Category: Women’s Health

Preparing for Childbirth- Pelvic floor style!

~ jesspreale ~ 4 Comments

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I love helping women prepare for childbirth- I really do. In fact, it made me want to consider becoming trained to be a Doula a few years ago! Unfortunately, most of the women I have helped have either been women who were already seeing me for low back or pelvic girdle pain during their pregnancies– or physicians/physical therapist colleagues who were wanting to be proactive in preventing future pelvic floor problems.

So, who should work with a pelvic physical therapist during pregnancy? Honestly, EVERYONE. I’m serious. A skilled pelvic PT can do so much to help a woman not only have a safe and healthy pregnancy (helping to manage pain that creeps in, fitting for support belts/braces if needed, coaching to help get the right exercise routine, and much much more), but we also can do quite a bit to help a woman prepare her pelvic floor for delivery.  My dream is that one day all women will be encouraged to work with a pelvic physical therapist while pregnant and after delivery. I think we would see happier mamas, and reduced problems in the long run.

So, how can a pelvic physical therapist help you prepare your pelvic floor for childbirth?

1.We can help you manage low back or pelvic girdle pain. I know what you’re thinking– this post is about preparing for childbirth, not treating pain during pregnancy! And you’re right, it is. But, pain during pregnancy matters for delivery.  We know that women with pelvic girdle pain during pregnancy tend to have tender pelvic floor muscles. Tenderness in the pelvic floor is often accompanied by a difficulty lengthening or relaxing the pelvic floor–which is totally needed for vaginal delivery, right?  So, in improving pain levels, we also improve the pelvic floor muscles’ ability to relax, which can assist in improving delivery. Did you know that close to 50% of women experience low back or pelvic girdle pain during pregnancy? Most tend to think it’s normal, but it really isn’t (One again, common is not the same as normal!) The great thing is that there is so much we can do to help this pain get better!

2.We can help you learn what your pelvic floor muscles need to function optimally. There used to be the thought that ALL pregnant women needed to be doing lots and lots of kegel exercises. But, as you saw above, we now know that there is a huge population that doesn’t really need to try to tighten constantly, but rather, needs to learn to lengthen, drop and open the pelvic floor muscles.  But should some be strengthening? Absolutely! A recent review found that performing strengthening while pregnant can reduce both urinary and fecal leakage after delivery. However, it’s important that these recommendations are individualized–and that is something a skilled pelvic PT can help you with.

3. We can teach you proper pushing mechanics. This is actually one of my favorites– I generally will spend a session with all of my pregnant women helping them learn how to push in a way that will encourage the pelvic floor to open, and lengthen. Pelvic PTs can use SEMG biofeedback to help you visualize what your muscles are doing and retrain the most helpful pattern of muscle lengthening.  I also focus on learning breathing strategies to learn how to coordinate the breath with the pelvic floor, and to encourage using the diaphragm in the best way we can. This helps women to feel more prepared to push when the time comes.

4. We can help you find out which positions for labor/delivery work best for you. For me, this is typically something I work on while helping women learn the right way to push. Now, some hospitals will require women to push in a certain position, but if your doctor is open to you laboring or delivering in different positions, it can be helpful to learn which positions are the most comfortable and relaxing to you. Typically, we try a variety of positions and see which position leads to the best muscle relaxation and helps facilitate the best pushing pattern. Now, of course all of this planning can go out the window depending on what happens during labor/delivery, but it is always helpful to practice and have a few ideas going in– I find this helps women feel prepared and can calm fears heading into delivery.

5. We can teach you perineal massage techniques to help your pelvic floor stretch during your delivery.  Did you know that massaging and gently stretching the opening of the vagina in the third trimester can help to reduce trauma and tearing during delivery? Well, it can–especially during your first delivery! Perineal massage is a safe (for most women) procedure that can help to not only improve the flexibility of the muscles near the vaginal opening, but also, can help a woman learn what relaxed vs. contracted feels like, and can help a woman to recognize the stretching sensations she will feel during her delivery. It is important to note that there are times when a woman should not perform perineal massage, so it is always important to consult with your obstetrician or midwife before getting started.

What else have you tried to prepare for your delivery? PTs- are there any other important pieces you would add? Let me know in the comments below!

