Women’s Health
Women’s Health
According to a study, 1 in 3 women experience women’s health problems during their lifetime. Women’s Health Physiotherapy covers therapeutic treatments of all disorders affecting the pelvis and pelvic floor. Also, health conditions that occur during and after pregnancy are covered by women’s health physiotherapy.
Most women are afraid or let’s say embarrassed to talk about common health conditions that they experience mostly because it involves the private parts of their body. However, this habit is not encouraged. Do not suffer quietly with all the pain and discomfort you might be having. With the help of this program, Women’s Health Physiotherapy, the quality of life that women live can be improved by having prescribed healthy routines and by preventing problematic health conditions.
The following are conditions that women suffer from through their life stages:
Prolapse
This condition can mean the descent of the uterus, urethra, front wall of the vagina and the bladder, back wall of the vagina and rectum, upper vaginal support to bowel and rectum. This descent may be caused by lack of support from the passive ligaments and fascial structures attached to the organs. Most of these conditions can be attributed to childbirth. Chronic constipation can also cause prolapse and a number of people can even have descent with no reason at all.
Treatment: Trough Physiotherapy, a proper muscle rehabilitation, a home exercise program, lifestyle and postural changes as well as general advice to optimize improvement can be helpful to treat this condition. The treatment could result to a better level of comfort and maximisation of action of the muscles.
Bladder and Bowel Dysfunction
Bladder dysfunction is commonly experienced when there is stress incontinence and urge incontinence. Stress incontinence is when there is an increase in abdominal pressure and it overcomes the closure pressure in the urethra and a leak occurs. The common cause of this pressure comes from coughing or running. Urge Incontinence on the other hand is when there is a strong urge to go to the toilet precede the leak and there isn’t enough time to go there.
When there is a need to go to the toilet for more than 8 times in a 24 hour period and not just a need but strong urges to do so, there is a high possibility that a person is suffering from a bladder dysfunction.
Bowel Dysfunction can be seen in the form of where there is difficulty to control the bowel from being emptied immediately once an urge sensation is experienced, where there is loss of stool (Fecal Incontinence), where there is loss of gas or mucus (Anal Incontinence), where there is difficulty to pass a motion often due to imbalance of the pelvic floor muscles (Defaecation Dysfunction), or when there may be contributing pelvic floor muscle tension (Rectal Pain).
Treatment: With Physiotherapy, we can achieve rehabilitation of the pelvic floor muscles through either release or strengthening, retraining of the reflexes of the bladder and bowel and learning correct voiding and defaecation techniques.
Chronic Pelvic Pain
Chronic pelvic pain is pain in your pelvic region — the area below your bellybutton and between your hips — that lasts six months or longer. Chronic pelvic pain can be a symptom of another disease, or it can be a condition in its own right. The pain can be diffused throughout the pelvis or localised to one spot. The beginning of pelvic pain can be secondary to any of the following:
- Trauma to the pelvic floor during childbirth
- Chronic constipation
- Adhesions following surgery.
- Disorders of over activity of the pelvic floor muscles
- Direct trauma to the pelvic floor
- Injury to the sacrum or coccyx
- Sports and Work-related Injuries
- Unknown cause
Treatment: Chronic Pelvic Pain can be treated using several physiotherapy techniques. After a thorough assessment of the patient’s pelvis, pelvic floor, abdomen and often muscles and fascia of the thighs, therapists often suggest treatments such as Trigger Point Therapy, Acupuncture and Exercise plans (to control the tone in pelvic floor).
Pelvic Girdle Pain
During pregnancy, women experience a lot of discomfort and some problematic health conditions. One of these conditions is pelvic dysfunction since during pregnancy women undergo hormonal change and the pelvis can become very mobile. The muscles attaching the bones of the pelvis, the sacrum, the coccyx, the hips and the lumbar spine may become very stressed as they try to compensate for the increase in mobility. This compensation often results to developing trigger points and this connective muscles become painful.
The two sides of the pelvis may become imbalanced during pregnancy due to increased mobility in one side and stagnant mobility in the other and this is one major cause of pain.
Treatment: Undergoing proper treatments that are suggested by your physiotherapists help realign the pelvis and the lumbar spine. Restoring the correct posture is essential to maintain the optimal balance between the pelvis and the spine. Through manual therapy techniques, the pelvis can regain the stability that it has lost by relearning normal movement patterns and core stability.
How can Physiotherapy help during and after Pregnancy?
During Pregnancy:
Stress urinary incontinence is common amongst pregnant women and so is Pelvic Girdle pain. As the description about the pelvic girdle pain says, this pain occur when pregnant women undergo hormonal changes and when the pelvis has an increase in mobility. Plus, pelvic girdle pain can also be caused by the ever increasing weight of the baby and uterus.
