Hi everybody!
I've noticed that a few people have mentioned Pilates in their posts and since I feel that I benefited considerably from the Pilates classes I went to before I was diagnosed I thought I'd stick together a few thoughts of my own and ask what others thought too as there have been a few threads about non-drug coping with PMR.
First a bit of my background: I had the symptoms of PMR for nearly 5 years before I was diagnosed and tried a whole range of physical therapies, both privately and through the NHS, to try and get some relief. I'd been using my local ladies-only gym quite a bit when the PMR started - it manifested itself as agonising pain in my thigh muscles when I tried to use the cross-trainer or bike. Over a period of a few months I realised that I was less and less able to cope with the classes I attended and decided I would have to change to a gym with a swimming pool if I was to get value-for-money. It was a case of \"it's an ill wind that blows no good\" because by my changing to a gym a few miles away a whole new world opened up to me. There was a pool - where they held an aqua aerobics class every day - and they also had a few different Pilates and yoga classes. I was too scared to try the yoga but I had done Pilates before and found the new teacher was even better - and eventually I did try the Iyengar yoga class which was also superb.
Pilates was developed by Joseph Pilates, a German who came to England in 1912 and was interned during the First War. During this time he developed a system of pulley-like machines to allow injured patients to work against resistance whilst still in bed to prevent muscle wasting. Many Pilates studios still use this type of equipment in their training but what is much more often found in fitness studios/gyms is what is called modified Pilates - based on the mat exercises developed by JP. The exercises have been adapted by physiotherapists over the years and former back patients are often surprised to find how many of the exercises are very similar to ones they have been taught by their physios. The emphasis is on strengthening the \"core muscles\" - your internal abdominal muscles - in particular, and on control. There are no points to be scored by doing more and faster or bigger repetitions of the exercises and you are encouraged to work at your level at all times. When your core muscles are strong it improves your posture which, in turn, helps with back pain, joint pain and, perhaps strangely, stamina.
Not all the exercises are done on a mat, there are also a whole range done in a standing position and I found them to be excellent for getting my shoulders and hips mobilised. Very occasionally we worked with a gym ball (the big diameter ones you can sit on) and I really enjoyed that.
I can hear you saying \"But if I got down on a mat I'd never get up again\"! It sometimes used to take me far longer than the others to get into position - especially a comfortable one - but my teacher was doing a college course in sport science and was specialising in rehabilitation. Her placement towards the end was 4 weeks at Catterick at the Army barracks, working with soldiers after injury. This meant she was particularly helpful to any of us who had health problems and she adapted any movement that proved too difficult or showed us something else to do. She consistently encouraged us not to take any notice of what others were doing but to work at our own pace and level.
Over the 4 years I did Pilates I saw a massive improvement in my posture and mobility - and remember, this was before I was diagnosed as having PMR but had the symptoms! I found it easiest when I had had an aqua class beforehand or some other opportunity to get loosened up but even without that, the warm-up series of movements we did at the start of the class were perfect for lindering the shoulder and hip stiffness.
One-to-one classes are the ideal, I suppose, but they tend to be seriously expensive. However, there are teachers out there who are excellent who work in fitness studios and even council gyms! My gym membership was an off-peak one aimed at the retired - Monday to Friday until 5pm and was very reasonably priced at £35-ish, particularly when you consider that I had up to 5 aqua classes, 2 Pilates and 1 yoga class available to me. In most places an aqua class alone costs over £5 by the time you pay for the entrance to the pool and the class and I won't even think about yoga classes! And I also had the use of the gym (I hated it, boring!) and the pool, sauna and steam room - also brilliant for PMR, I found. I had had lots of physio and 2 very good Pilates teachers who were very interested in making sure they were teaching well and correctly so could tell if a teacher was competent or not - and never went back to a dodgy one, especially anyone who sang the \"no pain, no gain\" mantra. A good way to go about it might be a few high standard (expensive) classes, maybe with a physio, to start with and then look for something more reasonable at a studio. And judging by the texts I keep getting from my old gym 18 months after leaving to move here they seem to be desperate for custom in the recession and the prices should be competitive!
In addition to the mobility and strength benefits of going to the gym I found that it also gave me the impetus I needed to go out - even on a day when I felt so down all I really wanted to do was go back to bed! If I had a morning class I didn't go to any great shakes getting dressed (by which time I would have been so exhausted I would have to sit for half an hour before I could do anything else). I put on my swimming costume and used the pool-side shower or gym stuff and showered afterwards - with the easiest top and bottoms I could find, no-one cared at the gym! It was much easier afterwards. I made some new friends - but I knew I would always have some company - and that helped the depressive mood of PMR no end. And I definitely felt better!
Has anyone else got any thoughts in this regard that others might find helpful or encouraging?
cheers from a slightly wintry northern Italy (snow down to 1700m - Midsummer's Day tomorrow, global warming? Yeah right!)
EileenH