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Pilates Fitness & Physical Therapy Center
Pilates Based Physical therapy reduces pain of whiplash; effects of osteoporosis
Pilates-based physical therapy goes beyond traditional physical therapy and focuses on the whole body as an integrated unit. “Pilates as a method of exercise works the muscles from the inside out,” says Ron Jegdeesh, PT, MBA, owner of Southfield-based Pilates Fitness & Physical Therapy Center. “In this way, the deepest layers of muscles in the torso are trained to protect the lower back while allowing the body to perform movements with more ease and fluidity.”
Jegdeesh has treated many patients who have tried traditional physical therapy at other facilities and met with limited success. Yet Pilates-based physical therapy can decrease pain, improve function and prevent chronic symptoms for many problems including whiplash and osteoporosis.
“It provides total conditioning that exceeds standard callisthenic, isometric or isokinetic exercises,” he says. By putting emphasis on balancing the muscular structure, this allows more focus on joint stability and mobility, and freedom of movement.
Easing the Pain of Whiplash
Recent evidence demonstrates that Pilates based physical therapy can decrease pain, improve motion, and reduce costs secondary to whiplash associated disorders.
“Current research showed that fewer days were lost from work, and medical treatment cost were less when patients received Pilates based physical therapy versus standard medical treatments,” says Jegdeesh, who notes that even slight automobile accidents can have a significant impact on quality of life when there is chronic and unresolved pain.
Indeed, more than two million Americans sustain whiplash-associated disorders each year. Rear-impact crashes cause abnormal force and can result in an S-shape curvature of the cervical spine. The impact can damage the soft tissues that hold the vertebrae together causing neck pain and stiffness, headaches, shoulder pain, dizziness/visual changes, fatigue, jaw pain, arm pain/weakness, low back pain, and numbness and tingling.
Whether an injury is accident-related, such as whiplash, or age-related, such as osteoporosis, Pilates-based physical therapy can be very effective.
Off-setting the effects of osteoporosis
“While osteoporosis does affect mostly postmenopausal women, research shows that Pilates can prevent and reverse its devastating decline, especially when an early diagnosis is involved,” says Jegdeesh.
Osteoporosis most commonly affects the spinal vertebrae, hips and wrists, making simple movements difficult or painful. Post-menopausal women have a greater susceptibility to bone loss due to the decrease of estrogen and progesterone, but Jegdeesh has seen remarkable changes in women after four months of Pilates since regular exercise keeps the body in top condition and prevents bone loss.
“Pilates-based bone building exercises and spinal stabilization have been successful in halting the progression of the disease,” says Jegdeesh, who adds, “Pilates is often a permanently effective tool because it strengthens the entire body and its core musculature.”
Pilates treatment for chronic problems
In his Southfield office and studio, Jegadeesh offers individual and small-group classes and encourages his clients to explore the added benefits of specialized equipment. He uses the Reformer, which enhances workouts through resistance, the Trapeze Table, and the Power Plate, which is especially useful for sports conditioning and for those with osteoporosis.
Jegadeesh says a typical course of therapy is three times a week for a month, and he teaches home exercises programs to all his clients. “Because the benefits of Pilates are so profound, many patients continue using Pilates for total conditioning after they have completed their physical therapy and are able to move on to a mainstream fitness program,” he says.
Unlike Pilates classes offered as recreation, Pilates Fitness & Physical Therapy Center works strictly on therapeutic exercises designed to strengthen the body’s foundation. Many individuals with chronic neck and back pain, sciatica, shoulder impingement, tendonitis, hip bursitis, ankle injuries, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, fibromyalgia, scoliosis, repetitive stress injuries, and performance and sports injuries also benefit from Pilates-based physical therapy. Pilates Fitness & Physical Therapy Center takes some medical insurance with a physician’s prescription.