10 Common Yoga injuries (Prevention & Treatment)

The 10 injuries yoga practitioners run into most: muscle strains, wrist and ankle sprains, upper and lower back pain, tendonitis and knee damage.

Pushing too far into a pose also causes shoulder dislocations, stress fractures, herniated discs and neck injuries, and each entry explains what brings it on and how to practice around it.

Injury Rates and Numbers

The figures below come from injury surveillance data and peer reviewed studies. Each row names the population it was measured in, because rates from elite athletes and from recreational players are not comparable.

Finding	Measured in	Source
US hospital emergency departments treated 29,590 yoga-related injuries from 2001 through 2014.	US yoga practitioners treated in hospital emergency departments, 2001 to 2014	Swain TA, McGwin G. Yoga-Related Injuries in the United States From 2001 to 2014. Orthop J Sports Med. 2016;4(11)
The trunk was the most frequently injured body region in yoga related emergency department visits, making up 46.6 percent of cases.	US yoga practitioners treated in hospital emergency departments, 2001 to 2014	Swain TA, McGwin G. Yoga-Related Injuries in the United States From 2001 to 2014. Orthop J Sports Med. 2016;4(11)
Among yoga practitioners aged 65 and older, the emergency department injury rate reached 57.9 per 100,000 in 2014, far above younger age groups.	US yoga practitioners aged 65 and older, 2014	Swain TA, McGwin G. Yoga-Related Injuries in the United States From 2001 to 2014. Orthop J Sports Med. 2016;4(11)
A meta-analysis of 94 randomized controlled trials with 8,430 participants found no difference in serious adverse events between yoga and usual care or exercise.	participants in yoga randomized controlled trials worldwide, trials published 1975 to 2014	Cramer H et al. The Safety of Yoga: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials. Am J Epidemiol. 2015

Overview

Injury	Body area	Typical time out
Strains (muscles, neck, hamstring, ankles, knees)	Muscles and tendons	2 to 12 weeks, months if severe
Sprains (wrist, ankle)	Wrist and ankle	1 to 8 weeks, 3 months if torn
Upper and lower back pain	Spine	2 to 6 weeks, longer if chronic
Tendonitis	Tendons	6 weeks to 6 months
Dislocations (shoulder)	Shoulder	3 to 6 months
Fractures (stress)	Bone	6 weeks to 3 months or more
Herniated discs	Lower back	6 weeks to 6 months
Knee injuries (e.g., ACL tear)	Knee	2 weeks to 12 months after surgery
Neck injuries	Neck	1 to 12 weeks
Wrist injuries	Hand and wrist	2 to 12 weeks, 3 months if fractured

Strains (muscles, neck, hamstring, ankles, knees)

A strain is a tear in muscle fibers or in the tendon that anchors the muscle to bone. In yoga the classic site is the proximal hamstring tendon at the sitting bone, loaded when you fold forward with a straight leg and let the pelvis tip while the hamstrings are already at end range. Neck, calf and adductor strains follow the same pattern: a lengthened muscle is asked to hold or push at the very end of its range.

Symptoms

• A sudden pulling or tearing sensation during a deep stretch
• Sharp local pain that you can point to with one finger
• Pain when you contract the muscle, not only when you stretch it
• Swelling or bruising over the next day or two in more severe tears
• A deep ache at the sitting bone when you sit on a hard surface

How serious it is: Strains are graded 1 to 3: grade 1 is a minor fiber tear with full strength, grade 2 a partial tear with clear weakness and often bruising, grade 3 a complete rupture or tendon avulsion from the bone. High hamstring tendon injuries sit in their own category because they heal slowly even when the tear is partial.

Typical time out: Two to four weeks of modified practice for a grade 1 strain, six to twelve weeks for a grade 2, and four to six months or longer for a complete tear or a proximal hamstring tendon injury, which is slow because the tendon has poor blood supply and every forward fold reloads it.

See a doctor if: See a clinician if you felt a pop with immediate bruising and cannot contract the muscle, or if pain sits deep at the sitting bone and does not settle after several weeks.

What helps

• Keep moving within a pain limit instead of resting completely: gentle range of motion in the first days protects the healing tissue from stiffening
• Load the muscle progressively as pain allows, starting with isometric holds and moving to slow lengthening work
• Drop passive end range stretching of the injured muscle for several weeks, since pulling on a fresh tear is what keeps it irritated
• Bend the knee slightly in forward folds and hinge from the hip rather than rounding into the stretch
• Get physical therapy guidance if strength is still down after four to six weeks, and imaging if you suspect a complete tear

Sprains (wrist, ankle)

A sprain is a stretch or tear of the ligaments that hold a joint together. At the wrist it usually involves the ligaments on the little finger side or the scapholunate ligament, loaded when you bear body weight on an extended wrist in plank, chaturanga or an arm balance. At the ankle it is typically the lateral ligaments, injured when the foot rolls under you in a standing balance or as you step back into a lunge.

