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Pilates is the buzz word for
rehabilitation, building stomach muscles, getting fit and any number of
other things. Many of you may have decided to try it out in the New Year
as part of a resolution to get fit, lose that belly or reduce back pain
and improve posture.
Pilates classes are certainly full
of people who have back problems and who have been recommended to them
via an osteopath, physiotherapist or even a neurosurgeon. Pilates has a
reputation for strengthening the core abdominal muscles, and the term
‘core stability’ is regularly used in articles relating to exercise and
fitness regimes. What is core stability and why is it so important?
Researchers in Australia have found that the core relates to a group of
muscles which help support the back and the pelvic organs. They have
also found that these muscles function poorly in sufferers of back pain
and that important muscles are ‘switched off’ by even a short episode of
back pain and may never work again or even cease being muscle and turn
to fat. Pilates exercises help to train this supporting musculature.
Pain is an alert that something is
wrong in the body and back pain can be excruciating: in fact that level
of pain is rarely felt elsewhere in the body without there being
something seriously wrong. This can lead to the sufferer protecting
his/her back and not using it. Rest used to be the prescribed treatment
for lower back pain, and in my father’s day sufferers frequently lay
down on a hard surface for 6 weeks until the ’back healed itself’. Some
people were even put into plaster casts and hospitalised; others were
put on prolonged traction. All these treatments have been discarded as
research showed it was much better to keep active and maintain as normal
a lifestyle as possible. In fact the treatment of the moment for simple
back pain is anti-inflammatories, pain killers and occasionally muscle
relaxants. In theory, reducing the pain facilitates movement and helps
to restore normal function quicker. Unfortunately, painkillers and anti-inflammatories
do not always relieve the pain and neither do they help the sufferer
understand why he has back pain, what is causing the pain and what he
can do to relieve it.
Best practice involves intervening
before six weeks of pain in order to stop the condition becoming
chronic, and back pain sufferers are often referred by a GP or surgeon
to a back specialist such as an osteopath, physiotherapist or
chiropractor at this stage, where they are carefully examined and
assessed and treated or occasionally referred on.
Once a diagnosis has been
established and treatment commenced, Pilates is often either suggested
as a form of maintenance, or incorporated into the treatment sessions in
my case.
I include Pilates in my treatment
sessions because I have found that by training the core muscles to
function correctly I can not only relieve the back pain, but also put in
place an exercise programme which could help prevent further episodes.
Pilates does not replace treatment, because it is very important to
understand the cause of the pain, rule out less benign conditions and
restore the balance between flexibility and stability in the spine.
People who are in pain are not using their muscular system optimally
which led to the pain in the first place. I like the analogy of a car;
if you drive the car with the steering out of alignment the tyres wear
unevenly. If you just replace the tyres without adjusting the steering
then the problem will continue. The pelvis is the equivalent to the
steering, and the back and its muscles relate to the tyres in the body;
the pelvis needs adjusting to reduce the wear in the back. It is a sad
fact that we spend more time and money on our cars than our bodies and
yet our bodies are irreplaceable, regular ‘servicing’ of our backs could
reduce damage in the long term, and this is where treatment and Pilates
come into their own. Note that Pilates and Osteopathy are mutually
beneficial, but not mutually exclusive.
When attending a Pilates class,
always check that the instructor has attended an accredited course such
as Body Control Pilates or Polestar. Please ensure that they understand
your condition. Do not do exercises which hurt - ask for modifications,
do not attempt advanced exercises which are beyond your capability -
keep within your abilities. The best classes keep the exercises simple,
involving a lot of repetition, so that the body learns the movement
correctly before advancing to the next stage. Timing of the recruitment
of various muscles is very important to their function in supporting and
moving the back, and performing too complex exercises can lead us back
into using the muscles incorrectly. You should not be in pain after a
class. You should feel more supple and relaxed.
Regular lunchtime classes for back
pain sufferers, or for the public
who want to learn how to improve their posture, breathing and movement,
are now available in Beaconsfield and High Wycombe. Call now and start
looking after your back on 01494 880649. |
