A NEW APPROACH TO CHRONIC PAIN

By: Dr. Kim Leis-Keeling

Guilderland, NY - I remember when I was going to chiropractic school, one of my professors said to us “Your patients will push you to be a better doctor.” This is so true. As I have practiced through the years, I have helped so many patients get relief from back pain but there have also been some that I have not been able to help. Most of these difficult cases are patient that have been in chronic pain for 6+ months. Just as I have felt the frustration of my patients who are looking for answers and desperate for pain relief, it is equally frustrating for me to have to tell a patient that I have tried everything I know, but it is not helping. It has led me on a quest to find a new approach to chronic pain which may help these more difficult cases. I knew that movement was likely the missing key but when people are in chronic pain, they don’t want to move. I needed to find a way to make this happen.

Last fall I began a unique Pilates certification program that was developed by a physical therapist who specialized in movement therapy. The program integrates the movements and equipment used in Pilates with the principles of rehabilitation. To clarify, there are different styles of Pilates. In Classical Pilates, there is a certain pattern or order in which the exercises are typically done (I am NOT doing Classical Pilates). In this approach, I must decide what exercises would be appropriate for my patients based on their injuries and duration of pain. Much like designing an injury rehab program. It is looking at a piece of exercise equipment and using it with a clinical mindset. So of course, I have been implementing the exercises as much as possible with patients.

Recently, I had a patient who was referred to me by an orthopedic surgeon for hip and back pain. My typical treatments of myofascial release, cupping, core exercises and lumbar traction alleviated 75% of his pain. Then we hit a plateau with improvement. He was limited in exercise and only able to walk about 1.5 miles before his hip would start hurting. I was skeptical that the therapeutic Pilates program would help him, but he agreed to try a few sessions to see what would happen. To the surprise of both of us, he responded quickly and was so excited to tell me he could walk over 2 miles without discomfort and felt like he was walking all together differently. His mood even became much happier since he was not in pain all the time. The only explanation I have for the improvement is that by putting the body in a completely different environment for full body movements, we rewired his movement patterns. And his body learned how to move in a pain-free state.

I am loving learning this new strategy that can help my patients and I think they are enjoying the results…while having a little fun doing something different in the process.

As always, if you have questions regarding this article or would like a free consultation to see if Therapeutic Pilates could help you, please feel free to contact me directly at 518-869-3415. Email me at contactus@sportsandspinalwellness.com.

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