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5 Ways to Decrease a Flare-up on Vacation

~ jesspreale ~ 2 Comments

It never fails. Around this time of year, many of my patients are traveling, going on fun vacations (just like me! Yep, I was away last week– sorry for the lack of posts!), and the pelvic floor never seems to love that. Unfortunately, vacations for many mean a flare-up of symptoms–worsening of pain from sitting for long car or plane rides, constipation, or other unpleasant feelings. This seems to happen like clock-work. But the good news is, vacationing doesn’t have to be the start of a bad flare. You don’t have to be afraid to go on vacation. In fact, there are a few since steps you can take to reduce and manage the vacation blues.

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 1. Pack your toolbox.  One of the big ways you can reduce the likelihood of a flare, is to plan ahead and pack the necessary tools that normally help you.  Do you normally take a fiber supplement daily to manage the bowels? Pack it. Use an ice pack when you start feeling pain? Pack it. Listen to a progressive relaxation CD or youtube video before bed? Make sure you bring it along!  The more you plan ahead, the better it will be if you do start having pain or see a change in your bowel/bladder symptoms.

2. Keep your bowels in check.  Now, some of you are probably thinking, “I have pain Jessica– not bowel problems!” BUT, keeping the bowels in a routine is so important for ANY pelvic floor problem. A bout of constipation can increase bladder leakage or worsen pelvic pain. Unfortunately, constipation is very common while traveling.  One of the main reasons for this is that most of us significantly change our habits when we travel. For example, I normally start my day with a protein shake and a piece of fruit—but on vacation, I will have french toast, or a big omelet, cheese danishes, and other larger, richer breakfast options. Delicious, right? But the bowels don’t love the change. The best thing we can do for our bowels while traveling is to stay consistent. Remember, your bowels love a good routine, so try to eat similar meals that you normally eat at similar times! Keep up with fiber or supplements to maintain a good consistency, and don’t forget your fluid intake!! For more tips for bowel health, check out my previous posts here.

3. Stay consistent with your routines. Yes, we just hit on this with the bowels, but this is equally true with the other routines you use to manage your pain or other problems. Vacation is a great way to relax, but many people will find they drop their helpful habits while traveling.  Sometimes this may mean waking up a few minutes earlier in order to get your morning stretching in, or perhaps taking a break in the afternoon to use an ice pack, or maybe even setting an alarm to make sure you do your exercises–but these small steps can really do a lot to decrease the risk of a symptom flare!

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4. Pace yourself. This one is most important for those dealing with pelvic pain. We know that movement is medicine for persistent pain, and a vacation is often a very motivating time to move! That being said, it is important to gradually add movement and take breaks as needed to allow your body time to rest and adapt to a higher level of activity. I often will see men and women who may be very sedentary in their day-to-day lives, but then, go on vacation and want to be on-the-go 24-7! It is a much better alternative to try to slowly increase your activity, giving yourself adequate time to rest based on your prior activity level and what your body needs. For example, if you are normally inactive, it may be helpful to plan an activity for a few hours in the morning, but to plan for a resting period after that (great time to ice and do your stretches!). If you have several activities you would like to do, consider making a list and spacing those activities out over the days you are traveling.

5. Try not to freak out.  I get it. Flares are scary–especially when you’ve been seeing progress and have been feeling great! But, don’t let it get the best of you! Remember to see a flare for what it really is– a flare.  Keep your mindset positive, use the tools you have, and you will be back to vacationing in no time! And if you feel like you need a boost, contact your pelvic PT (we really don’t mind!). We’re always happy to talk through some strategies to calm things down, and are happy to help get you back to relaxing! 🙂

What strategies do you use to decrease a flare on vacation? PTs out there– are there any other tips you like to give your patients? Let me know in the comments below!

~ Jessica

Do we move differently in pain?

~ jesspreale ~ 12 Comments

For the past few years, my studies in pelvic health have taken me further and further outside of the pelvis.  I have learned and continue to learn how amazingly interconnected our bodies actually are. The pelvis can be influenced by the ankle, the knees—and even the neck! It is amazing and awe-inspiring. This past weekend, my studies took me to the Level 1 Selective Functional Movement Assessment (SFMA), where I spent 2 days learning a systematic way to evaluate movement and identify where dysfunctional patterns exist—head to toe! (How awesome is that?!) There are many different systems and programs out there for evaluating someone’s movement, and honestly, I don’t necessarily think one is superior to the other. I liked this one though, as it made sense to me and the initial screen could be completed in 2 minutes :).