Symptoms

• Pain right at the joint line rather than in the muscle
• Swelling that appears within a few hours
• A feeling that the joint gives way or cannot be trusted with weight
• Pain when you load the joint in the position that caused it
• Bruising along the side of the ankle a day or two later

How serious it is: Ligament sprains use the same three grades: grade 1 is stretched fibers with a stable joint, grade 2 a partial tear with some laxity, grade 3 a complete tear with obvious instability. Wrist sprains that involve the scapholunate ligament are more serious than the grade suggests because the carpal bones can shift.

Typical time out: One to three weeks for a grade 1 sprain, four to eight weeks for a grade 2, and three months or more for a complete tear or one that needs surgical repair. Wrist ligament injuries often take longer than expected because most weight bearing poses reload the joint.

See a doctor if: Get it checked if you cannot put weight on the ankle for four steps, if there is bone tenderness over the malleolus, or if the wrist stays swollen and clicks weeks later.

What helps

• Start controlled weight bearing early rather than immobilizing for weeks: ankles recover faster with early loading
• Use balance and proprioception work for the ankle, single leg standing poses first with support, then without
• Take weight off the wrist with fists, forearms or a wedge under the heel of the hand, and spread the load across the whole palm instead of the wrist crease
• Tape or brace the joint for the first weeks back so you can practice without repeating the mechanism
• Ask for imaging if wrist pain sits at the base of the thumb or between the carpal bones and does not settle

Upper and lower back pain

Most yoga back pain is a mechanical irritation of the spinal joints, the small facet joints at the back of each segment, and the muscles and fascia around them. Deep backbends compress the facets at the lower lumbar levels, and repeated end range flexion in seated forward folds loads the discs and the long back extensors. Upper back and rib pain often comes from twisting with the arm levered against a knee.

Symptoms

• A dull ache across the low back that builds during or after practice
• Pain that is worse in the exact position that provoked it, backbends or deep folds
• Stiffness in the morning that eases with gentle movement
• A band of tightness or catching between the shoulder blades
• Pain on one side when you twist toward that side

How serious it is: Simple mechanical back pain has no leg symptoms and improves within weeks. It becomes more serious when pain runs below the knee, when there is numbness or weakness, or when it does not vary with position at all.

Typical time out: Most episodes settle within two to six weeks with modified practice rather than full rest. Pain that has been present for months behaves differently and may take three to six months to improve, because the driver is usually accumulated load and movement habits rather than one injury.

See a doctor if: Seek care promptly for numbness in the groin or saddle area, loss of bladder or bowel control, leg weakness, or back pain with fever or unexplained weight loss.

What helps

• Keep practicing in a reduced form: staying active beats resting for mechanical back pain
• Cut the depth of backbends and lift from the upper back and hips rather than hinging at one lumbar segment
• Bend the knees in forward folds and hinge at the hip so the spine does not round under load
• Add trunk endurance work, side plank and slow controlled extension holds, since the back tolerates load better when it is strong
• See a physical therapist if pain keeps returning to the same spot every practice, and do not rush to imaging for uncomplicated back pain

Tendonitis

What used to be called tendonitis is now usually described as tendinopathy, because the tendon is not simply inflamed: the collagen becomes disorganized and the tendon reacts to load it is not conditioned for. In yoga this hits the wrist extensor tendons from weight bearing on the hands, the rotator cuff tendons from repeated chaturanga, and the hamstring tendon at the sitting bone from constant folding.

Symptoms

• Pain that warms up at the start of practice and returns worse afterward
• Tenderness at one spot on the tendon rather than a broad area
• Stiffness for the first minutes after sitting or sleeping
• Pain when the muscle contracts against resistance
• Grip or push up strength that quietly drops off

How serious it is: Early reactive tendinopathy is painful but responds quickly to a change in load. A long standing degenerative tendon has structural change on imaging, hurts less predictably, and takes months of graded loading. Sudden loss of function after a pop suggests a rupture rather than tendinopathy.

Typical time out: Six to twelve weeks of adapted practice for a recently irritated tendon, three to six months or more for one that has been painful for over three months, because tendon tissue adapts slowly and only responds to progressive load.

