Pilates and Pain
The recognition of the Pilates efficacy on Pain Treatment by the Medic field has grown on the last few years despite of a great amount of highly satisfactory results of Motor Control Recuperation, the stabilizers of the spine and core muscle strengthen and pain relief. Many researches has been developed here in Brazil and in the United States where Pilates has been applied before and after spine surgery or any other body joint recovery. The Post-Rehab wish Pilates, accelerate the healing process because it reproduces the similar movement of the daily life activities without negative forces of gravity, keeping the spine supported by the table on a different setting and environment, this new position will help on the new and correct movement learning process without repeating old habits of pain compensation. What does that mean? It means that you are going to learn to walk correctly but on a lying position . Our body tend to repeat the same patterns that it’s used to if we try to correct your gate standing. Besides of this new environment to “trick” the body e efficiently correct the movement, the Pilates equipments are composed by springs with different tensions, allowing to work on an extremely light tension to begin with, without harming the existing injury. The body will respond better without getting tired e withou using compensatory forces that are aggressive and will cause the misalignment of the extremities. Another fundamental characteristic is the possibility to work and strengthen the spine , shoulder girdle and hip stabilizers. These muscles are smaller and when they are weak they may, cause injuries and pathologies of the spine and extremities like: shoulder, elbow, wrists, knees and ankles. Pilates will strengthen “from inside out”. A strong abs doesn’t mean being able to do a 1,000 crunches, neither have a ” 6 pack” muscle. The pilates core work is deeper, you will strengthen the transversus abdominal muscle together with the pelvic floor (responsible for holding the organs) and with a little help of the BREATHING it will be done the Postural Correction. Every movement will start from this connection with the center of the body, the core muscles.
On a third phase, as the movements now should be done efficiently and correctly, the body will start to experience the movements on the natural form on a vertical position, this will help to transfer these movements to the daily life activies in the place of the old habits.
CranioSacral Therapy and Pilates
Many therapies like CranioSacral, Massotherapy, Acupuncture, Holfing, Feldenkrais etc., are therapies that release body tightness facilitating the movement. Pilates stimulate the body so that it will release tension, improving the stretching and muscle proper function; therefore, in some injuries and chronic pain cases, the body won’t accept the movement and it may get tighter as an anticipating pain reaction. It is on these cases that holistic therapies treatments are extremely efficients, they will erase the pain memory and make the body accept and receive the new information, avoiding to reinjure and/or increase of pain.
I have been applied, along with Pilates, CranioSacral Therapy, Reiki and some Pranic Healing Principals, so at the same time I can work the client’s Bio-energy, re-balancing the Chakras and helping to make the body energy flow again. Each student feels it differently, but most of the times they have relief immediately. The muscles start to relax and the pain diminishes like magic. With relaxed muscles I can mobilize the joints better with minimum pain or without it. It’s always important to remember the people that, pain is like a warning: Be careful, something is not right! So, after a session, you must be really careful not to hurt yourself at home. If you are painless doesn’t mean you can do everything back again. It’s very important to do a strengthening work and a movement reeducation so that daily activities can be done again.
Each person is different. Some people feel great right after one session and they can go back to the normal activities, others take months… What will directly influence is how bad is the injury and how long have you been suffering from it. If the body developed a new faulty pattern of movement despite the pain, it’s very important that a motor reeducation will be done to avoid new injuries.
Are there any collateral damage or contra-indications?
No, in fact what you need to notice is that, as the therapy relaxes the tight and contracted muscles that were working for days, months and even years, making these muscles recuperate, eventhough the relaxation brings relief right away, you can without realizing, start contracting the same muscles again just because of the muscle memory and the pain may come back in the same day. In these case you may have the feeling that it’s more painful, but it’s just a very tired muscle and it’s part of the process of healing. Don’t give up, remember that your body has a memory… and the tightness memory has to be exchange with the new and more relaxed memory… Only after you reeducate those muscles and teach them to keep relaxed and how to be efficient, only then your body will really heal!
It’s worth trying!!!
Treatments:
By Tatiana Matsuo.
