Pelvic Health and Alignment

Historically, pelvic floor treatment has focused solely on the pelvic floor muscles. We now know that in order to have an optimally functioning pelvic floor, we have to look at the bigger picture - the entire body starting from the feet up.  The feet are particularly important because whatever happens at ground level determines the forces and load affecting the body all the way up to your neck. Many women that I have seen for pelvic floor dysfunction also have a foot problem of some kind, the most common being bunions. The two conditions, although not physically close, have some similar contributing factors and continue to feed into one another due to tension patterns running from the feet, the back of the legs and up to the pelvis. The biomechanics that contribute to foot issues, also contribute to changes in positioning and muscle action at the pelvis.  Bunions Bones respond to   load   or   pressure . The more pressure applied to a particular part of...

If you've never experienced difficulty with bowel movements before, then good for you and keep doing what you're doing! However, if you are like many of us who have had experienced constipation then you know it can be quite uncomfortable and more than a little annoying. Constipation can also become hazardous to the pelvic organs and muscles when we begin to strain and hold our breath in an effort to get the stool out. This puts an enormous amount of pressure on the pelvic structures and over time, this repetitive straining can lead to prolapse of the pelvic organs, weakness of the pelvic floor muscles and also hypertonicity (tightness) of the muscles. Constipation is medically defined as less than 3 bowel movements per week and is usually due to one of two reasons; either the stool itself is very solid and difficult to pass, or there is a problem with the emptying process. Solid stools can be due to a number of things: Dehydration - as your food is digested and m...

The muscles of the pelvic floor are pretty amazing. They have many different roles including bladder and bowel control, supporting the pelvic organs, sexual function and core stability. During pregnancy and childbirth, these muscles take on the additional task of supporting the weight of your baby and then allowing the baby to pass through for delivery. These diagrams depict the pelvic floor muscles as they are normally and then during childbirth.  Pelvic Floor Muscles at rest Pelvic Floor Muscles when the baby is crowning Remember that this is what your body and these muscles are made to do. However, perineal tearing (tearing of the skin and muscles between the vagina and the anus) is unfortunately quite common and can occur when the muscles are not able to yield appropriately. This can lead to bladder and bowel incontinence and numerous other conditions related to pelvic floor dysfunction. For the muscles to undergo this amount of stretch and decrea...

I love travelling and feel very fortunate to have the opportunity to do so. However, one of the downsides about moving to the other side of the world is that you do spend a lot of time in transit just to get home for a visit. Over the last month and a bit, I have done a ridiculous amount of flying (for educational courses, home visits and fun), spending about 45hrs in the air (between Calgary, Vancouver, Seattle, Los Angeles, Brisbane, Sydney, Dallas and Austin) and a whole bunch more time in and around airports, taxis, buses and trains. All of this added up to a very sore tail bone and tight pelvic floor muscles and a lot of time to think about how travelling can affect your pelvic health.  Here are some of my travel-related observations to keep in mind that you can also apply to your everyday life! Sitting The most obvious downside to travelling is the looong amounts of time spent sitting and particularly the way that you sit. I have a tendency to curl up in my sea...

Today's post is slightly different to most of the others. I've never written a book review before (outside of primary school), however I just had to share this particular one with you. Recently I was lucky enough to get my own copy of... Alignment Matters by Katy Bowman! My first impression was: Oh my gosh this woman is smart! If you've never heard of her, Katy Bowman is a biomechanist from the USA and teaches thousands of people easy ways to look after their body and keep it functioning the way that it should. I love this book from a Physio perspective as there is a huge focus on prevention of injury and maintaing (or gaining) whole body wellness. The information throughout the book is very well researched but also easy to read for people with lots or little health education. The book is a collection of the first five years of her blog, organised into relevant categories and body parts with each gem of knowledge presented in short chapters. Great if you don...