Pilates for knee injury
Written by Lynda, our client who had an ACL repair after a skiing injury and rehabilitated it with us:
“After a skiing accident (fractured tibia, ruptured ACL, torn meniscus) I waited six weeks and then had an ACL reconstruction. As soon as the swelling was down and the wound healed, I signed up for one to one Pilates sessions at the Pilates Clinic. These weekly sessions complemented the regular Physio that was prescribed. We worked on strengthening the muscles around the knee, and exercises to improve knee extension, flexion and balance and slowly I was able to regain full range of movement. Physio sessions tend to be 20 minutes of exercises on the injured knee, yet in an hour of Pilates you do a whole body workout while focusing on the injury. I was back running after 5 months and skiing after 10 months.”
Thanks Lynda for this. I think the key issue here that Lynda mentioned is that with complex rehab we act as a compliment to other therapy. While a physio (or other therapist) will guide you (and us if necessary) by giving you exercises specific to the injury, Pilates will help to keep your whole body mobile and worked while taking care of the injury too. Often, having a knee injury can cause compensations or overuse of other muscles during the healing period, and Pilates helps to keep things from going out of kilter, working the whole body in relation to the injury.
