Pilates Exercises For Back Pain and Posture

There can be many causes of back pain, some caused by degenerative diseases, poor posture at work, and many by injuries. Those injuries can be small or major, and often the smaller ones can be the most difficult for pinning down the origin of the pain. Sometimes the pain can be felt far from its origin, so it can be difficult to diagnose without professional expertise from an orthopedic doctor or surgeon.

Those and other reasons contribute to the fact that once somebody has a back pain, it can last a long time without its causes being diagnosed even by specialists. The source of the pain could be a small muscle, it could be a disc, or a ligament. It could even be a combination.

These factors mean that, before embarking on any sort of exercise program, finding out the cause is important. If you have an arthritic problem, such as the ankylosing spondylitis that caused so much damage to my spine in my 20's, then the specialist you are referred to will be able to use X-rays and blood tests to pinpoint the problem, and advise accordingly. If you do not have a diagnosable problem, then there are many exercises you can do that will help you to strengthen muscles, but it is important to educate yourself on exercise.

Pilates For Improving Posture and Strengthening the Back Muscles

There are a variety of exercise practices that can assist with alleviating and preventing back pain. Strengthening the back muscles and posture can be an important part of the exercise program you embark upon, and one of the most suitable forms of exercise, for lower back muscles, is Pilates.

When my own spine was in the process of degenerating, in the 1970's, I had to make my own conclusion that strengthening back muscles was important, not only to help slow down or stop the deterioration in the spine, but to strengthen my back for the future. At the time, nobody I knew had heard of Pilates exercises, so I took the initiative to buy a Bullworker, which was being marketed for body building. That helped enormously, and I have been using one for about 30 years to keep my lungs in good shape and my back muscles.

However, the hospital I went to for specific exercises for Ankylosing Spondylitis, was a world leader in rheumatic diseases, especially Ankylosing Spondylitis. That Bath, England hospital now includes Pilates exercises in its program for patients they think will benefit.

But what is Pilates? Pilates is a form of exercise which focuses on the core postural muscles. These deep muscles give support to the spine and help to keep the body balanced. The Pilates method concentrates on a good alignment of the spine, and also teaches awareness of breathing, much as yoga does.

With its concentration on the deep torso muscles, I can understand the adoption of Pilates by my former hospital. The hospital, the Royal National Hospital For Rheumatic Diseases, does use many other exercise and treatment regimes as well, such as hydrotherapy, and even aromatherapy

Pilates exercises can be beneficial to posture, the back, hips and overall flexibility, so it is worth considering Pilates for preventative and treatment reasons. If you have a degenerative disease, though, it is not worth risking a tough Pilates regime without discussing it with your orthopaedic surgeon first. Also, you should only use Pilates under supervision, and then take professional advice on what Pilates exercises to do at home. Back pain can be agony, so it is not worth doing something that can make it worse.