USING PILATES TO

RELIEVE PLANTAR

FACIAIITIS &

BURSITUS OF

THE HIP

A PERSONAL JOURNEY

Cassandra Kelly

17th July, 2017

Comprehensive Global Format

Cairns, Australia

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Having suffered from bursitis of the hip for almost five years and plantar fasciitis for over 18

months the use of Pilates through mat and apparatus work has now relieved me of

symptoms to the point I no longer have pain. Any pain that may occur is quickly eased and

disappears with ongoing work using Pilates to manage, strengthen and support these areas.

I have found the overall state of my body and mind has improved immensely now that pain

is no longer an issue through BASI Pilates.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ANOTOMICAL DESCRIPTION OF INJURIES..................................Page 4

BACKGROUND HISTORY.............................................................Page 5

MAT PILATES...............................................................................Page 8

REFORMER..................................................................................Page 9

CADILLAC/TOWER.....................................................................Page 10

CONCLUSION.............................................................................Page 12

BIBLIOGRAPHY..........................................................................Page 12

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ANOTOMICAL DESCRIPTION OF INJURIES

My left hip was damaged due to fall from a chair onto concrete. Slight labral tear was

evident from injury and subsequent pain continued on and off over the years from this

injury.

Having flat feet since childhood this would has contributed to foot/heel pain throughout my

life. Later on suffering more frequently and being diagnosed with Plantar Fasciitis.

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BACKGROUND HISTORY

Since childhood I have been very active in sports. I swam at school, at club and regional

level and played Netball and Softball team sports, along with Athletics and Aerobics. Having

left high school I did not continue in sports as much and as a result my fitness declined and

weight gain became evident and injuries started to ensue. As a result I ended up have two

minor operations on my left knee to remove cartilage due to my Netball days, due to its high

impact nature on joints. This over the years has caused some discomfort but no further

treatment has been needed to date.

In the 2000’s I was fortunate enough to have an employer that introduce morning exercises,

free of charge, to his staff and offered Pilates once a week. Having known a little about this

type of exercise I was keen to try something new, as I did not want to do any high impact

sport, due to my knee injury. Although weight loss was my goal, I found that my core

strength and balance improved dramatically. Unfortunately our company structure changed

and classes were no longer available. I did not pursue Pilates any further, to my detriment.

In 2012, I was now a 40 year old and mum to a toddler. Having gone through dramatic

weight loss of 22 kg prior to my pregnancy, I was in reasonable shape. Or so I thought.

Having moved from my home state of Queensland across to Western Australia for my

husband’s work, I found myself somewhat isolated, away from family and friends and only

seeing my husband every three to four weeks. I also started suffering from immense fatigue

to the point of falling asleep in an instant whilst doing everyday things. This was

misdiagnosed by several general practitioners. It wasn’t until I returned home to Cairns,

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Queensland that I received the news I had been suffering with Glandular Fever. I mention

this as this was a contributing factor that leads to my hip injury and Bursitis diagnosis.

I remember it quite clearly. It was yet another wet, cold day in Western Australia and I was

hanging washing up under our veranda to dry. Not unlike most days prior when I have done

this chore. I was on a chair as I could not reach the clothesline from the ground in places.

Being continually tired, your reaction time to things is drastically reduced. I was pegging up

clothes and stepped the wrong way and subsequently stepped off the chair onto concrete. I

fell hard on my left side, winded and in shock I managed to get myself together. Home

alone with a toddler I prayed I had not fractured anything. I managed to get to my feet and

walk. I was in pain but not to the point it stopped me from walking and moving somewhat

freely. I had believed I had just bruised myself where I had fallen onto the concrete and

thought nothing more of it. I didn’t have time to be injured and went on as normal as best

as I could.

About a week later I started getting pains in my hip. I had had bursitis in the past, and

seemed to aching joints from my Glandular Fever anyway. I put it down, this time, to the

fall and that it would go away. It didn’t. The pain got to the point it would wake me at night

and inhibit my movement throughout the day. After seeing my GP and having X-Rays it was

evident that I had a labral tear and was given a steroid injection to speed up my recovery

and give me pain relief. This lasted for about two years.

I returned home to Cairns, Queensland and in 2014 found myself in pain again in my hip.

Knowing the cause and treatment, I visited my GP and was again referred on to get another

steroid injection. Knowing there are limitations to how many injections I could receive and

seeing that they only lasted two years I needed to find an alternative.

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It was around this same time of the return of my hip pain I started to get pain in my left

foot. Having flat feet my whole life I am always aware to make sure I wear good footwear to

alleviate pain. In most instances, if a lot of walking was needed on hard surfaces; I found my

feet would give out on me more often than not, regardless of my physical fitness at that

time.

Yet another visit to my GP to be diagnosed with Plantar Fasciitis. I was given some general

information about it and sent on my way with rest being the general outcome. I was not

one hundred percent comfortable with this and started to research and manage my

condition as best as I could.

Fast forward to end of January, 2015 and a Facebook post was shared by a friend for BASI

Pilates classes literally around the corner from where I lived. Having put on weight yet

again, and finding that my whole left side was breaking down with injuries I knew I had to

do something. Deep down I knew Pilates was the answer. I contacted Janine and started

the journey to better health. This then made me to want to share my experience and

knowledge and become an instructor in BASI Pilates.

To say BASI Pilates has helped me is an understatement. I can honestly say it has changed

my life.

As Joseph Pilates said

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MAT PILATES

For the first six months of 2015 I concentrated on getting core strength back and movement

through my hips through Mat Pilates. As my instructor, Janine said “the body doesn’t

forget” and this was the case for me. My body was quick to remember exercises learnt

almost 15 years + ago. With some attention to correct execution of exercises I was able to

greatly reduce and remove pain from my hip.

