yoga and Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR), for reduction of pain and insomnia severity in pregnant ladies over 8 weeks. Both interventions were assessed using the Numeric Pain Rating Scale (NPRS) and the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI). Participants were randomly divided into two groups, Yoga (n=50) and PMR (n=50). Both interventions resulted in significant reductions in pain and insomnia scores, yoga group demonstrated more substantial improvements, with a mean pre-treatment NPRS score of 8.44 ± 1.24 reducing to 1.42 ± 1.10 post-treatment (mean difference = 7.02, p = 0.000) and a mean ISI score of 23.02 ± 2.04 reducing to 10.02 ± 2.05 (mean difference = 13.02, p = 0.000). In contrast, PMR group showed a mean pre-treatment NPRS score of 8.92 ± 1.16, reducing to 5.62 ± 0.91 post-treatment (mean difference = 3.30, p = 0.000) and a mean ISI score of 23.83 ± 1.95 reducing to 16.70 ± 1.28 (mean difference = 7.13, p = 0.000). The study concluded that both interventions are beneficial in pain reduction and insomnia, yoga may offer superior therapeutic advantages in managing pain and insomnia.