See a doctor if: Get it assessed if you felt a snap followed by weakness, if pain wakes you at night, or if the tendon has been painful for more than three months despite modifying practice.

What helps

• Reduce the provoking load without stopping entirely: tendons get worse with complete rest
• Build up with isometric holds first, then slow heavy loading with a deliberate lengthening phase, which is the best supported treatment for tendinopathy
• Cut the number of chaturangas or vinyasas per class and add them back gradually over weeks
• Do not chase a stretch on a painful tendon, since compression at the insertion is often what aggravates it
• Treat a corticosteroid injection as an exception, not a first step: it can ease pain briefly but outcomes for tendinopathy are worse in the longer term

Dislocations (shoulder)

A dislocation means the head of the humerus leaves the shallow glenoid socket, usually forward and downward, tearing the labrum and stretching the capsule as it goes. In yoga the risk position is the arm held out and rotated back under load, for example in a bound pose, a deep wheel or when catching yourself falling out of an arm balance. People with naturally loose joints can subluxate with far less force.

Symptoms

• Immediate severe pain with the arm held out from the body and unwilling to move
• A visibly squared off shoulder with the round contour lost
• A sensation that the shoulder slipped out and back in
• Numbness or tingling down the outer upper arm
• Ongoing apprehension when the arm is raised and rotated back

How serious it is: A first time full dislocation needs professional reduction and often tears the labrum. A subluxation slips partly out and returns on its own. Recurrence risk is highest in younger practitioners and in those with generalized joint hypermobility.

Typical time out: Twelve to sixteen weeks before full weight bearing on the arm after a first dislocation, and four to six months or more after surgical stabilization. The range is wide because it depends on whether the labrum or the bony rim was damaged.

See a doctor if: Go to emergency care immediately for a shoulder that is deformed, locked, or accompanied by numbness or a cold, pale hand.

What helps

• Have a first dislocation reduced by a professional rather than trying to relocate it yourself
• Use a short period of sling support for comfort, then start guided motion within days rather than weeks
• Rebuild the rotator cuff and scapular muscles under supervision before returning to any load bearing on the hands
• Avoid the apprehension position, arm out and externally rotated, for the first months back
• Discuss surgical stabilization if the shoulder dislocates repeatedly, especially at a young age

Fractures (stress)

A stress fracture is a small crack that appears when bone is loaded repeatedly faster than it can remodel. In yoga the sites that matter are the pars interarticularis of the lower lumbar vertebrae, irritated by repeated deep backbends in younger practitioners, and the metatarsals or ribs in people who combine yoga with running or who have low bone density. Older practitioners with osteoporosis can also compress a vertebra during a deep forward fold.

Symptoms

• Pain that starts late in practice and gradually appears earlier each session
• A small, precisely located area of tenderness on the bone
• Low back pain on one side that is worse when you arch back and stand on one leg
• Pain that continues after you stop and hurts when you walk on it
• Night ache in the affected bone in more advanced cases

How serious it is: Early bone stress reaction hurts only during activity and settles fast with load reduction. A true fracture line hurts with everyday walking, and fractures on the tension side of a bone, or a vertebral compression fracture, need medical management rather than a training adjustment.

Typical time out: Six to eight weeks for a low risk stress fracture, three months or more for a lumbar pars fracture or a high risk site, and longer again if low bone density, low energy availability or absent menstrual periods are part of the picture and go unaddressed.

See a doctor if: Get medical assessment for bone pain that persists at rest or at night, or for sudden mid back pain after a fold in anyone with known osteoporosis.

What helps

• Stop the loading pattern that causes the pain, since a stress fracture is the one injury where continuing does real damage
• Get imaging early: plain X rays often miss stress fractures, so MRI is usually the useful test
• Keep general fitness with non loading movement while the bone heals
• Look at the whole picture with a clinician: energy intake, vitamin D, calcium, menstrual status and bone density all change healing
• Return in stages with a gradual weekly increase in load rather than going straight back to the previous volume

Herniated discs

The intervertebral disc has a tough outer ring and a soft center. When the ring is compromised, the inner material can push outward and press on or chemically irritate a nearby nerve root. Loaded end range flexion is the aggravating pattern, so long seated forward folds, rounded roll ups from standing and twisting while flexed are the yoga movements most often involved.