Urinary incontinence in pregnancy should not be ignored as research suggests that if you develop stress urinary incontinence during your pregnancy, or within 6 weeks following the birth of your baby, you are more likely to suffer from incontinence 5 years later.
Physiotherapists often plan the proper pelvic floor exercises after a careful assessment to prevent these conditions. By activating the correct muscles for a suitable length of time, you can maintain a strong pelvic floor through your pregnancy and beyond. Pilates based stability exercises are also valuable to strengthen the supporting muscles of the pelvis and ease the pressure on the pelvic floor.
In pregnancy the extra strain on these ligaments can cause pain and movement dysfunction. In such conditions the muscles supporting these ligaments become extra important in providing stability and control. The following may be offered to pregnant women:
- Pilates based pelvic stability exercises
- Acupuncture
- Manual Therapy Techniques
- Advice on sleeping positions
- Exercise and movement modification management plans
- Tendonitis and Bursitis
- Sports and Work-related Injuries
- Short or Long-term conditions
After Pregnancy:
Given that the body undergoes a lot of changes during pregnancy, its state after pregnancy is also very crucial. After experiencing discomfort and pain that might have been caused by pelvic girdle pain and other organ dysfunctions, the body might suffer from pelvic floor trauma and pudendal nerve injury (the nerve which supplies your bladder and pelvic floor).
Due to a continuous change that pregnant women’s body undergo, it is important to address problems that may come with these changes as to prevent problems later in their lifetime.
The areas that have been mostly affected by these changes like the pelvic floor and the body as a whole, must undergo assessment and therapies to prevent further problems. This may include the following:
- Relaxation and Breathing techniques
- Pelvic floor exercise and re-training plan
- Assessment and treatment of any unresolved lower back, hip or pelvic pain
- Advice on positional modifications
- Manual Therapy Techniques
Kinect Physiotherapy Services promotes health awareness for women especially those who are pregnant. Some of the health conditions mentioned can be very embarrassing to discuss with other people but Kinect’s female therapist are friendly and will exhibit complete discretion about your consultations. Here at Kinect we want to serve all ages with efficiency and with the best care possible.
For inquiries, call us at (07) 3711 2699 or email us at kinectphysio@gmail.com . Will attend to your concerns as soon as possible.
Women’s Health
According to a study, 1 in 3 women experience women’s health problems during their lifetime. Women’s Health Physiotherapy covers therapeutic treatments of all disorders affecting the pelvis and pelvic floor. Also, health conditions that occur during and after pregnancy are covered by women’s health physiotherapy.
Most women are afraid or let’s say embarrassed to talk about common health conditions that they experience mostly because it involves the private parts of their body. However, this habit is not encouraged. Do not suffer quietly with all the pain and discomfort you might be having. With the help of this program, Women’s Health Physiotherapy, the quality of life that women live can be improved by having prescribed healthy routines and by preventing problematic health conditions.
The following are conditions that women suffer from through their life stages:
Prolapse
This condition can mean the descent of the uterus, urethra, front wall of the vagina and the bladder, back wall of the vagina and rectum, upper vaginal support to bowel and rectum. This descent may be caused by lack of support from the passive ligaments and fascial structures attached to the organs. Most of these conditions can be attributed to childbirth. Chronic constipation can also cause prolapse and a number of people can even have descent with no reason at all.
Treatment: Trough Physiotherapy, a proper muscle rehabilitation, a home exercise program, lifestyle and postural changes as well as general advice to optimize improvement can be helpful to treat this condition. The treatment could result to a better level of comfort and maximisation of action of the muscles.
Bladder and Bowel Dysfunction
Bladder dysfunction is commonly experienced when there is stress incontinence and urge incontinence. Stress incontinence is when there is an increase in abdominal pressure and it overcomes the closure pressure in the urethra and a leak occurs. The common cause of this pressure comes from coughing or running. Urge Incontinence on the other hand is when there is a strong urge to go to the toilet precede the leak and there isn’t enough time to go there.
When there is a need to go to the toilet for more than 8 times in a 24 hour period and not just a need but strong urges to do so, there is a high possibility that a person is suffering from a bladder dysfunction.
Bowel Dysfunction can be seen in the form of where there is difficulty to control the bowel from being emptied immediately once an urge sensation is experienced, where there is loss of stool (Fecal Incontinence), where there is loss of gas or mucus (Anal Incontinence), where there is difficulty to pass a motion often due to imbalance of the pelvic floor muscles (Defaecation Dysfunction), or when there may be contributing pelvic floor muscle tension (Rectal Pain).
