Can Pilates Cure Your Back Pain?
You’ve probably tried just about everything for your back pain…
…there are too many options, too many choices. Including remedies your relatives and friends tell you about. Some of these remedies might actually be helpful, like taking a bath in mineral salts, or avoiding night-shade vegetables to decrease inflammation.
And some are just plain woo-woo.
How are you supposed to sort through the huge amount of treatment and therapy options that are available, when there’s so much conflicting information?
You certainly don’t have the time or the money to try absolutely everything. And trying everything will probably make your back worse in the long run anyway.
So what are you supposed to do?
Well first, realize that you’re a unique individual — there’s not another like you. There never has been, and there never will be again. You are the sum total of your unique genetics, experiences, beliefs, thought patterns, education, family history etc. etc., and your healing journey is unique to you, and you alone.
There’s no one “back pain cure” recipe out there that’s specific for YOU. Because YOU are unique.
There are, however, basic principles of healing that can guide your journey. Things like your nutrition, exercise and attitude have a direct affect on your health. If you’re putting crappy food into your body, your chances of healing your back pain are poor (just like putting bad gas in your car and expecting it to perform optimally); if you smoke, your back pain probably won’t resolve completely; if you think you can’t heal…you won’t.
Another principle is that your body responds to the movement and postural patterns that you’ve had for your lifetime. These patterns are often the cause of your back pain.
Any physical back pain program you do should incorporate your entire body — from feet to head, right to left, inside to outside.
If you’re working with a Physical Therapist, chiropractor, doctor, personal trainer, movement therapist, exercise physiologist, or any other practitioner who’s working with your physical structure, they should be working with your entire body — not just the parts that hurt.
In fact, the parts that hurt are just the symptoms…the real cause of your pain usually lies in your posture and movement patterns.
Here’s where Pilates can be very helpful, because Pilates addresses your whole body.
A P.T. friend of mine, Lise Stolze, is currently doing a research study on Pilates and low back pain. Her study was recently featured on the Denver local news >>> Pilates for low back pain study.
If watching this piece gets you fired up to try Pilates, you should know that there’s “Pilates”… and then there’s “Pilates for Rehabilitation”. Finding a highly trained Pilates practitioner can sometimes be like finding a needle in a haystack, especially if you live in a small community.
A good Pilates practitioner should have a comprehensive certification, and a minimum of 400 hours of education in Pilates specifically. They should also be educated in working with back pathologies and other diagnoses. Ideally, find a center where P.T.s and Pilates practitioners are working together.
And if your P.T. or instructor spends all their time focused on your back, without looking at the rest of you…run the other way!!
Leave me a comment about your experience with Pilates, or any other form of exercise — what are your frustrations about exercise and back pain? What tips or techniques do you want to know about?
I’m in the process of making a series of FREE videos, and I want to make sure you get the back pain information you need — so leave me a comment and I’ll get going on these right away. I’m here to help and support you.
To healing your back pain,
Lindy
I went to a chiropractor in November who actually hurt my back. I had never had back pain until she manipulated me. I have been in pain ever since. I have been seeing a PT twice a week and she has been doing electric stimulation, massage, ice and stretching etc. I started doing pilates on my own with a video from Exercise TV-Nicole Stewart. It has made a HUGE difference. I have been fortunate that a Pilates Instructor who is now an intern with our fire department is giving classes. She is teaching us twice a week and my back has never felt better. I actually feel better, more relaxed, taller and I have less pain in my back. When I stop doing it daily, I hurt. When I hurt, I don’t want to do the pilates. So I have to force myself which makes me feel better. It is a vicious circle. I wish I knew the best pilates exercises to help my back and which ones will hurt them.
Thanks for this insightful comment Michelle - Pilates can be wonderful for back pain when done correctly. And when your back is hurting, the last thing you want to do is “exercise”. It’s counter-intuitive to move when you’re hurting, but in most cases, movement is exactly what your back needs to help increase blood flow to the area so it can relax and heal. When your back is hurting, the best thing to do is gentle pelvic and low back movement before you do anything else. I’ve posted a few basic Pilates exercises with detailed explanation of what’s going on in your back here. Let me know if you find these helpful.