Working the Mat BASI Block System my exercise repertoire went as follows:

FOUNDATION: Pelvic Curl Spine Twist Supine Chest Lift, Chest Lift with Rotation Leg Lifts/Leg Changes Leg Circles ABDOMINAL WORK: Hundred Prep Roll Up Hundred Double Leg Stretch, Single Leg Stretch Crises Cross

SPINAL ARTICULATION: Rolling (Roll-like-a-ball) Spine Stretch Saw Spine Twist Seal Puppy Open Leg Rocker

BRIDGING: Front Support Back Support Leg Pull Front

LATERAL FLEXION/ROTATION: Side Lifts

BACK EXTENSION: Back Extension Cat Stretch Swimming

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Regaining core strength back, reducing and somewhat eliminating my hip pain allowed more

movement in everyday scenarios, improved my posture, cleared the mind and allowed me

to progress to equipment work to continue flexibility and strength in my hip and start to

concentrate on my Plantar Fasciitis.

REFORMER

It was around July of 2015 that I began working on the Reformer with Janine. Janine had

been coaxing me onto this apparatus for some time knowing it would give me further

strength. Concentrating on footwork to help ease and/or eliminate the pain from my

Plantar Fasciitis and strengthening weak arches was my main goal along with hip strength.

Again following the BASI Block System my repertoire was as follows:

WARM UP: Pelvic Curl Spine Twist Supine Chest Lift, Chest Lift with Rotation Roll Up FOOT WORK: Parallel Heels, Parallel Toes V Position Toes, Open V Heels, Open V Toes Calf Raises, Prances, Prehensile Single Leg Heel, Single Leg Toes

ABDOMINAL WORK: Hundred Prep Hundred Coordination HIP WORK: Frog, Circles (Down/Up) Openings Extended Frog, Extended Frog Reverse SPINAL ARTICULATION: Bottom Lift, Bottom Lift with Extensions Short Spine Semi-Circle

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STRETCHES: Standing Lunge Kneeling Lunge FULL BODY INTEGRATION (F/I): Scooter Up Stretch 1 Elephant ARM WORK: Extension Adduction Up Circles, Down Circles Triceps LEG WORK: Single Leg Skating LATERAL FLEXION/ROTATION: Mermaid BACK EXTENSION: Breaststroke Prep Upon starting this regime I found to have extremely tight hamstrings. This limited me for

some time with certain exercises. For example: I have never really been able to touch the

ground doing a Roll Down. Now I am able to place both hands flat on ground without effort.

Proof my hamstrings have lengthened over time. Through continued practice my flexibility

is far greater than it ever has been. My range of motion in my hips has improved allowing a

more fluid motion of the hip joints and alleviating me the Bursitis pain I had endured.

The next apparatus to aid my recovery and growth was the Cadillac/Tower. Being

positioned differently but doing similar exercises added another dimension to my training,

building on what I had done already.

CADILLAC/TOWER

WARM UP (Mat): Pelvic Curl, Spine Twist Supine WARM UP SERIES: Roll Up with Roll Up Bar, Mini Roll-Ups, Mini Roll-Ups Oblique, Roll-Up Top Loaded

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FOOT WORK: Parallel Heels, Parallel Toes, V Position Toes, Open V Heels, Open V Toes, Calf Raises, Prances, Single Leg Heel, Single Leg Toes, Hip Opener ABDOMINAL WORK: Roll Up Bottom Loaded, Breathing with Push Through Bar, Teaser 1 HIP WORK: Frog, Circles (Down/Up), Walking, Bicycles, SPINAL ARTICULATION: Monkey Original, Tower Prep, Tower, STRETCHES: Shoulder Stretch FULL BODY INTEGRATION (F/I): Sitting Forward, Side Reach, Kneeling Cat Stretch ARM WORK: Chest Expansion, Hug-a-Tree, Circles (Up/Down) Circles, Punches, Biceps LEG WORK: Squats LATERAL FLEXION/ROTATION: Butterfly BACK EXTENSION: Prone 1 The arches in my feet are now raised and stronger than ever before. I am able to walk great

distances over hard services without my feet tiring. The first time since my early 20's I

have bought stiletto high heels and can now wear them without my feet being sore at the

end of the evening. I truly believe the work I have put in employing the BASI Method has

truly aided my recovery to date when nothing else did.

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CONCLUSION

Over the course of the last two years committing to one Mat Pilates class and at least one to

two Reformer or Cadillac/Tower classes each week I now have little, if no hip pain. My

Plantar Fasciitis disappeared with only one small re-occurrence. This quickly went within a

week of targeted practice. My weight is shifting with a small change to my diet, along with

BASI classes, giving me motivation to practice even more to achieve even better results.

I can honestly say I have not felt this good in such a long time, both physically and mentally.

BASI Pilates has achieved the results I initially searched for myself but given me hope and so

much more. I now have a goal to continue with BASI Pilates and becoming an instructor. I

feel my own journey up to now will only enhance my teaching of the BASI method and allow

me to help others, as it has helped me. Thank you Joseph Pilates, thank you BASI Pilates.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Image of Trochanteric Bursitis:

https://www.caringmedical.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/trochanteric-bursitis-

WEB.jpg

Image of Plantar Fasciitis:

http://www.icbmedical.com/image/SPUR_Xray.jpg

Joseph Pilates Quote Image:

https://s-media-cache-

ak0.pinimg.com/736x/f5/7f/2d/f57f2d30ffd79cfd52520430be2c6538--pilates-fitness-

pilates-yoga.jpg