Published Paper Details:

Background: Patellofemoral pain is one of the most common clinical conditions presenting to clinicians who treat musculoskeletal conditions. Patellofemoral pain syndromes is a general terminology which suggests that damage exists beyond the articular cartilage. Patellar malalignment and/or abnormal patellar tracking is thought to be one of the primary precursors of patellofemoral joint pathology. Yoga is an ancient Indian science and way of life which talks about the origin of diseases. The dynamic component of asana strengthens the musculoskeletal framework and the static component relaxes the neuromuscular framework. Many studies have been conducted focusing on different open chain and closed chain kinetic exercises, manual therapy, dry needling, patellar taping and footwear correction. But no significant study has focused on the wholistic effects of yoga in patellofemoral pain syndromes. Hence, primary aim of this study is to find out Effect of Yoga Therapy in Patellofemoral pain syndromes. Methodology: 63 subjects fulfilling the inclusion and exclusion criteria were randomly allocated into two groups. Group A participants were given Yoga Therapy and Group B participants were given conventional physiotherapy exercises. The outcome measures included in the study were Numerical Pain Rating Scale (NPRS), Knee Osteoarthritis Outcome Survey- Patellofemoral Subscale (KOOS-PF) and Medical Outcome Study Questionnaire Short Form 36 (SF-36). Results: Independent t-test was used to find out the effectiveness of Yoga Therapy compared to that of conventional physiotherapy in Patellofemoral Pain Syndromes. Results for NPRS and KOOS-PF showed that p-value was less than 0.0001 that is highly significant at 95% confidence limits. For SF-36, physical function, energy and emotional wellbeing components showed highly significant p-vale<0.0001; social function, pain and general health components showed significant p-value<0.05 whereas role limitation due to physical function and emotional problem components showed no significant difference. Conclusion: Results of the present study indicate that an integrated Yoga Therapy program is effective to reduce level of pain and improve function in patients with Patellofemoral pain syndromes compared to that of conventional physiotherapy exercises. So, Yoga Therapy can be used as an adjunct to conventional physiotherapy exercises in management of Patellofemoral pain syndromes.