Pilates and Pain Relief

This isn't a pagan post per say, but rather a personal one. I wanted to post a short blurb about something that has helped me find pain relief when everything else failed. That something is pilates.

I was involved in a car accident at the age of about 14 which unbeknownst to me at the time resulted in significant deterioration of one of my lower spinal disks. Being overweight never helped the matter, and as a result the injury never truly healed. I never had significant problems with it until I began working in my early twenties. I loved my job as a baker, but the labor involved resulted in me having numerous back injuries which after about four years led me to quit. During those four years, I sprained my back and was crippled for weeks on numerous occasions. It became normal for me to sprained my back about three times a year.

After quitting the job, I did not sprain my back again for about a year, but I lived with constant daily back pain. It did not respond to anything, besides painkillers. At 26 years old, I was depressed at the thought that my back would be this way for the rest of my life. My chiropractor ( fave person ever) didn't help when he showed me my xrays and told me that in my mid twenties, I had multiple spots of degeneration in my neck and back, and my back itself looked more like that of a 45 year old than a twenty something young woman. At the time, after suffering multiple sprains and limited mobility, I wondered if I would make it to fifty without needing a wheel chair.

Luckily at this time, my back got a break when I got pregnant with my daughter. It seems like an odd thing to say, but for me it was true. Mostly because I was so sick, I lost much of the excess weight (about forty lbs) and traded it for healthy baby weight. The hormone shifts which loosen and soften the bodies ligaments in the hips and back were actually a god send to me, reducing the strain on my back and allowing the old injuries to soften and stretch for a time. The pain was gone, and throughout the pregnancy I had no back problems whatsoever.

I was lucky in that after giving birth, instead of gaining weight I ended up losing it, in total about 40 pounds after giving birth. The pregnancy was difficult, but for my back it was a godsend. I had no problems for a year or more. Sadly it was only a short respite, and about two years ago I threw my back out again, and re-injured after three weeks. I was in bed for nearly two months before I was able to walk with a normal gait.

Being forced when I returned to college to participate in a physical ed. course to complete my degree, I decided to go for pilates, which for my mind seemed like the easiest and least embarrassing choice, as the class was women only. Despite the injury, I had always been quite flexible, so it seemed like a good fit.

The class was taught by a local pilates trainer, but boy was I wrong about the EASY part. For two hours a week I suffered through hellish misery in this class, my muscles being so atrophied after all my past injuries. I prayed ever time I got to class that I would make it through without dying. lol But after a few weeks, something miraculous happened. I woke up and realized it had been nearly two weeks since I had taken any pain medication. It had been two weeks since I had experienced any back pain at all. And the class itself was easier, and dare I say...enjoyable. I found myself dreading the end of the semester!

The relief pilates gave me was a blessing to me. I am still quite overweight, yet the pilates routines are manageable, and the basics are easy for any fitness level. At the time, a simple two hours a week caused me to lose nearly twenty pounds,currently I do a ten minute routine every other day just to keep my back strong,  and only need meds for my back during one or two "hormonal" days during the month. I haven't injured in over a year now. I fell off the wagon for a bit this year and the pain returned, so for the past few months I have been rebuilding my routine after recovery from surgery (gallbladder removal) in March.

I would recommend pilates to anyone who suffers from low back pain. Pilates is a great system of core building that helps strengthen the muscles whose weakness is often the cause of such pain. Many think of pilates like yoga, we see the impossible moves and bending of experienced practitioners and think such is impossible for our bent and out of shape bodies. But as my instructor taught us, pilates was created for everyone. Like martial arts, there are levels of achievement. There are pilates moves designed even for pregnant mothers, toddlers, all the way to the elderly. No one is completely unable to perform the basic moves of pilates.

Here are some links for those interested...

Fundamental Pilates Exercises just the simplest concepts and exercises

10 Basics of Matwork

This is an article of ten basic exercises (mat work). The pilates I do is basically mat work alone, it for me is easier and much simpler. On a side note, the pictures here show more advanced variations of these basic exercises. I could not perform most of these this way. Better to investigate the simple variations of each exercise, and start from the easiest and work ones way up.

Here is a basic beginners video for anyone interested. Always start simple and work your way up to more exercises and harder techniques.

For absolute beginners, I would recommend contacting a local pilates instructor and taking a class or two before starting a home workout. This is because the breath work and exercise form is so important to learn for pilates, being much more important to workout efficiency than repetition. Without correct breath and form, Pilates is pretty much pointless.

Try it, if you can, atleast once!

In Frith
Cena