Are you someone who always has back pain? After a long day at work or just a niggle at times?
Do you then “throw” your back out once a year looking for the earliest physio/osteo/chiro/myotherapy appointment available for some relief? Have you been told your issues are lack of core support, pelvic stability, muscular imbalances, poor posture or lack of body awareness?
Does this sound familiar?? What if I told you there was a simple solution to help combat your pain and there is a whole world of people exactly like you who are now preaching its name.
Clinical Pilates
You may have heard of it, your friends might have tried it, but you’re not convinced? How will it help my back when nothing seems to fix it you might ask?
Well, general conditioning to help strengthen and build endurance in spinal muscles has been researched and shown to reduce pain intensity and disability caused from back pain. Pilates is a unique approach to training mind-body awareness, control of movement and postural asymmetries which all cause your pain. The equipment used in Pilates provides an opportunity to train a variety of movement patterns and postures which you may not otherwise be able to do with your normal gym equipment.
Over time our bodies can adapt to certain postures and compensate in different ways eventually causing pain. Pilates can help to activate specific muscles which help to change postures and stabilises the lumbar-pelvic region (the lower back). Improving posture, controlling movement and building stability in spinal segments it can help to reduce the re-occurrence and severity of your back pain.
Still think it isn’t going to work? Why don’t you try and prove us wrong by trying it? As always they key to success is consistency and change does not happen over night. You will have to attend classes regularly and you will need to make your health a priority.
Alexandra Walker Physiotherapist
