Yoga and conventional stretching both benefit patients with lower-back pain, a new study finds.

The study was published in the Archives of Internal Medicine and was funded by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine

Researchers studying the effects of yoga, conventional stretching and self-help books, followed 228 adults with chronic low-back pain in a 12 and 26 weeks study. The study results show that both Yoga and conventional stretching regiment benefits low-back pain. In addition, the researchers found yoga to be safe.

Physical activities that involves stretching, such as yoga and conventional exercise, provide benefits for people with moderate low-back pain.

More studies are needed to evaluate the usefulness of these treatment approaches for more severely impaired patients.