Back Pain and Pilates
HOW PILATES HELPS BACK PAIN
Pilates teaches the importance of the neutral alignment of the spine, whilst strengthening the deep postural muscles that support this alignment. It also teaches awareness of movement habits that may stress the spine, and helps to recognise and change these habits to those that preserve neutral alignment.
Pilates concentrates on improving posture by creating awareness of how to stand correctly but also by strengthening the deep core muscles that support a healthy posture.
Bad habits and weak postural muscles from years of misuse (or disuse!) can create faulty movement patterns in the body. We all usually favour one side of the body (if we are right handed for example): there may be an old injury present and even certain jobs may require a repetitive motion all of which may cause unnecessary stresses and strains.
Pilates exercises aim to balance out the body by strengthening weak muscles, stretching tight muscles and mobilising the joints. Prescribing corrective exercises helps to bring the muscles back to their original length and function and bring the body back into balance and alignment so that it may work more harmoniously and efficiently with minimal effort.
RESEARCH
The Journal of Orthopedic & Sports Physical Therapy published a small study in which participants who practiced Pilates over a four-week period experienced more relief from their symptoms than those who went through typical treatment programs.
Researchers from Queen’s University, Ontario, randomly tested 39 chronic low back pain sufferers between the ages of 20-55 to see if Pilates was effective in improving the condition of patients.
Of these 39 patients, some were assigned as the control group who received the normal care which is provided to individuals seeking medical help for low back pain and the rest were assigned group exercises using the Pilates equipment.
The results revealed that the Pilates group exercisers had significantly lower levels of pain and functional disability as compared with the control group.
BACK PAIN STATISTICS
A survey published in 2000 concluded that half the adult population of the UK reported low back pain lasting for at least 24 hours at some time in the year
It is estimated that 80% of adults will experience back pain at some stage in their life
The number of people with back pain increases with age, starting in school children and peaking in adults of 35 to 55 years of age.
Back pain is, in most cases, a self-limiting condition and 90% of people with acute back pain will recover within 6 weeks.
Up to 7% of people with acute back pain will develop chronic back pain. These chronic patients have considerable discomfort and account for approximately 80% of the social and health care costs.
The following factors could contribute to back pain: -
Previous incidence of back pain, smoking and obesity.
Heavy physical work, frequent bending, twisting, lifting, pulling and pushing, repetitive work, static postures and vibrations.
Stress, anxiety, depression, job satisfaction.
The NHS spends more than £1 billion per annum on back pain costs including:- £512 million on hospital costs, £141 million on GP consultations, £150.6 million on physiotherapy treatments
In the private healthcare sector £565 million is spent on back pain every year.
This brings the healthcare costs for back pain to a total of £1.6 billion per year.
The Health and Safety Executive estimates that musculoskeletal disorders, which include back pain cost UK employers between £590 million and £624 million per year.
Nearly 5 million working days were lost as a result of back pain in 2003-04. This means that on any one day 1% of the working population are on sickness leave due to a back problem.
Back pain is the number 2 reason for long term sickness in much of the UK. In manual labour jobs, back pain is the number one reason.
(Statistics from www.backcare.org.uk)
