Once Pilates was a part of her own health journey, Andrea Gonzalez knew it would become a valuable part of her physical therapy practice.
Gonzalez, a physical therapy assistant at MetroHealth’s Cleveland Heights outpatient physical therapy clinic, had back pain resulting from two Cesarean sections. As a busy working mom, she needed something that fit her schedule and didn’t require her to go to a gym or fitness center.
She discovered Pilates, an exercise and body conditioning method that highlights precise movements, controlled breathing, and muscle engagement, enhancing muscle tone and stability. Andrea was immediately struck by how the consistent, short workouts helped her manage her pain. And she wondered: did it have an application for her patients?
The more she learned about Pilates, the more she realized it had a huge following among rehabilitation professionals in certain parts of the world. Specifically, the APPI, or Australian Physiotherapy and Pilates Institute, has a rehabilitation-based program with modified Pilates exercises, each adapted for various levels of physical therapy rehabilitation.
Buoyed by her own progress thanks to Pilates, Gonzalez brought these exercises into her practice and has been using them with patients with neck and back pain, hypomobility and sports injuries, as well as those rehabilitating after total joint replacement or even bariatric surgery.
“The beauty of Pilates is that patients don’t mind the exercises. With varying levels of intensity, it’s adaptable to different functionality levels. This gives patients a path to progress and makes it easy for them to do on their own, too,” says Gonzalez, who is an APPI Certified Matwork and Reformer Pilates Instructor. “Plus, Pilates can be used with practically any patient. Whether it’s a young or geriatric patient, someone who is obese or a patient experiencing a decline in physical function—patients feel the impact right away, which helps them remain
compliant and encouraged.”
She often incorporates Pilates using the Reformer machine, which improves posture, gait, balance and functional movement—and she’s seeing significant results.
Take Kathryn Strothers.
After more than a year of back pain that wasn’t responding to multiple interventions, Strothers had surgery to fix the narrowing in her spine and a herniated disc—the culprits of her pain. Yet, six weeks after surgery, she still didn’t have the relief she sought and tried physical therapy—and Pilates—with Gonzalez.
“At that point, I was pretty much willing to try whatever they wanted me to do,” Strothers says. “I had never done Pilates before in my life.”
So once a week, Gonzalez worked with Strothers to help her build strength and reduce pain. She also gave her stretching and exercises to do at home.
“Every other form of physical therapy left me in more pain than when I came in,” Strothers says. “This was the first time I didn’t have more back pain than when I started the therapy.”
They eventually began incorporating a Pilates Reformer machine into Kathryn’s workouts, providing additional extended relief.
“I didn’t believe that Pilates could help as much as it has,” Strothers says. “Out of all of the things that I’ve tried, this has helped me the most.”
It’s those results that have made this aspect of Gonzalez’s practice appealing to various MetroHealth departments. For example, she regularly works with MetroHealth Weight Loss Center patients on exercise education after bariatric surgery.
“Incorporating Pilates into physical therapy can be beneficial to so many different areas of healthcare recovery,” Gonzalez says. “No matter a patient’s pain or fitness, Pilates can be adapted to give us a starting point.”
