Avoiding constipation helps keep your pelvic floor happy. The following are 7 daily steps to help treat constipation and improve general bowel function. Eat slowly. Digestion starts when saliva from your salivary glands break food while you chew and taking your time while you chew can help break down food and signal to your gut...
Scientific research, including a Cochrane Review by Dumoulin et al. from 2018 that reviewed the information in 31 research trials, concludes there is grade A or high-quality evidence to support the use of pelvic floor muscle training to treat stress urinary incontinence or the urinary leaking that occurs with cough or a sneeze. There is...
What’s considered “normal” when it comes to bladder health and urination? The following is some basic information I use to screen people for possible bladder dysfunction and help them better identify the habits that may be contributing to their urinary symptoms. It’s important to remember there is no exact set of normal bladder habits, but...
Overactive Bladder (OAB) is a group of symptoms, not a disease, that is associated with sudden and frequent urge to urinate. Urinary urge incontinence is the involuntary loss of urine associated with a sudden, overwhelming urge to urinate. The prevalence of urge incontinence in women is thought to be between 20-30%. Although it is less...
“Do your kegels.” How often do pregnant women hear that little phrase? These days, most prenatal apps, books, or health care professionals will tell a pregnant patient to do their kegels at some point during pregnancy. How many should you do, how often, should you really be doing them, and how do you even know...
The 6-week postpartum doctor’s visit is when women are often “cleared” for activity and are often advised to start slowly and gradually build exercise volume. Running is a popular activity in the postpartum population given the flexibility of scheduling exercise, weight loss and fitness benefits and ability to participate in exercise with your baby (once...
Many questions arise during pregnancy regarding the safety of different forms of exercise for both mother and developing child. The information included here originates from the recently revised Canadian guideline for physical activity during pregnancy (Mottola et al 2019) and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists Opinion on Physical Activity During Pregnancy and the...
The pelvic floor consists of muscles, ligaments, fascia and nerves located within the bony pelvis of women and men. In physical therapy we often discuss the muscles of the pelvic floor and may simply refer to these as the “pelvic floor”. These muscles serve essential functions including: Support for pelvic organs (bladder, uterus, bowel) Control...
Constipation abdominal pain can be incredibly uncomfortable, affecting your daily life and ultimately keeping you from doing the things you love. At Mend Colorado, we recognize the impact of these issues and advocate for abdominal mobilization to reduce pain and bloating while enhancing gut motility and overall digestive health. Constipation can result from various factors,...