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So, why is it important to look globally at human movement when a person is experiencing pain anywhere in the body? For lots of reasons, like I said above—but for the purpose of today’s post—because we now know that movement patterns do really change when a person is experiencing pain—and this is helpful initially and important—remember, your brain wants to protect you from experiencing harm! However, dysfunctional movement patterns, although helpful to the body in that moment, can persist and lead to further problems down the road.

Paul Hodges (a favorite researcher of mine!) and Kylie Tucker examined the current theories regarding movement adaptations to pain in a 2011 review published in the International Association for the Study of Pain. They looked at the current research regarding movement variations in pain, and frankly poked holes in the theories where holes needed poking.  They then presented a new theory on the motor adaptations to pain, and that’s what I would like to share with you today.

The theory they presented is based on the premise that movement adaptations occur to reduce pain and protect the painful part. The way in which a person does that actually varies and is flexible. Here are the basics of their theory, simplified, of course. I do encourage you to read the paper if you’re interested—it’s great!

  • Adaptation to pain involves redistribution of activity within and between muscles. Basically, the brain varies which pools of motoneurons fire in a muscle based on the individual and the task requirement. The common goal still is to protect the painful part from pain or injury, but the way the body does this can vary greatly. Interestingly, we know that the motoneurons active before and during pain tend to reduce activity, and the production of force actually seems to be maintained by a new population of units who were previously inactive. Normally, motoneuron units are recruited from smaller to larger pools to allow for a gradual increase in force—but in pain, a person often will have earlier recruitment of larger pools to basically allow for a faster development of force to get away from pain (think fight or flight response!). Also, the new population of active units may be altered to change the direction of the force generated by the muscle (again, aiming to help protect the painful structure). We also can see in some areas, like the trunk, that one muscle may become inhibited (like the transverse abdominis) while other larger muscles become more activated. This again, makes sense with the body’s goal of protection. Quick activation of larger motor units allows for a quick activation of a muscle to help protect and escape pain.
  • Adaptation to pain changes mechanical behavior. Basically, like we just discussed, the redistribution of activity within and between muscles changes the force and output of the muscle. Hodges & Tucker give us a few examples of this. First, they’ve found that when someone has knee pain, the quadriceps muscles fire differently to change the direction of knee extension by a few degrees. They also explain that the changes in muscle firing in the trunk muscles in someone with back pain leads to more stiffness and less control of movements and less anticipatory action. Basically, in each of these cases, the big picture motion stays the same, but there are small changes within how the body accomplishes those tasks.
  • Adaptation to pain leads to protection from pain or injury, or threatened pain or injury. Basically, this redistribution of muscle firing is done to protect against pain—or even the threat of pain. When a person experiences pain, the brain choses a new pattern to move to either splint the injured area, reduce the movement of the area, or alter the force on the area. The interesting piece here is that the body responds this way even when there is a perceived threat of pain! The key with all of this is that the adaptation varies significantly—not one pattern is seen for all types of pain, but the nervous system has a variety of options for protection!
  • Adaptation to pain involves changes at multiple levels of the motor system. So, although we know that the activation of motoneuron pools can change during pain, that alone does not describe the variability we see. We know now that the way the body changes movement can be influenced by structures in the brain, spinal cord or at the local level of the motoneuron. All of this is going to be influenced by the task at hand and the individual (thoughts about the pain, emotions, stressors, and previous experiences)
  • Adaptation to pain has short-term benefit, but with potential long-term consequences. Although the short-term benefit is protection of the painful area and prevention of further pain, this may lead to consequences down the road if the adaptation persists. Of course, we assume in this case that movement in a non-pain state is likely the most efficient and optimal way to move. So, changes over time could produce decreased movement variability, modified joint loading, modifications in walking patterns, joint load and ligamentous stress. Hodges and Tucker state that in order for these long-term consequences to occur, there would likely need to be a gradual maintaining of the compensation, thus that the nervous system did not recognize it being problematic. Basically, the brain slowly adapts to the new pattern and does not recognize the problems it could cause down the road.

