Back pain is a common problem and about half of all people who get back pain will have further episodes. Finding back injury exercises that don’t cause further pain may seem impossible sometimes, but there is hope in the form of Pilates. Pilates exercise is an exercise program that can provide relief for your back pain and even help prevent future episodes of back pain.
What is Pilates?
Pilates is a form of exercise that is designed to improve posture, balance, strength, flexibility and muscle tone. Pilates exercises aim to create a ‘stable core’ that provides support to the back and a strong base for movement. Strength is improved using small pieces of equipment, including exercise balls and resistance bands, gravity, or studio Pilates equipment such as a reformer or trapeze table.
Throughout Pilates exercises, the lower abdominal and pelvic floor muscles remain contracted, increasing their strength, and helping support the back.
Back Pain Pilates Exercise
Pilates has been found to reduce chronic back pain and the disability associated with back pain. These improvements are also maintained over a long period of time. Exercising in certain positions can make back pain worse, but Pilates exercises can be modified so that painful positions are avoided and relieving positions are emphasised. The level of difficulty of the exercises can also be modified according to your specific irritability and severity of pain. Physiotherapists who have specialised in clinical Pilates may use Pilates equipment and exercises specifically to help treat back pain.
Benefits of Pilates for Back Pain
The important principles of Pilates provide a back injury exercise program that promotes back health. In particular, it assists with learning awareness of neutral alignment of the spine as well as strengthening the deep postural muscles that support this alignment. Patients who experience pain stemming from excessive movement and degeneration of discs and joints are particularly likely to benefit from a Pilates exercise program.
Other benefits of Pilates exercise include:
- Improves core (neck/back) stability
- Enhances functional and biomechanical efficiency of movement
- Increases strength, flexibility & balance
- Decreases incidence of injury
- It is gentle (low impact) yet challenging
- Extensive exercise possibilities, easily tailored with stable progression
- Able to be applied to everyday life
- Improved postural asymmetry decreasing wear and tear from stresses on joints and discs.
Pilates Exercise Programs in Adelaide
At Aim Physiotherapy, we offer Pilates services at both our Oakden and Toorak Gardens clinics. This includes Clinical Pilates using specialised equipment, and Matwork Pilates using body weight and/or small apparatus for resistance. Our Clinical Pilates exercise sessions involve the use state of the art professional ‘Balanced Body’ Pilates equipment that enables our physiotherapist’s to develop programs for our clients utilising a combination of exercises and Pilates methods.
Our aim is to ensure that our clients receive the most expert advice and treatment. We have physiotherapists who are professionally trained in conducting group Clinical Pilates classes, as well as one on one individual sessions. Contact us today to book a Pilates class.
