Physical Rehabilitation and Pilates
When Joseph Pilates was developing his first exercises and exercise machines during World War I, the field of physical therapy was in its infancy Today physical rehabilitation encompasses a wide range of therapies, and Pilates is certainly among them, prescribed by many doctors and other medical professionals to relieve pain, speed recovery from surgery or injuries, aid recovery from stroke and other neurological events, and even to avoid surgical procedures. As both movement education and fitness training, Pilates is an invaluable tool for improving the general health of those suffering from chronic illnesses and systemic disabilities.

As many doctors and physical rehabilitation specialists know, regular Pilates practice is an important tool for regaining strength, flexibility muscle tone, and overall endurance after an illness or injury, and it can help overcome some limiting disabilities. This isn’t to suggest that you can buy an exercise mat and throw away your walker, but with the correct instruction and a doctor’s supervision, practicing Pilates will help you restore and repattern movement, reduce acute and chronic pain, recover movement after surgery, and protect injured joints and muscles from further damage or reinjury

Adjusting Your Pilates Program
When used for rehabilitation, Pilates exercises can be modified into very simple, small, gentle movements. Over time, as the student’s strength and mobility build, the instructor can slowly and carefully increase the intensity of the Pilates workout until the student achieves full range of motion, stability, and strength.
If you’re involved in physical therapy, it’s advisable that your Pilates instructor communicate with your medical professional to coordinate the best rehabilitation program for you. If you’re working on Pilates at home and are currently undergoing physical therapy, make sure you talk with your physical therapist and your managing physician about your Pilates program.
Prevention of Injuries
Beyond its recovery benefits, Pilates also prevents some joint and muscle injuries. Joseph Pilates firmly believed that the way we stand, walk, and move could create stress injuries in our muscles and joints. If you have a weak muscle set, for example, you might favor that set in your movements, and in doing so, put extra strain on other muscle groups in your body. For example, if you have joints with limited mobility you might overwork other joints to take on the extra range your stiff joints can’t bear. All of this compensation can cause long-term serious damage to your body.
Because it’s a whole-body workout designed to uniformly develop the body, Pilates is an excellent method of strengthening weak joints and muscles, lengthening tight tendons and muscles, and balancing muscular force around the joints to prevent these compensation injuries.

Remember that the Pilates method operates on the principle that every muscle helps strengthen every other muscle. By working toward a balanced body with uniform muscle development, students can repair weakened muscles and joints, and prevent ongoing damage caused by improper posture and unbalanced movement.
The Many Therapeutic Benefits of Pilates
Pilates has been used successfully to treat individuals suffering with complications from knee, ankle, shoulder cuff, spine, and hip injuries, whiplash, post-polio syndrome, car accidents, spina bifida, stroke, and TMJ (temporomandibular joint) disorders, among others. And those preparing for or recovering from surgeries have found the Pilates method effective in shortening their period of recovery.

Pilates is also an effective way to recover from the effects of everyday stress, strain, and tension. For example, regular Pilates sessions relieve strained muscles in the neck, back, and shoulders. The strengthening, posture-building impact of regular Pilates workouts actually helps your body ward off future strain as well. In addition, the mind/body unity that’s such an essential ingredient of the Pilates method calms and centers you, leaving you feeling rejuvenated and relaxed.

Many people, such as the Pilates master teachers Romana Kryzanowska, Ron Fletcher, and Kathy Grant, have used Pilates to avoid back or knee surgery Pilates equipment gently and safely guides injured bodies through precise movement—a technique that works to repattern ineffective, often destructive, movement habits. Pilates is designed to strengthen weak tissue, stretch tight muscles, balance asymmetries, and generally give you back the natural health you were born with.

Pregnant women have found that the Pilates method helps them develop good breath control, carry their pregnancy more comfortably and strengthen their bodies for a smoother delivery and a faster return to their prepregnancy body shape, stability, and fitness. And Pilates is unparalleled as a postpartum fitness regime.

Pilates is particularly effective as a method for rehabilitating spine injuries. The Pilates method of body conditioning strengthens, lengthens, and balances musculature around the spine, as it aligns and decompresses injured vertebrae, helping to relieve nerve and disc pressure. This decompression facilitates and stimulates healthy circulation to the damaged spinal tissue. Spinal issues such as herniated or degenerated discs, sciatica, unstable sacroiliac joints, scoliosis, arthritis, spondylolisthesis, spondylosis, and spondylolysis have been successfully helped through the Pilates method.

Pilates Helps Eliminate Lower-Back Pain
Jane came to The Pilates Center complaining of terrible lower-back pain. She was distraught, frustrated, and feeling hopeless after having seen many therapists over many years, with no beneficial results. The Center’s instructors discussed her history and evaluated her movement as she stood, walked, sat, and laid down. The instructors then taught her the first several Pilates fundamental skills mini-exercises. They quickly discovered that she was unable to stabilize her lumbar spine and pelvis with her abdominals, and consequently overused her lower back muscles to such an extreme degree that movement was actually causing injury. She also exhibited asymmetrical muscle firing patterns, causing her to compress one side of her spine more than the other as she lifted one leg. Even a simple abdominal scoop or a knee fold was so painful it brought her to tears.

Using Pilates, Jane began the process of achieving uniform development in her body. Through modifications of the classic Pilates exercises, instructors taught her to be aware of her unconscious, improper movement patterns and how to move effectively, so that she could begin to strengthen the muscles that were weak and underdeveloped, and to relax those that she was overusing.

When the pain in her lower back subsided, Jane’s instructors broadened the scope of their teaching focus to address other related issues, including incorrect curvature of her thoracic spine; joint pain in her knees, shoulders, and elbows; and even osteoporosis. Her lack of abdominal support was contributing to all of these issues. As she strengthened her Powerhouse, the healthy natural curves of her spine reestablished themselves, her lumbar vertebrae became decompressed and more flexible, her thoracic spine became more erect and aligned, and her shoulders more open. Here’s what Jane had to say about her experience:

Ten years ago a neurosurgeon said that I was borderline for surgery and that I’d never be able to do any exercise other than walking and, maybe, swimming. I was forty-six at that time. However, because of studying Pilates, I now ski, backpack, scuba dive, lift weights, swim, do yoga, and go dancing. The neurosurgeon was a kind man, but just didn’t know much about therapeutic exercise for backs. I think sometimes about going back and showing him what I can do—with no trace of the limitations that he saw.