Interesting stuff right? The tricky thing is, we don’t really know for certain how these long-term changes can impact the body—but we do know that one of the biggest risks for injury is previous injury. I can’t help but think that movement changes could possibly contribute. But how do we change this in a positive way?  I think the first step is understanding pain, learning what pain is and what pain is, and developing a healthy mindset toward pain—this alone goes a long way! We also have to look closely at our own emotions, our psychological state, our previous experiences, and understand how all of these things can influence how are brain chooses to respond to pain. But then, we need to identify which movements the body has changed, understand how the brain is varying movements to protect against pain, and then slowly provide variability with good force modulation in those movements to help the brain learn optimal, safe and pain-free ways to move again.

What do you think? I’d love to hear from you in the comments below!

Cheers!

Jessica

What’s new in pelvic health? Reading homework included.

~ jesspreale ~ 2 Comments

I love reading blogs about pelvic health, the human body, chronic pain, movement, neuroscience–and especially get excited if these things get combined together. Periodically, I’d love to simply do a blog on blogs, so that is what you get today. Basically, it is a quick list of blogs, journal articles, random articles, and possibly books that I am reading right now. There are SO many great things out there. I hope you enjoy, and have a great friday! 🙂

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1. The Pudendal Neuralgia Wrecking Ball. Of the different diagnoses in the chronic pelvic pain world, pudendal neuralgia is often a scary one for a patient to hear. Not because it’s untreatable–it IS treatable. But simply, because , and unfortunately, many patients with this type of problem (like SO many other problems related to pelvic pain) are often misdiagnosed many times before receiving help and assurance, and often find scary and less than assuring things when researching online (leading to high levels of worry and fear).  So, this article on US News and Reports came out recently. As pelvic PTs, we always love to have big news websites post information to bring awareness to pelvic pain problems. But we took some issue with exactly how that was done and some of the information which was provided…which lead to this excellent response by Stephanie Prendergast, PT of the Pelvic Health and Rehabilitation Center in California (If you don’t follow their blog, you really should! They consistently put out fantastic, high quality information.) And then, led to this response by Sara Sauder, PT, who writes her own blog, focusing all on pelvic pain (it’s great too!). Read these posts–they have great information in them!

2. Can’t Get Enough of the Diaphragm. March was really the month of the diaphragm. Not only did you get my post on the 6 reasons why the diaphragm is the coolest muscle ever, but Ginger Garner (who also has a great blog with a big emphasis on women’s health) went into great detail on this post, expanding on how important the breath really is. I’ve written a lot recently on the importance of breathing with movement and coordinating the breath with other muscle activation, but is holding the breath ever a good strategy? Julie Wiebe gave great insight into that in this post here. (And you know Julie posts awesome stuff!).

3. Movement Variability. As humans, we are designed for movement. Typically when people have pain, their movement patterns become more rigid, and they can often develop alterations where their bodies are guarding movements by pain. Retraining slow, controlled motions with a lot of variations is an important component of treatment! For those without pain, movement variety is key to keeping healthy bodies! That’s why I loved this post by Katy Bowman (my favorite biomechanist) on sitting variations while playing with her child.

4. Share MayFlowers: Women’s Health Awareness. My list would not be complete without a shout-out to Jessica McKinney’s excellent work with Share MayFlowers. SMF is a public health initiative aimed at improving awareness in Women’s Health, and Jessica has been posting excellent information all month long! She highlights women who are doing fantastic things to support WH initiatives, and links to great blogs, articles, etc. out there! A few of my faves from this month are this New York Times article which discussed an innovative form of sex education for adolescents, and this post, bringing awareness of obstetric fisulas.

Hope you enjoy! Now it’s your turn– what are you reading? I’d love to hear in the comments below!

Prehabilitation for Pelvic Surgeries

~ jesspreale ~ Leave a comment

Getting ready to have a knee replacement? You’ll have at least a few visits of pre-operative physical therapy.

What about a rotator cuff repair? The more you get that shoulder moving and stronger before surgery the better!

Now, how about that hysterectomy? Sling procedure? Prolapse repair?

  **SILENCE**

Why is it that men and women are easily referred to physical therapy prior to knee, hip or shoulder surgeries, yet so few are referred prior to pelvic surgeries?

Now, before you get fussy with me, I will say that I have worked with some fantastic surgeons who often referred women to physical therapy prior to undergoing pelvic surgeries—and we had great results working together! We would joke regularly that I made them look better and they made me look better. We were a great team! But, the unfortunate truth is that many women are not regularly referred to PT prior to having surgeries for incontinence or prolapse—and I really do believe that “prehab” would be significantly beneficial!

