Pilates for Rehabilitation

 Pilates is well-known for being one of the fastest growing exercises in North America and is often times used as a rehabilitation process in physical therapy. It is practiced to help individuals recover from injury and return to active lifestyles.

The principles of Pilates address posture, motor control and muscle performance. Whether the problem area is your back, neck, shoulder or elsewhere, Pilates can correct muscle imbalances causing the pain while strengthening the core and stressing spinal and pelvic alignment to prevent further injury.

The practice of Pilates during rehabilitation began as early as the 1930s, shortly after Joseph Pilates brought the practice to the United States. It was used by popular dance instructors and choreographers such as Martha Graham and George Balanchine whose trainers found the act of reintroducing movement early in the rehabilitation process with careful and non-destructive forces sped up recovery time.  

Since then, more studies have been conducted to support the benefits of Pilates rehab. The Department of Chiropractic, Faculty of Science and Engineering of Macquarie University in Australia conducted a systematic review of over 23 studies published between 2005 and 2016 to assess the effectiveness of Pilates for rehabilitation. Its findings showed the majority of clinical trials within the past five years suggest Pilates to be an effective form of therapy to reduce pain and decrease disability levels.

It is vital to work with a skilled physical therapist when choosing Pilates for recovery. While it is an effective and popular exercise, it must also be used with proper physical therapy techniques or else you run the risk of aggravating the injury. The flexibility of Pilates allows skilled therapists to target areas of movement that may otherwise be too challenging to perform.

Our team of licensed physical therapists can craft a customized program tending to your specific needs. You may start with very basic movements or more advanced depending on the nature of your injury and your current abilities.