By Linda on Monday, December 03, 2001 - 01:19 pm:

Has anyone tried Pilates as a form of exercise and stabililzation of the spine and abdominal muscles. I took one private lesson. It is a very gentle form of exercise, but kind of expensive. Has anyone practiced Pilates with any success or improvement in their hypermobiltiy?

By Ian on Tuesday, December 18, 2001 - 10:45 am:

With a hyper mobile person it is very important to keep excess weight off and to maintain good muscle tone. This will (hopefully) allow the muscles to control the joint much better. Pilates is one of a number of high cost methods that provides exercise to increase muscle tone. But gentle resistance exercises can be done without the cost. For a back it is generally accepted that swimming is one of the best exercises. In every case with a hyper mobile it is essential that harsh exercise be avoided at all costs. This includes jogging, aerobics and the like.

By Robyn Sheren on Friday, December 21, 2001 - 07:19 pm:

I am also interested in Pilates as a way to strengthen muscle without "stretching ligaments"..does it work in this way?? Or are the ligaments at risk.

By Becky on Sunday, January 27, 2002 - 01:48 am:

i suffer with HMS in all of my joints and tried pilates recently, but found that instead of helping my joints it left me in huge amounts of discomfort as the pilates postitions put extra strain on my already painful joints. i didnt return and have no desire to due to the increased pain i was in for days afterwards.

im sure this is NOT the same for everyone, but it was unfortunately the case for me. i hope this isnt the case should you go ahead and try it, and please dont let this put you off, as all HMS suffers are different. If you do go, or have been since posting, i would love to hear how you found it.

By carla on Wednesday, February 20, 2002 - 02:12 pm:

Becky,
I understand what you said about pilates. I tried it as part of my phsiotherapy led back rehab. class. I found that if i was well it helped to strenghten and balance my pelvic/hip/back muscle groups and pulled me into line so to speak. However when the damp winter weather came i experienced my usual ligamentous inflammation flare up. This was aggravated by exercises ;pilates included. I will try again.

Did you see my other message about acupuncture to gwen. Thoughts please!!

Does anybody else out there get ligamentous insertion pain around their joints and does it get worse in wet weather like arthritis does?

carla
( unfortuntely living in Scotland :renound for wet weather)

By Becky on Monday, February 25, 2002 - 12:41 pm:

Carla,

sorry i cant be much help on the acupunture or ligamentous insertion pain you mentioned in your last post, but i CAN definately say that my joints get worse in cold or damp weather like yours. i unfortunately though can give no possible explanation for this.

and i also unfortunately live in england, which is also known for being a little cold!

becky

By rebecca on Saturday, April 13, 2002 - 11:21 pm:

Hi!

In response to the earlier posts about Pilates exercise, I have been doing it for a while and overall it has been immensely helpful for me.
My teacher is a physical therapist, though, and knows how to adapt the exercises for me.

The biggest problem I am having right now is a shoulder that seems to get pulled out of aligment by something that I am doing...sometimes when I raise the arm there is an odd feeling of bone rubbing on bone, though I have no idea what is actually going on.

Otherwise the Pilates stuff is great and feels fantastic.

best to you - Rebecca

By Margareth on Sunday, June 02, 2002 - 05:04 pm:

After I read something about Pilates on the HMSA website I never thought about if for a long time but just this week I came past a shop that had a book about it in the window. It caught my attention and I bought it. It was not at all expensive, only about 15 dollar. There is a basic set of floor-exercises in the book and several different programmes made up of these exercises. Each exercise is ilustrated by a photograph and there is a list of things you should pay attention to during that specific exercise. I think it might work for me... I mean, this kind of book, I don't know about Pilates yet. Exercise has never done me much good before but this looks like it couldn't do that much damage... but I have been wrong about things like this before.

(How is pronounced anyway, pi-la-ties or pi-lats?)

By Rosemary Small on Sunday, November 03, 2002 - 10:03 pm:

I have been taking Pilates since July 2002. We (husband drives)travel 200 miles twice a month to take lessons from a highly skilled Pilates instructor, a teacher of Pilates teachers. It has been a great experience because I can trust this instructor to do no harm. Pilates is some weight bearing, some aerobic, and lots of small big muscle balance development. I am slowly regaining strength in my pelvic area. My pelvic joints (all of them)are weak and confused from twenty years of frequent dislocation. She is very careful which exercises I do and what level I perform them at. I practice my pilates at home between visits. I also do a version of hydrofit (deep end water aerobics) two hours a week for something aerobic. In the past month several folks have told me how great I look (don't expect that when you are 48)!

By Kerry on Thursday, November 21, 2002 - 08:54 am:

Pilates was one form of exercise i was recommended on discovering my hypermobility. I did it over the summer, but stopped when i went to university. Since then i have discovered that that was not a good move - the pain in my back and neck has returned. I would recommend it to anyone, though it would probably be best to check with your doctor first. But i give it the thumbs up!

By Patty on Thursday, November 21, 2002 - 03:34 pm:

When my daughter mentioned to her rheuma that she had started pilates, he was thrilled. It has made a difference in her ability to stand for a period of time without pain. I tried starting it, but my mid back is too far gone.
(pee-lot'-eez)

By Ian on Thursday, November 21, 2002 - 04:13 pm:

Patty

A hyper mobile needs to have good muscle tone. This is needed because they must work extra hard to try to control those very mobile joints from dislocating. Aerobics and similar is a disaster but resistance exercise is the way to go and for back exercise you can not beat swimming.

By Sally on Saturday, March 29, 2003 - 06:18 pm:

I have been doing Winsor Pilates at home for a few weeks now, it is very inexpensive and really increases muscle tone and best of all it has alternative exercises to do for people who have sensitive joints. I would recommend that if you are finding pilates classes to expensive you should try these.