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By Dr. Allison Feldt, PT, DPT
I’m so excited to share with you that I just had my first work out where I could really push my core and didn’t feel like I was hurting myself. I finally feel like I am getting back some of the innate stability my joints should have. Meaning that my joints aren’t as hypermobile or “loose” like they were during my pregnancy and during postpartum so far. Initially that hypermobility is from relaxin and even though relaxin leaves within 4 days of delivery, the joints take a lot longer to return to normal. [...]
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By Dr. Allison Feldt, PT, DPT
Tonight I sneezed and did not pee!!!! I am super pumped about this BECAUSE last week I got hit with a bad bout of allergies. I was sneezing and coughing and my pelvic floor could not sustain this and I was peeing myself every time I sneezed or coughed. I had to even change my pants a few times which I was embarrassed about. I’m a pelvic floor physical therapist, so you would think I would have my core together and my pelvic floor would be super strong! For the most part, it is. However, I have a pelvic organ prolapse and what happens to me when I get a flare up is I occasionally leak, aka pee. I want to share this with you because this is where training your pelvic floor and being aware of what things to do to help yourself can really ease symptoms and make you feel good, confident and strong in your body. So here’s where I started I put my pessary back in, which is something I wear to support my bladder. So I committed myself to wearing that throughout my times of being symptomatic. I committed to doing some downtraining of my pelvic floor muscles. Which means making sure I was fully relaxing my pelvic floor as I tend to be fairly tense. With breathing and meditation over the weekend, I had my tone more under control.I did a lot of pelvic elevating to help decrease the descent of my prolapse. So then I got back to doing some strengthening and could even do some weighted pelvic floor contractions with my pelvic floor weights. So what changed from last week to this week?How am I sneezing this week without peeing? I’m not sneezing as frequently as my allergies are more under control, so less overall pressure. So what changed from last week to this week?How am I sneezing this week without peeing? I’m not sneezing as frequently as my allergies are more under control, so less overall pressure. The next thing I was able to manage, was my tone and get back to doing the pelvic floor contractions with weights and retraining my pelvic floor, which let me tell you, the strength of my pelvic floor did not change between last week and this week. What did change was my nerve connection to the muscle. The ability of my nervous system to control my pelvic floor and therefore, I could control what was coming in and out of it. It’s really important that you’re not just doing a million “kegels” but you’re re-training your pelvic floor. A lot of people are so concerned about maintaining the strongest pelvic floor but what really needs to happen is a coordination of several muscles that will help keep your pants dry. Excerpt From First Episode:
Interviewer: So, clients who come to you are often caught in the cycles of dieting and constantly feeling like they're falling off the wagon, how can we change that? Natalie: Most clients who come to me, say "I know what to eat, I just can't seem to do it. I have a problem with my willpower. I'll do a diet, and it works, but then I just can't keep it together. It's something that I just have cravings, and I can't overcome them." That's one of the first things I talk about with clients is breaking down the diet cycle. And it begins with the "problem behaviors." So, for many people, let's say, emotional eating. There's a reason why we engage in our "problem behaviors."And so, for emotional eating, a reward at the end of a really long week or it's a way to connect with our partner at the end of a long day. Or maybe it's a way to get through a really boring project at work. So, there is this reason why it's helping us, but then we have that onslaught of negative internal dialog like, "Oh, what's wrong with me? Why can't I just get my act together? It's not like anyone's putting the food in my mouth. I'm never gonna be able to like fix this." And then that causes, for many people, a lot of shame and guilt or just feelings of frustration.Okay more healthy bladder techniques: You should be able to delay the urge. You should drink a good amount of water to hydrate the bladder lining (and reduce the acidity of the bladder, increased acidity can lead to false cues to void) You should never hover over a toilet seat, most American women can not relax their pelvic floor enough to be able to relax to fully void. Without full relaxation, you can give the bladder mixed signals leading to dysfunction. You should breath and rock back and forth after you pee, to fully empty bladder. If you ever pee, and it isn’t in the toilet aka it’s in your underwear or on the bathroom floor getting in and out of the shower, you should get help. You probably have some dysfunction with your pelvic floor. This dysfunction most likely will not improve on its own and can lead to much much bigger issues. Please seek a professional pelvic expert physical therapist for individual assessment and help. Don't be the mom depending on Depends. |
Author: Allison Feldt"We Help Women Through Pregnancy And Beyond So They Can Live Active, Confident And Healthy Lives To Prevent Surgery And The Need For Medications." Archives
January 2020
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