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I’m very happy to be able to share Beth’s story with you, in her words. Her delivery and 4th trimester issues are common, as was her need for greater support at that time. The fact that we were able to provide the help she needed at that vital time makes me very proud. It’s a testament to everything I’ve worked toward as a Pelvic Health Physio, and demonstrates how I believe we can provide truly holistic and individualised care that changes lives. I’m so proud of how far she has come on her rehab journey, it’s not been easy. I’ll let Beth tell you…

I’ve had writers block for a couple of weeks since confirming that I would write a blog to share my story.

Where to begin?

How much to share?

Does writing it down make everything a bit too real?

You see, I’m still on my journey to recovery so I can’t tell a story of ‘happily ever after’ just yet. However, what I can tell you is a story of hope and amazing...

What is Bladder Pain Syndrome?

The first thing to say about Bladder Pain Syndrome is what it’s Not….

Initially people went to their doctors with the symptoms of a chronic infection – a urinary tract infection or cystitis. They had an urgent need to pass urine, felt like they needed to go often and it would be accompanied by pain in the bladder region, perineum (between the legs) or in the urethra (tube from the bladder). However this went on much longer than an infection should, and often after taking antibiotics. The lining of the bladder is called the interstitium and so it was thought that when people presented with this group of symptoms they had a chronic infection of the bladder lining. This is how the name Interstitial Cystitis came around.

It’s now understood that Interstitial Cystitis/Bladder Pain Syndrome is much more complex, and many people do not have a chronic infection of the bladder or urethral lining. Even If they do have a chronic...

Watch the vlog here.

A few weeks ago I was given this paper by Gill Brook (thanks Gill!), and I think it’s another important step forwards in our knowledge about the aeteology of Bladder Pain Syndrome.

The full title of the paper is:
Will cesarean section increase the risk of interstitial cystitis/painful bladder syndrome?
Kun-Min Chang, Ming-Huei Lee, Hsuan-Hung Lin, Shang-Liang Wu, Huei-Ching Wu
Neurourology and Urodynamics. 2018;1–7.
DOI: 10.1002/nau.23704

Have a listen, I’d love to hear your thoughts! Catch me on Facebook or Twitter.

Getting a job in pelvic health can be much like working in a pub – you can’t work in a pub til you’ve got experience working in a pub…

And then there’s the question – what do we actually Do in pelvic health?

If you’ve got an inkling that this may be the career for you – hurrah! Congrats. You’ll be hard pressed to find such a rewarding profession.

Gill and I had a chcat about how we got into pelvic health, and how you could too.

Want to find out more? Have a look at the POGP website for the complete role of a Pelvic Health physio and for details of the upcoming workshops, events, and conferences.

Watch the vlog here.

Katie and I got chatting online as we both have an interest in graded motor imagery in pelvic pain. Katie works on the East coast of Canada as a pelvic health physiotherapist and is researching graded motor imagery in women with pelvic pain with  Mount Allison Univeristy and Dalhousie University. She’s just completed a Phase 1 trial looking at how women with pelvic pain perceive images, and was kind enough to sit down and chat with me about her research and experience of what works for her in clinic.

It was really interesting to hear what kinds of images they’ve been using, the difficulties in finding images to represent motor and sensory activities for the pelvis, and what tools she uses in clinic.

Apologies for the sound quality, I’m working on it…

Want to know what to Avoid when you have a prolapse? Watch this.

Pelvic floor muscle exercises are key to managing pelvic organ prolapse symptoms. We know that if you do them three times a day for 3 to 5 months resolves symptoms: your pelvic floor will begin to effectively support your pelvic organs and you’ll no longer have those uncomfortable, bothersome symptoms. The following five main lifestyle factors have also been found to aggravate prolapse symptoms by increasing the pressure in your abdomen. Follow the lifestyle advice guidance below to reduce your risk of prolapses returning.

• Constipation

Constipation is usually caused by dehydration and not enough fibre in your diet. Try to avoid this by ensuring that you eat the recommended ten portions of fruit and vegetables each day. Straining to empty your bowel can make your prolapse worse, so make sure that you adopt the correct position when opening your bowels, and use diaphragmatic breathing as your only...

Firstly… No, you don’t have to get on the floor. Click here to Watch How.

And secondly, yes. They are that good. We know that up to 97% of women who do pelvic floor exercises three times a day (to the point of fatigue, not just a wiggle) for 3-5 months will have a COMPLETE RESOLUTION of their Incontinence or Prolapse symptoms.

Compelling, eh? It’s free as well..

So what are you waiting for? Time to get exercising that pelvic floor!

Before we begin, here’s a little disclaimer – it’s important to get a thorough examination from a qualified pelvic health physiotherapist or your doctor. Not all pelvic floor problems are solved by doing pelvic floor exercises – if you have pelvic pain or a tight muscle doing exercises can make things feel worse. Get checked first folks!

How to do the exercises:

Pull in your back passage as if to stop from breaking wind, imagining your anus moving upwards and forwards towards your pubic bone. Although...

I’m really glad to be able to bring you this fantastic, painfully honest blog by an inspiring Endometriosis survivor and triathlete. I was lucky enough to work with her on her journey back to sport and fitness following surgery. She never failed to inspire me with her grit, determination and gentle self-care. At the end of the day you can’t force your body into behaving a certain way, it has to be guided, cajoled and gently pursuaded. That can be frustrating, but she shows us how with gentle self-care and perserverence great things can be achieved. I’m really looking forward to reading more as her training progresses – you can HERE. And while you’re at it, if you have a few spare pennies please sponsor her Olympic Triathlon in June!

My journey has been a bit of odd one really.  I’ve had all the usual stuff of painful heavy awful periods in my teens but was on the pill from 16 which kept things sort of under control.  I was...

I’ve had a lot of great conversations since I put up my wand vlog,  and I find that I’m coming back to the same areas so I decided that it’s time we talk about the wand.

1 . It’s a great tool but it’s not for everyone

In my clinic I do use them regularly with patients with difficulties reaching their pelvic floor, problems with dexterity or force through their hands, or if they’re keen to try it but don’t like the idea of self-touch. They’re also great for people who really want to own their treatment and who get a great response from manual myofascial release with me. The rest of the time with people who are comfortable with self-touch I get them using their own thumbs with one leg up supported or when reclined. For those who aren’t comfortable with self-touch I start with a deep squat...

There was such deluge of important research presented at the recent World Congress on Abdominal and Pelvic pain that I’m taking time to digest it and translate it into practice. Here’s my second instalment.

If you didn’t see Part 1 click here.

There’s much more discussion in the vlog above, here are my brief notes. Starting with the end of the BPS cluster, Mr Kenneth Peters MD presented the role of peripheral nervous system on development and management of pelvic pain.

He believes there’s clearly two distinct populations in BPS: those with active Hunner’s Ulcers and those without. Those with Hunner’s Ulcers and pain/urgency symptoms (the more Type 3c, small stenotic bladder, passing small volumes at a high frequency) are the “active” Hunner’s ulcer phenotype, who tend to have less systemic pain, occur in post-menopausal women, and patients respond more readily to intensive surgical treatment....