Symptoms

• Pain that travels from the back into the buttock and down the leg past the knee
• Numbness, pins and needles or burning in a strip of the leg or foot
• Weakness such as a foot that catches on the ground or a leg that gives way on stairs
• Worse pain when sitting, coughing or bending forward
• Relief when standing, walking or lying down

How serious it is: Most herniations cause leg pain that improves over weeks to months as the disc material resorbs. It is more serious when there is progressive muscle weakness, and it is an emergency when both legs are involved or there is numbness in the saddle area with bladder or bowel changes.

Typical time out: Six to twelve weeks for most people to get back to a modified practice, and three to six months or more before deep flexion and twisting feel reliable again. Surgery is needed in a minority of cases and adds several months.

See a doctor if: Seek emergency care for numbness in the groin or saddle region, loss of bladder or bowel control, or a leg that is becoming visibly weaker.

What helps

• Stay upright and walking regularly, which most people find eases leg pain more than lying down
• Find the direction that reduces the leg symptoms, often gentle extension, and practice in that direction for the first weeks
• Cut out long seated forward folds and rounded roll ups until leg symptoms have gone, then rebuild flexion slowly
• Work with a physical therapist on hip mobility and trunk endurance so the lower lumbar segments do less of the bending
• Save imaging and injections for cases with severe or progressive symptoms, since disc bulges are common on scans in people with no pain at all

Knee injuries (e.g., ACL tear)

The knee is a hinge that tolerates very little rotation, so yoga trouble usually comes from twisting the joint while the foot is fixed. That loads the medial meniscus and the medial collateral ligament in deep cross legged and lotus positions, and irritates the kneecap tendon in long low lunges and deep squats. A true anterior cruciate ligament tear is uncommon in yoga and needs a real pivoting force with the foot planted.

Symptoms

• Pain along the inner joint line when you fold the leg into a cross legged position
• Swelling that fills the joint within hours after a twisting incident
• Catching, locking or a click as you straighten the knee
• A giving way feeling when you turn on a loaded leg
• Pain under the kneecap in deep lunges and when going down stairs

How serious it is: Collateral ligament injuries follow grades 1 to 3 by how much the joint opens up. Meniscal irritation from repeated deep flexion is a load problem and usually settles, while a locked knee that will not fully straighten suggests a mechanical block. A cruciate tear produces early swelling and rotational instability and needs orthopedic assessment.

Typical time out: Two to six weeks for a mild collateral strain or an irritated meniscus, eight to twelve weeks for a grade 2 ligament injury, and nine to twelve months to full function after cruciate reconstruction.

See a doctor if: Get it examined if the knee swelled up within a few hours, locks so you cannot straighten it, or buckles when you turn.

What helps

• Rotate at the hip, not the knee: turn the whole thigh outward before folding the leg in and never force the foot into lotus
• Sit on a block or bolster so the hips are above the knees, which cuts the rotational strain in cross legged sitting
• Build quadriceps and hip strength, since a strong leg protects the joint far better than a flexible one
• Cool the joint briefly in the first hours if it is painful, then get it moving through a comfortable range
• See a clinician early for a swollen or locking knee rather than stretching through it

Neck injuries

The cervical spine carries the head, not the body. Headstand, shoulder stand and plow put body weight through vertebrae, discs and small facet joints that are not built for it, and the deep neck flexors usually cannot hold the head steady long enough. Turning the head at end range while under load, as in some twists and in shoulder stand, adds shear that the joints and the vertebral arteries do not tolerate well.

Symptoms

• Stiffness and one sided ache after inversions
• Pain at the base of the skull that spreads into a headache
• Reduced ability to turn the head to one side
• Tingling or numbness down one arm or into the fingers
• A feeling of pressure in the head during shoulder stand

How serious it is: Most neck pain from yoga is joint and muscle irritation that settles within weeks. Arm symptoms suggest nerve root involvement and take longer. Sudden severe neck pain with dizziness, visual change or slurred speech after an inversion is a medical emergency, not a strain.

Typical time out: One to four weeks for simple irritation, six to twelve weeks when a nerve root is involved and arm symptoms are present, and longer if inversions are resumed before the neck can hold load without pain.

See a doctor if: Get urgent care for neck pain with dizziness, double vision, slurred speech or facial numbness, and prompt assessment for weakness or numbness in the arm or hand.

