Painful sex, vaginismus, vestibulodynia, dyspareunia... What ever you want to call it – it means that sex hurts. This is a blog post that I’ve been meaning to write for a long time, for a few reasons. 1) This issue is so very common (between 10-30% of women will experience painful sex during their lifetime). [...]
One in ten women suffer from endometriosis. While this is a disorder that involves the reproductive organs, a pelvic floor physiotherapist is a good member to have on your health team to help cope with your symptoms. What is Endometriosis? Endometriosis is a condition where cells that are very similar to the ones that line [...]
Happy New Year! I've been back at the clinic for a week now and have had more than a few patients worried about apparent relapses in a variety of conditions - urinary incontinence, pelvic organ prolapse, constipation, fecal incontinence... This is a pattern that I have noticed over the last couple of years. I am [...]
While it’s important for men to monitor their own health, it’s sometimes helpful for partners to know the signs of prostate cancer. For women, they are often very attentive to their partner’s health, but because they don’t have the same “equipment” they might miss some of the important red flags for prostate problems. According to [...]
Some of the largest secondary complaints of women who have undergone breast cancer treatments are problems with their vaginal and vulvar (external genitalia) region. Many treatments for breast cancer and those for improving survivorship force the body into a menopause-like state. Some of the issues these women experience might include vaginal dryness, burning, itching, overwhelming [...]
If you asked me before I started PT school if I would be interested in pelvic floor physiotherapy, I probably would have looked at you funny because I didn’t even know it existed. I always thought I would get into the sports world and work in strictly orthopedics. It wasn’t until I realized that many women and men can’t compete, let alone participate in physical activity, because of urinary incontinence and pelvic floor dysfunction.
A ceserean section delivery is no walk in the park. Even a well healed, really good scar is, well....scar tissue. It can affect how you use your core muscles, your spine and hip flexibility, your posture and your pelvic floor muscles. In my opinion, it should be rehabilitated.
After having a baby, I'm a huge supporter of returning to activity slowly, progressively and when your body is ready. But don't take my word for it. Meet Amy! Read about her journey of post-pregnancy return to exercise.
A lot happens to the body during pregnancy and delivery. I don’t care which way that baby comes out, there is healing that needs to happen!
Pelvic pain during pregnancy, officially called Pregnancy related Pelvic Girdle Pain (PPGP), is pain felt anywhere across the top of the back part of the pelvis, into the glutes and sometimes wraps around the hips, and runs down the thighs. Often this also includes pubic bone pain.