Assessment of cutaneous blood microcirculation changes while performing hatha yoga inverted pose using a distributed system of wearable analyzers

Introduction. This study aimed to assess blood microcirculation changes in the skin of the forehead, cheeks and lower extremities before, during and after performing a yoga inverted pose, using wearable laser Doppler flowmetry analyzers in healthy volunteers.

Materials and methods. The study involved 25 volunteers, with an average age of 37 [35–44] years. Blood microcirculation changes were evaluated by laser Doppler flowmetry using six LAZMA PF wireless wearable devices, placed in pairs on the supraorbital artery regions of the forehead, cheeks and on the first toes of the feet, symmetrically on the right and left. A three-phase study protocol included a supine position before the inverted pose (6 minutes), the inverted pose (3 minutes), and a supine position after the inverted pose (6 minutes). Measurements included the index of microcirculation (Im), nutritive blood flow (Imn), the amplitude of endothelial (Ae), neurogenic (An), myogenic (Am), respiratory (Ar) and cardiac (Ac) oscillations for each investigated area.

Results. Transitioning from the supine position to the inverted pose increases the forehead Im by 21.7 %; when returning to the supine position, Im decreases but remains significantly above the baseline. Imn in the forehead area remains stable. Ae, An, Am and Ac before and after the inversion show no significant changes. Ar shows a statistically significant change while maintaining the median values. In the cheek area, when transitioning from the supine position to the inverted pose, there is a 35.6 % increase in Im, and upon returning to the supine position, Im continues to rise while Imn tends to increase. There is a significant increase in Ar (by 50 %) and Ac (by 42.9 %), as well as a tendency to increase Ae, An, Am. Im in the feet area decreases by 55.6 %, but after returning to the horizontal position, compared to the initial state, it increases by 27.4 % and Imn increases by 42.9 %. There is a statistically significant increase in Ae (by 28.6 %), Am (by 40 %), Ar (by 50 %) and Ac (by 50 %).

Conclusion. Findings revealed significant impacts of the inversion position on the blood microcirculation in all investigated areas. The index of microcirculation significantly increases after performing the inverted pose both in the skin of the forehead and cheeks. However, the respiratory and cardiac oscillation amplitudes increases only in the skin of the cheeks, without changing significantly or with a median shift in the forehead skin, which confirms the peculiarities of microcirculatory regulation in the supraorbital artery area. In the toe skin after performing the inverted position, the index of microcirculation and nutritive blood flow, as well as the amplitudes of myogenic, respiratory and cardiac oscillations of tissue perfusion increase significantly. We can assume that inverted yoga poses may be beneficial in clinical practice for rehabilitating individuals with lower extremity circulatory disorders.

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