You Need To Consider Doing This If Your Low Back Pain Is Not Improving With Pilates

Low back pain can feel like an unshakable weight, affecting everything from standing and walking to simply getting out of bed. Whether it’s caused by muscle strain, poor posture, or underlying conditions like a herniated disc or degenerative disc disease, low back pain can severely limit your ability to perform daily tasks and enjoy life.

The emotional toll of low back pain is just as profound. The constant worry that the pain will return, paired with the difficulty of finding lasting relief, can leave you feeling exhausted, frustrated, and defeated. If Pilates hasn’t provided the relief you need for your low back pain, it may be time to consider other treatment options that can target the root cause and offer long-term solutions.

Pilates: A Common Approach to Treating Low Back Pain

Pilates is often recommended for those suffering from low back pain because it focuses on strengthening the core, improving posture, and enhancing flexibility. The exercises in Pilates aim to target the muscles that support the spine, improving alignment and relieving pressure from the lower back. By improving muscle balance and increasing flexibility, Pilates can help reduce the discomfort and stiffness associated with low back pain.

However, while Pilates can be helpful for improving strength and flexibility, it may not always provide full relief for everyone. If your low back pain is caused by more complex conditions like a herniated disc, sciatica, or spinal stenosis, Pilates exercises alone may not address the root cause of the problem. For some, the pain may persist, leaving you feeling frustrated and uncertain about the best way to move forward.

Why Getting a Clear Diagnosis Is Crucial

Low back pain can result from a variety of underlying conditions. Here are five common causes of low back pain:

  1. Muscle Strain – Overuse, poor posture, or sudden movements can strain the muscles in the lower back, causing pain and stiffness.
  2. Herniated Disc – A ruptured or slipped disc in the lower spine can press on the nerves, leading to pain that radiates down the legs.
  3. Spinal Stenosis – Narrowing of the spinal canal can place pressure on the spinal cord or nerves, causing pain and discomfort.
  4. Degenerative Disc Disease – As the discs in the spine break down over time, they lose their cushioning ability, leading to pain and reduced mobility.
  5. Sciatica – Compression of the sciatic nerve can cause pain, numbness, or tingling that radiates from the lower back down one leg.

In addition to these common causes, there are two less common but potentially serious causes of low back pain:

  1. Fractures – A break in one of the vertebrae in the lower spine can cause severe pain and restrict movement.
  2. Infections – Infections in the spine can lead to inflammation and cause pain that needs urgent medical attention.

The Need for Imaging to Get a Precise Diagnosis

It’s important to recognize that low back pain cannot always be fully diagnosed based on symptoms alone. Imaging techniques such as X-rays, MRIs, or CT scans are necessary to assess the health of the spine, discs, and surrounding tissues. These diagnostic tools help healthcare providers determine the exact cause of the pain, allowing them to develop a more effective treatment plan tailored to your needs.


The Pain Relief Clinic: Your Partner in Finding a Clear Diagnosis

At The Pain Relief Clinic, we understand how low back pain can affect every aspect of your life, from work to family activities and even simple daily tasks. With over a decade of experience, we specialize in offering non-invasive diagnostic services to uncover the root cause of your pain. If Pilates hasn’t provided the relief you need, we can arrange for affordable scans, typically within one working day.

Medisave can often be used to help cover the cost of these scans, making them more accessible for you.

We also assist with insurance claims, including accident insurance, travel insurance, and company insurance, ensuring that you can access the care you need without the added financial strain.

Once we have a clear diagnosis, we can provide targeted treatments, solutions, and non-invasive technology to help alleviate your low back pain and restore your mobility.

Ready to take control of your low back pain? Send us a message today to arrange an appointment and begin your journey toward lasting relief from low back pain.

What To Expect When I Visit The Pain Relief Clinic

A typical visit will involve our doctor first understanding your medical history, concerns and previous experience with other pain treatments.

For patients who have consulted many people but have yet to receive a clear diagnosis, selecting an affordable imaging scan might be recommended to confirm the cause of your pain..

Some patients have already done scans with other doctors for their pain condition but are still not clearly told what they suffer from.

Dr Terence Tan is happy to offer you a second opinion and recommend how best to manage your condition.

We also see patients who already have a confirmed diagnosis from specialist pain doctors, but are "stuck” because treatment options offered are not practical or acceptable.

We can help by discussing options that you might have potentially never been told of.

A common experience is when a patient has already consulted a specialist doctor for pain management and is told to consider orthopaedic surgery which they find too aggressive.

Or they may have seen doctors for their pain and were prescribed painkillers with potential side effects which made them feel uncomfortable.

Many of our patients have also first tried complementary treatments or acupuncture with traditional Chinese pain doctors.

They look for a second opinion after finding any relief experienced from other treatments to be temporary or requiring repetitive treatments, which add up to time and cost.

Especially in such situations, we emphasize using non-invasive medical technology you likely have not been told about .

This can make a big difference to your results.