Often when speaking to potential new participants for my Pilates classes, I will often hear the line "My GP/Osteopath/Physiotherapist recommended I take up Pilates to help improve my back pain". These days, it is great that Pilates has a good reputation of improving participant's lower back pain symptoms (as well as a lot of other benefits).
But what happens when Pilates doesn't get the results that we expect?
What happens when Pilates doesn't help our back pain, and even in some cases makes it worse?
Another line I hear a lot of the time, more so in my therapy sessions, is "I have done Pilates a few times before, but it didn't help". I also used to hear this quite regularly when I was working in a health club environment.
So why is it Pilates is not giving some of us the results that we desire?
Here are just a few potential reasons:
Is the bar too high?
If we have heard lots of success stories from friends and family about how successful Pilates has been for them or been recommended Pilates by our healthcare, we can be hopeful that Pilates will correct and resolve all our aches & pains we have been going through. However, it doesn't work like this. Remember that everyone will be different and whilst we may have similar symptoms to others, the underlying causes maybe completely different. It is also worth noting that Pilates is not a form of corrective therapy. It is an exercise system rather than an exercise class, and a lot of people have found that by completing a Pilates classes, their symptoms have improved a by product of learning the correct Pilates method. Another reason worth remembering is that people react differently to everything. For example, from working in Pilates and Therapy setting for a few years, I have found some people react really well to deep tissue massage, but some people react better to a MET (muscle energy technique) instead for example. My advice would be to find out what the underlying issue could potentially be and also find out what works best for you and decide on a course of action from there.
What's happening on the inside
Let's say, for example, someone attends a Pilates class in the hope of improving their lower back pain symptoms. As a Body master method, practitioner, my initial thought is what's causing the lower back pain? In the past I have seen rotations in the Pelvis, Rotations in the sacrum, A difference in leg length as being potential causes of one's back pain symptoms. Sometimes it has even been further up the body which has caused one's lower back pain (thoracic mobility and even shoulder alignment). In a one to one therapy session, I would have the opportunity to carry out a full screening to identify any potential underlying issues. However, in a small group class environment, we don't have this luxury. Now, sometimes Pilates can successfully help reduce the symptoms of lower back pain and give the participant the opportunity to manage their symptoms. However, if you are finding back pain (or other symptoms) are continuing despite starting Pilates, it may be a good idea to have further investigation to see which potential issues could by resulting in lower back pain symptoms, and then create a program to try to correct the underlying issues. Ones these underlying issues have been correcting, you may find your Pilates class then can become a lot more beneficial.
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