For a truly healthy spine, everyone (including yoga practitioner and athlete) must eventually turn to Ayurveda and the Ayurvedic principles of self care, with a view to cleansing, maintaining and lubricating the spine and ensuring its mobility and flexibility as we age. Ayurveda and yoga are twin tools for spinal maintenance. Just as a car needs maintenance, so also does the body and mind. Ayurveda addresses both. We need to take care of our spine, as it governs the connections to every other part of our body.

Most Ayurveda-based programs for treating spine and neck conditions involve treatments to detoxify the body. The presence of toxins in the body, lodged in various difficult to reach places, is often responsible for inflammation, stiffness and weakness, which we experience as back pain, neck pain, joint pain and other forms of pain. So detoxification is often the starting point or foundation for eliminating back pain. Detoxification is achieved in Ayurveda through a combination of internal and external treatments. Internal treatments involve consuming certain herbal medicines. External treatments involve special massages, baths, scrubs and other physical treatments. Finally, no pain relief program is complete or sustainable without the practice of yoga. Yoga is a necessary part of Ayurveda. It accelerates the process of detoxification; calms the mind; improves posture, mobility, and flexibility; and helps us to strengthen the body, particularly the lower back.