Here’s why:

Just like other orthopedic surgeries (knee, shoulder, hip), preoperative pelvic physical therapy can encourage proper muscle function prior to surgical intervention.  This is such an important piece! Restoring proper motor control patterns and overall muscle function can help a person recover more quickly and improve all aspects of pelvic health (bladder, bowel and sexual function). Remember, it’s not just about the pelvic floor! We also want to make sure the transverse abdominis (lower abdominal muscle), multifidus (low back muscle) and diaphragm (breathing muscle) are working optimally as a team to modulate and control pressures in the pelvis. In addition, we need to look at the whole person. Is an old neck injury impacting how you carry your pelvis? Did you have a hip replacement that is impacting your pelvic floor? A skilled pelvic PT can evaluate and address all of these components to help a person function as well as possible prior to having surgery.

In some cases, preoperative physical therapy can reduce the need for surgery. One of the physicians I worked with used to joke with his patients that I would regularly “steal his surgeries.” Now, this may be a scary thing for a surgeon to hear, but ultimately, isn’t it our goal to get patients better using as minimally invasive treatments as we can? From a surgical perspective, pre-operative PT helps to identify the patients who truly will benefit the most from surgery and those who may just need conservative care. We know now that many patients with urinary incontinence, fecal incontinence, and low-grade (typically grade I-II) pelvic organ prolapse respond very well to physical therapy interventions focusing on regaining optimal muscle function and improving behavioral habits related to bladder/bowel health and body mechanics.  That being said, there are of course many instances where surgery is indicated and very helpful—in pelvic health, the best situation is always a partnership between physical therapist and physician! I have the utmost of respect for my physician colleagues and we both found this partnership helped us identify the best treatments for patients to get them the best results as quickly as possible.

Preoperative physical therapy can reduce risk factors which could lead to worsening of problems after surgery.  Did you know that poor body mechanics with heavy lifting as well as constipation/chronic straining are risk factors for pelvic organ prolapse and urinary incontinence? Improving body mechanics is important to make sure that the “team” of muscles that support your organs are able to function optimally. Body mechanics are an especially important component for those people who participate in activities involving heavy lifting or heavy pressure (i.e. moms, healthcare workers, runners, etc.). Along with this, managing constipation and straining is a very important component. Learning how to develop a bowel routine, sit on the toilet properly, and use proper defecation dynamics (the coordinated relaxation of the pelvic floor muscles with abdominal activation to make bowel movements easier) is crucial in ensuring a person is not putting unnecessary pressure on the pelvic organs during bowel movements.

Preoperative physical therapy can help with managing nonsurgical components. I often will work with women who are having pelvic organ prolapse and pain during intercourse. Did you know that pelvic organ prolapse is not typically a source of pain (pressure yes, pain no!)? In fact, sometimes women with pelvic pain will even have worsened pain after pelvic surgeries as the muscles and nervous system respond to protect the “injured area.” Often times, prehab can help reduce pain prior to surgery through manual treatments, relaxation training and a lot of education! This can help make recovery easier and allow a person to have significantly reduced pain later on.  Another common nonsurgical component is urge related incontinence. Prolapse surgeries and incontinence surgeries can help with stress incontinence (leaking with increased pressure, like coughing/sneezing), but they do not help the urge component. Preoperative physical therapy can help with urgency or urge related incontinence through restoring proper muscle function, teaching urgency suppression strategies and retraining behavioral habits.

So, who would benefit from pelvic floor prehab? In my mind, anyone having a pelvic surgery! I would love to see all women before hysterectomies, sling procedures, or prolapse repairs. I would love to see all men before prostatectomies! The more we can help the body heal itself and promote optimal bladder, bowel and sexual function before a surgical intervention, the more likely we are to have high quality long-lasting results.

Lastly, here’s a little teaser for you– check out our gorgeous pilates studio at our newly opened clinic!! I just had to share!

Gorgeous pilates studio at One on One Physical Therapy in Smyrna!
Gorgeous pilates studio at One on One Physical Therapy in Smyrna!

So, what do you think? PTs- did I miss any of your key reasons why you like seeing men or women preoperatively? Have any of you out there had preoperative PT? I would love to hear your thoughts!!

~ Jessica