Pelvic Health & Orthopedic Physical Therapy
Addressing your questions about pelvic, women's, and musculoskeletal health. Health is a journey. Movement is healing!
Here's a nice breakdown of how to build a new habit as we approach the start of 2017. Start with little, daily things that will add up to your bigger goal!
2016 has been a big year, but it has been mostly a year spent waiting, anticipating, and preparing for 2017. 2016 was a year spent mostly in the classroom and out on clinical rotations learning more about different facets of physical therapy. 2017 holds my final coursework, final clinical rotation, graduation, board examination, starting my career, and a potential move.With all of that buzzing about I need to get mentally and physically focused for the craziness that 2017 has in store. So here is my resolution for 2017...in order to get through all of the wonderful, chaotic events that will largely be out of my control I will make at least 30 mins a day devoted to self care, including practicing yoga and journaling, as I gear up for this whirlwind of a year. So this leads me to my blog-related thought this morning. What is your resolution for 2017? What will you do to improve your mental and physical wellbeing? Real change takes commitment and determination. What small steps can you make in your daily routine to lead to a healthier and happier version of yourself? Can you add more water into your day? Get outside and take a walk? Start a new hobby? Reduce salt and sweets? It doesn't have to be something big to start with. If you start with totally eliminating all sugar and you have a wicked sweet tooth, you aren't going to be very successful. Instead try taking small steps towards your bigger goal, like instead of eating the cereal with marshmallows in it (I know, it's magically delicious) look at the nutritional label and find an option with less sugar or try oatmeal. So let’s start an open dialogue about our health goals for 2017. You can either comment on this post or hit the contact tab and send me a message. If you do send me your goal I will create a monthly forum to share goals and goal progress as well help to provide encouragement and accountability. Hope you have a safe and happy New Year's! #NewYearNewYou #2017BestYearYet Thank you all for your feedback about this blog! I really appreciate hearing what you want to learn more about. I will start working my way through writing about each of the topics. First up, light strengthening for the "core". Core is kind of a non-specific catch all term. When I think of the ellusive core I (and I think most people) think of strengthening abdominal muscules. But many of these muscles are also affected by your spine and spinal musculature. So how do you target your abdominal muscles without causing your back to flare? How do you perform some light "core" exercises? We try to strengthen our abdominal musculature with the go to "crunch" or sit-up which can be uncomfortable and put stress on the back without ultimately targetting the muscles of the abdomen efficiently.
Below is a list of a few basic exercises for your abdomen to help improve strength and stabilization. If you do any of the following exercises and you feel discomfort in your back, stop and consult a PT (it may be the exercise needs to be modified to better fit your individualized needs). Start with about 10 to 12 repetitions, repeating for a few sets (2-3) or until you feel fatigue, which may be earlier than 2-3 sets. It's important to listen to your body! So here we go (Images are below)....
You’ve been breathing your entire life, filling your lungs and emptying them. It just seems like such a natural act. The way you breathe, however, can contribute to dysfunction in the body. It typically plays a role in low back pain and pelvic floor dysfunction. So let’s discuss the mighty diaphragm in all of its glory. The diaphragm is a muscle in your abdomen. It separates your lungs and heart from the rest of the organs in your abdomen. It also assists in creating a pressure gradient for lung expansion and deflation, allowing you to breathe. The diaphragm has a few passages through it allowing different vessels and structures passage between the split cavity. As the diaphragm contracts it helps to pull the lungs down and expand the chest cavity allowing you to take a breath. As the diaphragm relaxes it recoils, pushing air out of the lungs with exhalation. It may seem like such a small thing, but the way that you breathe can affect other muscular structures. When your breathing pattern is inefficiently utilizing the diaphragm it may have adverse reactions on other structures in your body. This is most evident in individuals presenting to physical therapy for low back pain or pelvic floor dysfunction. Due to inefficient breathing patterns your PT may suggest diaphragmatic breathing. So first thing, gain an awareness for you breathing pattern. Lay on your back flat with both knees bent, feet flat on the floor. Put one hand on your chest and one hand on your belly. Breathe normally for a about a minute. Note: Where do you feel the most movement when you are breathing? Your chest or stomach? Is your breathing quick or slow? Irregular? Now let’s try more targeted diaphragmatic or “big belly” breathing. In the same position (laying on your back flat with knees bent and feet flat on the floor, one hand on your chest, one hand on your stomach) inhale slowly through your nose, focus on sending air to your stomach, and letting the hand on your stomach rise. Exhale slowly through your nose or mouth, letting the hand on your belly fall. Try to focus on using your belly to breath as opposed to moving your chest. This may be more challenging if you noticed you moved a lot in your chest with normal breath patterns. Continue this exercise for 5 minutes a day, every day during the week in this position (You could even turn this into a meditation practice if you want). Try to be more aware of your breathing pattern throughout the day. As you master diaphragmatic breathing you can begin to incorporate it with other exercises as well as in other positions (sitting, standing, walking, hand stand). It is especially important to become proficient in this breathing pattern for those of you who run as it will make you more efficient and reduce those pesky side cramps. We are once again sprinting towards the holidays and end of the year. It seems like there is so much that needs accomplished during the days and just too little time to get it done. In the hustle and bustle of the holiday season remember to take a little time for yourself.
