Pelvic Health and Alignment

Stress Urinary Incontinence (SUI) is the involuntary leaking of urine and one of the most common and easily cured reasons for urinary leaking.  What is it? In essence, it is due to physical stress or external pressure on the bladder with increased pressure in the abdomen. For example, laughing, coughing, sneezing and lifting all involve strong abdominal contractions that place significant pressure on the bladder. Running, changing directions quickly and jumping all involve higher impact and displacement of the bladder with similar results. Leaking occurs when the muscles of the pelvic floor are not able to react appropriately to close off the urethra and thus allows urine to escape.  What are the causes? Most often it is caused by dysfunction of the pelvic floor muscles which can be from any of the risk factors discussed in this post "Everyday things that can put your pelvic floor at risk" :  Most notably:  Excessive straining with bowel movements or on...

So in a previous post we looked at things you can change to help decrease your risk of pelvic floor dysfunction. Here are a few achievable ways to get more movement into your day! 1. Pomodoro Technique Now, I know a lot of people have jobs that require them to be sitting for 8 or more hours a day, obviously not ideal for the human body. Recently I was introduced to the Pomodoro technique by a friend (Pomodoro meaning tomato in Italian). It is based on the idea that frequent breaks during your work day, a 3-5 minute break every 25 minutes, can help improve productivity and efficiency. I love this idea, not only because it gives your brain a rest, but also your body. You can also use this time to give your muscles a break. Stand up, stretch and wake up all your postural muscles, including your pelvic floor! Check it out!  2. Change up your work space If possible, see if you arrange your work set up to be standing instead of sitting (or alternate between the two).  Another ...

In physio we talk a lot about modifiable and non-modifiable risk factors. In pelvic health terms, the non-modifiable factors or things that you cannot change include:  Gender - Females tend to be more at risk than Males Genetics - There does seem to be a genetic disposition for conditions such as prolapse (thought to be due to composition of connective tissue within the body) Age - unfortunately the risk increases as we get older, particularly after menopause and our estrogen levels decrease  However, the good news is that there are a lot of things that you can change! Starting right now.  This is how I used to sit, e specially as a student! Improve your alignment while  sitting and standing  Decrease total sitting time during the day Switch out your positive-heeled shoes for flats/barefoot/negative heeled shoes  Avoid any breath holding when lifting or doing any heavy work Decrease and manage straining on the toilet / consti...

While there are many great things about being female, our anatomy combined with our upright, two-legged posture puts us at a significant disadvantage when it comes to pelvic floor dysfunction (PFD) compared to men. Even before becoming pregnant and giving birth!  For example, our higher incidence of urinary incontinence can be somewhat attributed to the much shorter distance from the bladder to the outside world (via the urethra). The female pelvis is also wider and therefore has more space for our organs to descend eg. prolapse (Thanks a lot gravity). Unfortunately I do not have any statistics for Canada and Australia, however recent literature has shown that within the USA alone, the incidence of pelvic floor dysfunction is going to rise from 28.1 million WOMEN in 2010, to 43.8 million in 2050 (1). Firstly that is a huge number in 2010 (roughly around 18% of the female population) and the predicted increase is even more troublesome. While I'd probably never be out of a job, I...