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Stress and Health Part 5 - Physical Therapy and Pilates
By admin | February 28, 2010
Stress can be debilitating mentally (leading to anxiety and depression) and physically by leading to certain diseases. So how do people who are post surgery or post injury alleviate the stress of getting past a painful event and back to health? Through physical therapy and pilates.
Physical therapy is typically a type of exercise that helps to rehabilitate one’s body and make it more whole again after suffering some sort of illness. By making oneself or one’s body whole and working well again a person’s mental state can also become better because they feel the following:
o More self-confidence – usually after illness (such as knee replacement surgery) a person feels down and not able to function at a level that they once were able. With physical therapy a person works on specific exercises that will help with making that particular body part stronger. Although there may be more pain in the beginning it brings a sense of confidence that eventually they will be able to use their body better. Eventually the strength and confidence comes back through diligent effort.
o Social support – usually working with someone like a physical therapist or rehabilitating with others who are going through the same thing brings a sense of comfort and a feeling that you are not alone. This inherently helps in relieving stress when you know that others are there to support you and going through the same thing that you are.
Pilates also help in relieving stress because it really is a body mind sort of exercise. It takes physical therapy to another level. It helps in building concentration, precision, control and flow to the body and the mind by focusing on strengthening the core and keeping a neutral spine. It is different from yoga in that way (by the focus on keeping a neutral spine instead of the focus on different postures).
If you are trying to recover from an injury or some type of illness physical therapy and pilates are a great way to manage the stress associated with that. Both of these mediums can be used in a preventative way as well (an even better method) to alleviate pain and illness prior to them occurring.
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Topics: Uncategorized |
Technorati Tags: Clinics, Health, Knee replacement, Pain, Physical exercise, Physical therapy, Professions, Surgery
