Pilates anyone? Will it help back pain?

[KBear]

My DH had an accident a few years back, smashed his leg up pretty badly, limped for two years and consequently has a very bad back. He's had x-rays, physio, is currently seeing an osteopath, has acupuncture, tried yoga and the latest thing I'm looking into is Pilates.

Has anyone got any words of wisdom about it? Will it help do you think? We are willing to try anything at this stage to try to get him out of the constant pain he suffers - which also causes migraines and headaches generally.

Desperate for a happy DH, Kbear.

Pilates helps to strengthen the "core" muscles that support your spine. The way I see it is that an osteopath will sort your spine back into alignment and Pilates will build the muscles up to help keep it there. What does the osteopath say?

Haven't mentioned it to DH yet - wanted to get some "evidence" together to get him to look into it. He's pretty fed up with living life in constant pain and getting nowhere with any of the treatment he's had and feeling quite negative so I need to present a fait accompli with class dates and all that or he'll probably dismiss it!

Scheming Kbear that I am!

Do you do it then Soupy?

I used to do it once a week to help keep my back in place. Even that small amount seemed to work though. My osteopath recommended it to me.

The osteopath used to click my spine back into alignment and it would be absolutely fine, but because of the weakness inthe muscles, it was vulnerable to locking up again. The pilates seemed to help with that. It is, however, deathly dull to do!!

Does your DH get relief from the osteopath at all? (resists temptation to snurk). I'm not sure if pilates alone wold sort his back but it might help to keep it sorted IYSWIM. It does help with posture etc too because it makes you think more about where your spine is.

Not really - the osteo says that his muscles have "learnt" to be in the wrong position and he sorts his alignment out but the muscles can't hold it there. Sounds like pilates might help. Might get a DVD from the library and give it a go at home for starters. Anything is worth a try.

Thanks.

My chiropractor says pilates is very good for backs. Word of warning though - if he does do pilates I would make sure he does a 6 weeks pilates course first. If done incorrectly it could hurt his back rather than help strenghten it.

Also agree that his back needs to be put into proper alignment first, before he does pilates.

thanks poppies. Now tell me, what does a chiropractor do that an osteopath doesnt and vice versa?!

sorry, have no idea!!

I think they're fairly similar. It does sound like pilates would help teach the muscles where they're meant to be (but don't expect immediate results). I agree - defintely sort the alignment out before starting and do a proper course to being with.

Pilates exercises should act to minimise everyday strain on joints and ligaments, so this is generally a good idea.

But if your dh has structural damage this will not necessarily ever be 100% better and any pilates exercises should be tailored to him individually. Go for one to one sessions.

Acupuncture is supposed to help pain that can't be cured by osteos and pilates alone.

Interesting, thanks everyone.

I don't know what else to do to help him really. Over Christmas we were out shopping and he almost passed out with pain, he went grey and sweaty and we had to stand still for a few minutes. I wondered how the hell I would catch him if he fell - simple answer, I couldn't!

Doc pretty unhelpful since the X-rays came back with nothing. Has no suggestions. I realise that back pain sufferers often have to resign themselves to a life of pain but he's 38 and it's ruining his life.

Doctors are notoriously inadequate at helping with back pain.

My advice is to try lots of different things; sometimes it is a combination of things that is needed to achieve the best effect. But don't give up, you may find a permanent fix, and if not there is almost definitely a way to improve the level of pain.

These things generally help:
Lose weight
Improve diet, take glucosamine
Exercise, esp pilates, but you need individual guidance as to what type is good and bad for dp's individual problem
sports massage - again, need advice as this may not be suitable for all
review how to sit/lift/drive/align workstation etc with minimal strain on back
change chairs, bed to more back-friendly ones
acupuncture

Also taking some action to sort the problem out is better for your mental health than passively suffering.

I had constant back pain for 7 years . It was miserable, but it is now mainly gone

thanks twirlaround, my mission this year is to help him sort it out, whatever it takes. He's about a stone overweight but he's working on that now and has already lost some. Exercise and mobility will help I'm sure and my plan is to go out walking more with the kids. He has a job which involves sitting for long periods of time and nothing very physical so that doesn't help I don't suppose but not at a workstation.

Thanks for all your help and advice. I'll keep you posted if we come by any miracle cures.

I go to weekly Pilates classes and find them excellent -when I started I still had remnants of SPD and the usual "post-pregnancy/mum of young children" lower backache and its helped these no end.
Word of advice though -make sure the instructor is qualified to deal with people with medical complaints. Mine is a GP Referral Specialist and works a lot with people post-op or people with various back problems etc. Ask at physio/GPs maybe
HTH

Kbear, my MIL is a very good Pilates teacher She often gets people with back pain reffered from osteopaths and can work wonders with them. However, the basic mat work that is offered in most group classes and on videos is not really any good for people with serious back problems - it's more for maintenance and general core strenghth. For rehabilitation work he really needs to be doing one on one equipment work with a qualified instructor for at least 6 weeks.

If you are anywhere near ashford then my MIL is v. good, and reasonable rates. (this sounds like an advert, but isn't meant to be

Maybe worth getting him some individual sessions with a pilates instructor first; then when he's got the basic concepts he can move on to a (much cheaper) class

I've had recurrent back probs for years (though nothing as serious as your DH) but Pilates, even a weekly class, makes a big difference IME

You don't realise how much the pain/discomfort is taking out of you, until it starts to recede

Ditto to BakedPotato, here - weekly class makes a huge difference to my own back pain. But one-on-one sounds like a good idea for your DH, to make sure he's using the appropriate exercises, doing them right etc.

Prufrock - we're in North Kent, near Dartford so not miles from you! Thanks for your messages everyone. This is definitely something I am going to look into for him, he's seeing the osteo tomorrow so will get him to ask if there's anyone he can recommend more locally.

Part of what the weekly bog standard classes did for me was making me more aware of which muscles were meant to be supporting my back (and that there were in fact muscles that were meant to be doing that!) and made me more aware of posture etc.

The other thing you could look at is Alexander Technique. I had back problems which were sorted out by the osteopath and then I went and learnt Alexander which teaches you to 'use' your body properly. If your dh is using his back muscles in the wrong way which thus cause him pain, he perhaps could 'unlearn' this wrong use through Alexander. Hope that doesn't sound too garbled. Here's a link