I am one of the worst culprits when it comes to self care. I rarely make time for myself and as a result my health suffers. My stress levels rise and my head begins to rotate around on my body...Joking. But in all seriousness other aspects of my life and health are affected by my chronic state of increased stress. I have chronic headaches, migraines, and interrupted sleep. How does your stress affect you? Does it make you more irritable? Feel fatigued throughout the day? Maybe you are like me and you get lots of headaches and your stress makes it difficult for you to get a full night's sleep. The end of the year is the perfect time to start implementing new practices into your schedule. Why not take a little time every day for some self care in order to combat stress? Especially the daily stress compounded with holiday stress. Over the past two days I've started doing a little yoga before bed and the past two nights I've slept through the entire night. Studies say on average it takes approximately 66 days to make a practice habit. So let's enter the new year taking more time to ensure we take care of our mental wellbeing! Here are a few different ways to take some you time:
Yesterday I attended a course on physical therapy intervention with individuals who have survived urogenital and breast cancers. I continue to be amazed at the under utilization of pelvic rehabilitation by our medical system. A large portion of our population is aging. Age contributes to the risk of developing many types of cancer. As the baby boomer generation continues to age the number of individuals will continue to grow. Fortunately advances in medicine are improving the effectiveness of cancer treatments and increasing survivorship. The question for many physical therapists, especially women's health physical therapists, is when in this process of survivorship is it best to educate individuals on the availability of services?
While cancer treatment can be tailored to a specific region, the treatment can still have acute and chronic systemic effects. Chemotherapy can lead to pain, fatigue, as well as changes in bowel, bladder, and sexual function. Radiation can cause an individual to experience bladder changes, difficulties with the bowels, fibrosis of tissue, lymphedema, joint pain, fatigue, and difficulties with sexual function. (These are not exhaustive lists of the side effects of these types of treatments, just a few relevant to pelvic health.) There is evidence that physical therapy prior to treatment for cancer can play a beneficial role in post-treatment outcomes. Individuals that start improving physical shape before treatment often heal better. However, many insurance providers do not currently support "prehab". So the other options, target the individuals during or after treatment? There just doesn't seem to be a good time to address everything a survivor of cancer may face following treatment. Many individuals report feeling overwhelmed throughout the duration of treatment, which is understandable. Of course feeling constant diarrhea or bladder leakage or even changes in sexual function wouldn't necessarily be in the forefront of an individual's mind during treatment. These people are fighting to survive, which takes precedence. But then once they are discharged from cancer treatment, their needs beyond surviving cancer may fall between the cracks.They may even feel like they are the only one experiencing these symptoms or that there are no treatment options to help gain control of bowel, bladder, and sexual function. It is important to advocate and educate on pelvic health offerings along with other physical therapy services to help improve the quality of life. Regardless if you treat pelvic floor specifically, you will most likely have a cancer survivor as a patient and it is crucial to ask pertinent questions related to bladder, bowel, and sexual function in order to connect patients with appropriate resources. |
AuthorHello! I am Caitlyn, Doctor of Physical Therapy and Board Certified Women's Health Physical Therapist working in St Louis, Missouri. Faculty in developing residency program. Endowarrior Categories
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