Osteopathic Pilates

Many of us have been injured over the journey, some of us more and worse than others. There are so many different options out in both the real world and the internet. Many of the options are terrific, however, finding the right one for you is often a needle in a haystack.

Now before you get too cynical, this article is not about the company we are reviewing being the “golden solution”, rather relaying the story of how I found something that really worked for me.

Osteopathic Pilates is run by Dr Angela Crewe, a Brutal exponent who you can read about in some of the earlier Brutal Profiles. Angela had been operating as an Osteopath for nearly ten years and had seen a huge number of patients who required multiple modalities in order to properly diagnose, address and rehabilitate their problem. Now sending one of your cared-for patients to a practitioner from a different modality to receive complimentary treatment is not an easy thing, you want to try your best to ensure that the person you are sending your client to is good at what they do. No matter how much you try to find good associates, it is always a bit hit and miss, especially if it depends on where the patient lives.

So Angela enrolled in additional courses which would give her the necessary credentials and a sound understanding of both Clinical Pilates and Dry Needling. For those of you who don’t know:

Clinical Pilates differs from your normal run of the mill Pilates. Clinical Pilates does not cater to large classes of soccer mums who just wish to tone up in order to attract the attention of their ‘special someone’. Instead it is more about rehabbing people who have a serious problem and creating a strong base from which they can build on.

Dry Needling is not Acupuncture, though to the untrained eye it would appear very similar. Dry Needling is a lot more based in nuts and bolts anatomy rather than energy points. The needles are often used when a muscle is so tight and tender that no amount of massage or manipulation can help.

Anyway, back to my story. I was at the gym and had just started a new program. As I got towards the end of the workout I felt a sharp stabbing pain in my lower back (no I wasn’t lifting heavy weights or using poor technique). I tried to run it off but it just didn’t want to leave. Throughout the day it got worse and worse until it reached the point where I could barely walk and the walk that I was doing resembled more of an “I’ve just been kicked in the balls shuffle”.

The next day, after a sleepless night, I booked in to see Angela at Osteopathic Pilates. To cut a long story short it turned out that I had sprained a joint in my lower back. For those of you who have sprained an ankle imagine that pain but in your back.
Over the period of two weeks I saw Angela about five times, receiving a combination of Dry Needling and Osteopathic treatment. For the first few sessions the treatments where almost exclusively Dry Needling due to my back having completely seized up and being in danger of spasming.

After the two weeks of my pain being lessened and gradually getting better, but nowhere near the point of returning to physical activity or even standing upright, Angela suggested that we go down to the reformer bed and add some Clinical Pilates to my treatment regime.  I bullshit you not when I say that after about 15 minutes, of doing some incredibly simple exercises, I was all of sudden walking upright and no longer leaning to one side, not to mention feeling a lot freer.

I of course accused Angela of witch craft and attempted to rally and angry mob of pitch fork wielding, gym knuckle heads - after all, how could some simple exercises which took such a short amount of time have such a huge effect. This is the beauty of Clinical Pilates. Don’t ask me the ins and outs as I am not qualified, but this stuff achieves some flat out amazing results, especially with structural problems within the body.

I have now started doing Clinical Pilates once or twice a week as an addition to my normal training routine. It has the ability to strengthen areas I had no idea were weak as well as improve my overall athleticism. It’s not going to make you feel like the toughest guy in the world as you do the workout, but if you aren’t an ego fuelled dickhead, then you’ll get over that pretty quick.

To all who are interested or injured go to www.osteopathicpilates.com.au and find out more about what they offer.