What helps

• Leave out headstand, shoulder stand and plow entirely while symptoms are present, and rebuild from supported alternatives such as legs up the wall
• Take the weight into the forearms and shoulders in any inversion so the head is not carrying the body
• Train the deep neck flexors and the mid back so the head is supported rather than balanced
• Never turn the head while the neck is loaded, for example during shoulder stand
• See a clinician if arm symptoms appear, and ask about imaging only if symptoms persist or worsen

Wrist injuries

Weight bearing in downward dog, plank and arm balances pushes the wrist into full extension while it carries a large share of body weight, compressing the small carpal bones on the back of the joint and loading the extensor tendons and the ligaments on the little finger side. Repeated vinyasas add up quickly, and the median nerve can also be irritated inside the carpal tunnel by long holds in extension.

Symptoms

• Pain across the back of the wrist crease when you bear weight on the hand
• Aching that lingers after class and returns faster each time
• Weakness in grip, for example opening jars
• Numbness or tingling in the thumb, index and middle finger
• A click or catch when you rotate the forearm

How serious it is: Load related wrist pain that eases when you change hand position is a training problem and responds to modification. Pain in the hollow at the base of the thumb after a fall onto the hand can mean a scaphoid fracture, which is easy to miss and serious if untreated.

Typical time out: Two to six weeks of modified practice for irritation from overload, six to twelve weeks for a ligament injury, and three months or more for a scaphoid fracture, which heals slowly because of its blood supply.

See a doctor if: Get an assessment for wrist pain after a fall onto an outstretched hand, especially tenderness in the hollow at the base of the thumb, and for numbness that wakes you at night.

What helps

• Spread the fingers wide and press through the knuckles so the load is shared instead of collapsing into the wrist crease
• Use fists, a wedge or forearm variations to reduce the extension angle while the wrist is sore
• Cut the number of vinyasas per class and add them back gradually over several weeks
• Strengthen the wrist and forearm with progressive loading rather than only stretching it
• Ask for imaging after any fall onto the hand, since scaphoid fractures often look normal on the first X ray

First Aid for Soft Tissue Injuries: PEACE and LOVE

Sports medicine has moved on from RICE. The current guidance, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine in 2019, splits care into the first days after the injury and everything that follows.

PEACE, the first two to three days

• Protect: unload the area and limit movement that hurts, but only briefly.
• Elevate: keep the limb above heart level when you can.
• Avoid anti-inflammatories: they may blunt the healing you need.
• Compress: a bandage or taping limits swelling.
• Educate: your body heals this on its own; passive treatments rarely speed it up.

LOVE, from day three onward

• Load: return to movement as pain allows, early loading builds tissue.
• Optimism: expectations shape recovery more than most people assume.
• Vascularization: easy cardio that does not hurt brings blood to the area.
• Exercise: restore strength, mobility and balance before returning to play.

Ice still helps with pain in the first hours. What changed is the evidence that long icing and routine anti-inflammatory drugs slow tissue repair.

How to Lower Your Risk in Yoga

• Cap the weight your hands carry. Count the vinyasas in a class and build them up over weeks rather than jumping into a daily practice, because wrist and shoulder tendons adapt far more slowly than your flexibility does.
• Treat inversions as a strength skill. Only load the head and neck once the shoulders can hold your weight, and use forearm or wall supported versions in the meantime instead of shoulder stand and plow.
• Rotate the hip before you fold the knee. In cross legged sitting, lotus and pigeon, turn the whole thigh outward and sit up on a block so the knee is not asked to twist under load.
• Distribute backbends across the whole spine. Lift through the upper back and open the front of the hips instead of hinging repeatedly at the same one or two lower lumbar segments.
• Keep a soft bend in the knees during forward folds and hinge from the hip, which keeps the load off the hamstring tendon at the sitting bone and off the lumbar discs.
• Add strength work outside class. Yoga trains range of motion well but loads muscle relatively little, and a joint that is mobile without being strong is the one that gets injured.

When to Stop and Get Medical Help

Most of the injuries on this page are treated at home. These signs are not.

• A joint that looks deformed or out of place, or one you cannot move at all
• Numbness, tingling or weakness in an arm or leg that does not go away when you change position
• Numbness in the groin or saddle area, or loss of bladder or bowel control, which needs emergency care the same day
• Dizziness, double vision, slurred speech or facial numbness during or after an inversion
• Sudden severe pain with a pop, followed by inability to bear weight or contract the muscle
• A joint that swells within a few hours of an incident, or joint pain with fever

Sources

• Swain TA, McGwin G. Yoga-Related Injuries in the United States From 2001 to 2014. Orthop J Sports Med. 2016;4(11)
• Cramer H et al. The Safety of Yoga: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials. Am J Epidemiol. 2015

This article is general information, not medical advice. If you are hurt, a doctor or physiotherapist who can examine you is worth more than any web page. Last reviewed: August 2026.

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