Left To Your Own Devices After A Medical Procedure? You Need Pilates!

You've had your surgery or procedure and your doctor declared it a success.and doesn't want to see you again.  You are recovering slowly and not overdoing it but wondering if there is something else you should be doing to speed up the recovery process.  Maybe you are feeling very tired and not as strong as you were pre-surgery.  Sometimes rehabilitation is suggested but many patients are left to their own devices to research and organise their own rehab.  Lack of either time or knowledge means many patients don't complete the necessary rehabilitation.  Skipping this important phase of recovery can cause further pain and injury and this can lead to debilitating health problems even years later.  This is where Pilates comes in and the rehab it provides coukd mean the difference between a full recovery and years of pain.  So let's take a look at some of the types of procedures and surgeries that require rehabilitation.

Abdominal Surgery

Any surgical incision of the abdominal muscles weakens these muscles leaving you more susceptible to injury as your core muscles have been compromised . Whether you have had a caesarean section to deliver a baby or remove a large uterine fibroid or keyhole surgery for a hysterectomy. your core muscles need to heal,  be strengthened and then rebuilt.  Many women get by at the time without rehabilitating these muscles but years later it can come come against them in the form of back pain and pelvic instabilty (see Sarah's story below) and strengthening with Pilates can prevent this. There is currently a dangerous misconception that if surgery is "only keyhole surgery" you will be healed and back to normal in a couple of days.  Nothing coud be further from the truth.  Keyhole surgery involves anything from 1 to 4 holes in the abdomen and is not a quick fix as patients still need time to heal and the muscles strengthened appropriately.

Joint Replacements & Arthroscopies

Most patients who have a hip or knee replacement automatically have rehabilitation included immediately after the surgery at a specialised rehabilitation hospital or facility.  This does depend on your individual surgeon and the level of private health insurance you have.  Even after you have completed this rehabilitation, Pilates is still necessary to continue strengthening and regain full mobility of the new joint. My clients who have had knee and hip arthroscopies weren't offered any post surgery rehabilitation and this is vital for strengthening and to maintain full range of movement of the joint.  Once again Pilates is ideal for rehab after this type of surgery.

Spinal Surgery

Pilates rehabilitation after spinal surgery is essential.  Surgery is required because the patient was in debilitating pain pre-surgery so their core muscles have already been deactivated for quite some time and surgery would have weakened them even further.  Reactivating and strengthening the core muscles takes time and the healing process can take.months, but the results are well worth the effort.  Several clients have come to me over the years, 6 or 12 months post spinal surgery as they were still in pain.  The surgery was successful but they just don't have the core stability they need to be pain-free.  It's so rewarding to see them finally out of pain but had they known about Pilates 6 weeks post surgery they coukd have avoided a lot of unnecessary pain and discomfort.  

Sarah's Story

When Sarah started Pilates with me in her early sixties she thought she had tried everything to overcome her back pain which first came on when her third child was born.  The pain was increasing with each passing year  She was sore and stiff most of the time and appeared older than her years.  Pilates was going to be her last attempt at becoming pain free but she was sceptical and didn't want to get her hopes up.  Despite numerous scans, x-rays and other tests there was no official diagnosis for her pain which is referred to as non-specific lower back pain.  It radiated frm her lower back to her upper back at times and she was relying on pain medication to get throught the day.  I always take a full medical history at the Initial Assessment and I noted that Sarah was the mother of 4 adult children all born 1 year apart and all  delivered by caesarian section. That amounts to years of continual weakening of the abdominal muscles. She also had some incontinence which she barely mentioned as she viewed it as insignificant in comparision to her back pain.  She was also a grandmother to 3 young children under 4, caring for them  4 long days per week with another grandchild on the way.  She had never done any pelvic floor exercises or rebuilding of her abdominal muscles to recover form the caesarian sections she had had when her children were born.  Immediately this was a red flag and it wasn't at all suprising to me she had back pain with her history of 4 major abdominal sugeries in 4 years.  A lack of adequate strengthening during the crucial post-natal recovery period, combined with the lifting and carrying of 4 young children for years afterwards, had taken a toll on her body.  Now she was back lifting and carrying her grandkids to the point of exhaustion and was in excruciating pain.  We commenced work rebuiuilding & strengthening her core and improved her pelvic floor muscles to the point she was no longer incontinent which also helped support her back too. There were times when she plateaued and her pain level didn't change much, after all she was stil lifting her grandkids, but she persisted and with each decrease in her pain levels she was encouraged to keep going.  It was a challenge for her to overcome her pain but at that 1 year mark she finally felt like was pain-free and moving with ease again.  She was elated to be out pain for first time in many years.  Had Sarah known about Pilates when she had her children she could have regained her core strength from the 4 pregnancies when she was much younger.  She could have then completed it much more quickly and saved herself years of pain.  Pilates probably wasn't even available to her back then and we can't change the past but it's just wonderful to see Sarah finally out of pain and iving life on her own terms again.

If you are recovering from a medical procedure such as surgery, it would be my pleasure to assist you to successfully rehabilitate from it and prevent pain and injury in the future.  If you are ready to start your Pilates journey please contact me at [email protected].  Alternatively,  click here to learn more about my online Pilates studio and how you can start working with me.  It would be my pleasure to assist you on your journey to pain-free living!