Pilates Annex - Treatment for Injury and Pain

Sometime in our life we all have had injuries affecting our muscles and joints. Maybe it was an accident or we simply reached for something on a high shelf, bent over to pick something up, sat too long at the computer and then there was pain. Whether it is acute or chronic pain, we want the pain to go away and stay away!

Serious injury may require the attention of a medical specialist or physical therapist, but often when medical treatment ends more attention to matter is required. Less serious strains, sprains, muscular spasms may be healed through holistic health-wellness modalities.

Working together the Pilates Annex and Bodycenter Bloomington offer a process which addresses injury and pain from a structural and functional aspect. Healing the injury, alleviating the pain and then addressing how we physically function to prevent further injury and pain is a necessary process for the health and wellness of our neuromuscular skeletal systems.

To help alleviate pain and address structural concerns, Melissa Noble of Bodycenter Bloomington offers sessions that combine massage, Pilates and specific exercises or stretches. This type of session can be helpful to anyone with pain and includes but is not limited to post-rehabilitative joint replacement patients, lumbar or neck disc herniations or rotator cuff injuries. Massage is used as a diagnostic tool to determine what muscles are tense or overworked and may be inhibiting coordinated movement. The massage techniques may include Deep Tissue injury treatment, Active Resistive Stretching, Cranio Sacral or Trigger Point. Other forms of energy healing such as Reiki or Acutonics may be appropriate for acute injury or pain. The final 10 minutes of the session are dedicated to specific exercises or stretches to help maintain the results of the massage and address muscle weakness that may be causing tension in other muscles. She also can assist clients who are doing Physical Therapy to make sure they are performing the exercises properly. Melissa has special training in Pre and Post-natal massage and Pilates and can help alleviate pain during and after pregnancy.

To help with functional and postural concerns Emily Bogard of Pilates Annex offers sessions focusing on:

Corrective Postural Alignment using core conditioning principles
Integrated Movement Patterns for sitting, standing, walking
Alexander Technique to reduce tension and compression in the spine and joints

Combining these three modalities can bring relief from ailments related to stress and excess muscle tension caused by poor posture, over-efforting or unconscious tension patterns we bring into everyday activities, sports, exercise or performance arts. This functional work has two aspects.

First, working with Emily the client becomes aware of postural organizations that may be creating tension and stress problems. She will observe standing, walking and sitting postures to determine inappropriate movement patterns which are referred to as habits of mis-use, then exercises are given to help release muscular tension, re-educate the muscles and bring balance between the muscle and bones. The second aspect of the work occurs between sessions when the client observes him/herself to bring awareness to when the mis-use occurs. The client must then inhibit the mis-use and apply the new postural organization. The re-education of these neuromuscular patterns becomes the client’s responsibility as guided by the information gleaned from the sessions. Together with Emily, the client will learn to perform actions in a natural and integrated way with ease and efficiency. What the client will acquire is a skill that balances effort with ease.

After individual private sessions with Melissa and Emily, it is important to continue with strengthening the body core, the deep postural muscles which lay close to the spine. This core conditioning will help you to continue your journey of pain-free living. Classes in Pilates Core Conditioning are available at the Pilates Annex. If you are new to Pilates, visit our Getting Started page. If you have previous experience with Pilates, visit our Class Info page.