Pilates + Physio: Is all pilates the same? Part 3
Recently in Australia, The Department of Health decided that in order for you to continue to claim for pilates on your private health insurance extras, your program must be prescribed by a trained Physiotherapist.
We get that this may be confusing, and as leading providers of Physiotherapy and Pilates informed exercise, our goal is to help make the reform as clear as possible for you.
So, is all pilates the same?
Pilates + Physio: Is all pilates the same?
The short answer is NO.
Pilates exercise can take many forms….you may have joined a pilates class at a gym or a reformer class at a pilates studio. While these forms of pilates are fantastic, they’re fairly generic because they need to cater for large groups of people, who all will typically get the same exercises. These classes are traditionally for people looking to maintain fitness and get active, without addressing any particular pain or injury.
Pilates informed exercises given to you by a physiotherapist are different to gym-run pilates classes, and even classes run out of private studio’s, because they’re prescribed specifically to help you move better and feel great. And they’ll always be prescribed following a full and thorough assessment of your injury or painful area, and will be chosen specifically to speed up and enable a full recovery.
Common reasons a physiotherapist would prescribe pilates informed exercises for you include –
- To treat any movement restrictions you’re suffering due to pain or stiffness;
- To improve your strength;
- To improve your poor coordination or motor control;
- To improve your poor balance;
- To regain your core strength or control;
- To allow you to return safely to exercise whilst still recovering from pain or injury.
Pilates informed exercises are just another great treatment tool that Physio’s have in their toolkit to help you. To be used alongside other hands on techniques such as massage or joint manipulation, or other rehab exercises.
So if you’re recovering from an injury or have been suffering from chronic pain, just had or are in the process of having a baby, or maybe just suffer from poor flexibility or stiffness, talk to your doctor or physiotherapist about joining one of our Clinical exercise groups, which include pilates-informed exercises.
Otherwise you can read more about why Physiotherapist prescribe pilates exercises to treat pain in Part 4 of our Pilates + Physio series, The top 5 reasons Physiotherapist use clinical pilates exercises to treat pain.
If you’d like to make a booking to see one of our physiotherapists for an assessment, call us, or BOOK ONLINE HERE.