Yoga Injuries: What Studies Found and How Common They Are

Questions about yoga injuries are old: one major review notes that yoga's safety "has been questioned in the lay press."[1] This page sets out what the research actually counted. In short, minor injuries are common, serious ones are uncommon, and the figures change a lot depending on how a study asked. Overall evidence strength: mixed, because it rests mostly on self-reports and records rather than controlled comparisons. For a quick summary and links to related safety pages, see Yoga Safety.

Why the numbers differ

Studies count different things: injuries during a single class, in the past 12 months, or at any time in a person's life. A review of nine observational studies (9,129 yoga practitioners) found an adverse event in 22.7% of people during a class setting, a 12-month prevalence of 4.6%, and a lifetime prevalence ranging from 21.3% to 61.8%. Serious events occurred in 1.9%.[2] A small Finnish survey of 110 Ashtanga Vinyasa practitioners found that 62% reported at least one musculoskeletal injury, while a national Australian survey found that 78.7% of about 2,500 practitioners had never been injured in yoga.[3] Neither figure is "the" rate; they describe different groups and questions.

The main studies

Four of these sources share a lead author, Holger Cramer, so they are not fully independent of each other. The US emergency study reported no conflicts of interest.[5]

Who is hurt, and in what circumstances

• Age: in the US emergency data, the 2014 injury rate was 57.9 per 100,000 participants aged 65 and older, compared with 11.9 for ages 18 to 44.[5] NCCIH also notes higher emergency department rates in people 65 and older.[7]
• Style: in the German survey, power yoga users reported the highest rate, 1.50 injuries per 1,000 hours of practice, against 0.60 overall. Acute effects were less common with Kundalini yoga or Viniyoga.[4]
• Learning alone: practicing only by self-study without a teacher was linked to a higher risk of acute and chronic effects, as was having a chronic illness for chronic effects.[4] These are associations, and people who learn alone may differ in other ways.
• Poses: hand-, shoulder- and head stands were the practices most often linked to acute effects, followed by forward and backward bends and sitting positions.[4]
• Recovery: 76.9% of acute cases and 51.6% of chronic cases reached full recovery.[4]

What case reports add

A systematic review of case reports found 76 cases. About 35.5% affected the musculoskeletal system, 18.4% the nervous system and 11.8% the eyes. Headstand, shoulder stand, the lotus position and forceful breathing were the most often cited.[3] Case reports show that rare serious harms can happen. They cannot show how often. The authors noted that large prospective surveys are the best way to estimate rates, but such data are rare.[3]

For people with back pain, a Cochrane review found low-certainty evidence that yoga increased adverse events, mainly more back pain, compared with no exercise, and possibly the same risk as other exercise.[8]

Compared with other exercise

Based on injuries per 1,000 hours, the German survey authors concluded yoga appears as safe or safer than other exercise types.[4] NCCIH says the risk of injury is lower than for higher-impact physical activities.[7] These are indirect comparisons, not head-to-head trials.

What to do with this

Healthy people are not told to avoid yoga because of these figures; the review of observational studies concluded there is no need to discourage yoga practice for healthy people, and that people with serious acute or chronic illnesses should seek medical advice first.[2] See Common Yoga Injuries for body areas and Who Should Check With a Clinician Before Yoga for conditions.