Treatment: With Physiotherapy, we can achieve rehabilitation of the pelvic floor muscles through either release or strengthening, retraining of the reflexes of the bladder and bowel and learning correct voiding and defaecation techniques.
Chronic Pelvic Pain
Chronic pelvic pain is pain in your pelvic region — the area below your bellybutton and between your hips — that lasts six months or longer. Chronic pelvic pain can be a symptom of another disease, or it can be a condition in its own right. The pain can be diffused throughout the pelvis or localised to one spot. The beginning of pelvic pain can be secondary to any of the following:
- Trauma to the pelvic floor during childbirth
- Chronic constipation
- Adhesions following surgery.
- Disorders of over activity of the pelvic floor muscles
- Direct trauma to the pelvic floor
- Injury to the sacrum or coccyx
- Sports and Work-related Injuries
- Unknown cause
Treatment: Chronic Pelvic Pain can be treated using several physiotherapy techniques. After a thorough assessment of the patient’s pelvis, pelvic floor, abdomen and often muscles and fascia of the thighs, therapists often suggest treatments such as Trigger Point Therapy, Acupuncture and Exercise plans (to control the tone in pelvic floor).
Pelvic Girdle Pain
During pregnancy, women experience a lot of discomfort and some problematic health conditions. One of these conditions is pelvic dysfunction since during pregnancy women undergo hormonal change and the pelvis can become very mobile. The muscles attaching the bones of the pelvis, the sacrum, the coccyx, the hips and the lumbar spine may become very stressed as they try to compensate for the increase in mobility. This compensation often results to developing trigger points and this connective muscles become painful.
The two sides of the pelvis may become imbalanced during pregnancy due to increased mobility in one side and stagnant mobility in the other and this is one major cause of pain.
Treatment: Undergoing proper treatments that are suggested by your physiotherapists help realign the pelvis and the lumbar spine. Restoring the correct posture is essential to maintain the optimal balance between the pelvis and the spine. Through manual therapy techniques, the pelvis can regain the stability that it has lost by relearning normal movement patterns and core stability.
How can Physiotherapy help during and after Pregnancy?
During Pregnancy:
Stress urinary incontinence is common amongst pregnant women and so is Pelvic Girdle pain. As the description about the pelvic girdle pain says, this pain occur when pregnant women undergo hormonal changes and when the pelvis has an increase in mobility. Plus, pelvic girdle pain can also be caused by the ever increasing weight of the baby and uterus.
Urinary incontinence in pregnancy should not be ignored as research suggests that if you develop stress urinary incontinence during your pregnancy, or within 6 weeks following the birth of your baby, you are more likely to suffer from incontinence 5 years later.
Physiotherapists often plan the proper pelvic floor exercises after a careful assessment to prevent these conditions. By activating the correct muscles for a suitable length of time, you can maintain a strong pelvic floor through your pregnancy and beyond. Pilates based stability exercises are also valuable to strengthen the supporting muscles of the pelvis and ease the pressure on the pelvic floor.
In pregnancy the extra strain on these ligaments can cause pain and movement dysfunction. In such conditions the muscles supporting these ligaments become extra important in providing stability and control. The following may be offered to pregnant women:
- Pilates based pelvic stability exercises
- Acupuncture
- Manual Therapy Techniques
- Advice on sleeping positions
- Exercise and movement modification management plans
- Tendonitis and Bursitis
- Sports and Work-related Injuries
- Short or Long-term conditions
After Pregnancy:
Given that the body undergoes a lot of changes during pregnancy, its state after pregnancy is also very crucial. After experiencing discomfort and pain that might have been caused by pelvic girdle pain and other organ dysfunctions, the body might suffer from pelvic floor trauma and pudendal nerve injury (the nerve which supplies your bladder and pelvic floor).
Due to a continuous change that pregnant women’s body undergo, it is important to address problems that may come with these changes as to prevent problems later in their lifetime.
The areas that have been mostly affected by these changes like the pelvic floor and the body as a whole, must undergo assessment and therapies to prevent further problems. This may include the following:
- Relaxation and Breathing techniques
- Pelvic floor exercise and re-training plan
- Assessment and treatment of any unresolved lower back, hip or pelvic pain
- Advice on positional modifications
- Manual Therapy Techniques
Kinect Physiotherapy Services promotes health awareness for women especially those who are pregnant. Some of the health conditions mentioned can be very embarrassing to discuss with other people but Kinect’s female therapist are friendly and will exhibit complete discretion about your consultations. Here at Kinect we want to serve all ages with efficiency and with the best care possible.
For inquiries, call us at (07) 3711 2699 or email us at kinectphysio@gmail.com . Will attend to your concerns as soon as possible.
