Is Pilates Good for Back Pain?

Is Pilates good for back pain?

Hello, welcome to blog number 2! I hope you are all doing well.  I’ve been asked so many questions in my time as a Pilates teacher but this one in my title is one which crops up all the time, IS PILATES GOOD FOR BACK PAIN????  So, I thought I would take a moment to give my answer and my opinion to you.

Well, in short my answer is 100% YES!!! And let me tell you why.  Around 80% of the UK population will suffer with backpain in their lifetime.  The majority of this backpain will be short term which will need minor intervention from a Chiropractor/Osteopath or resolve itself within a few days/weeks, however, why do we get back pain, how to we resolve it and how can we stop it from happening again??? So, let me answer each one individually.

Why do we get back pain?

Most back pain results in a lower back niggle or a trapped nerve creating sciatica which I agree is totally agonising but not life threatening.  These types of problems might come from an accident, maybe part of the ageing process but most likely to be as a symptom of a sedentary lifestyle.

Keep your body moving!

What we as humans tend to do in this situation is stop moving, rest up and wait for it to go which I have to tell you is one of the worst things you can do!!!!  You must keep on moving no matter how painful.  We have this in-built sense called fear avoidance which opens all a whole new topic of conversation but basically, once we are in the cycle of “back pain” we then tend to avoid any type of movement which “we think” may trigger the pain again and we overestimate what the pain could be like in the future so we end up in an even further static lifestyle.  You’ve seen those images of people walking along gingerly holding their lower backs, sitting down with care?! Well those are the ones I’m talking about.

There is so much I can say on this topic so part two will follow soon!  Keep em peeled!

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