By Elizabeth Akincilar, MSPT, Cofounder, PHRC Merrimack The pelvic floor plays a significant role in several crucial functions, including bowel health, sexual function, and balance. However, certain common habits and misconceptions can lead to pelvic floor dysfunction. Did you know we were featured in an Insider magazine article? Let’s review these common mistakes and hopefully give you a few ways …
Posture and the Pelvis: Part Deux
“Share the load” – Samwise Gamgee “It’s all about the base ” – Meghan Trainor “Drop it like it’s hot” – Snoop Dogg Some different quotes from last time, but after reading today’s post you’ll understand how Samwise, Ms. Trainor and Dr. Dogg are all talking about posture and the pelvis, and they didn’t even know it. …
How Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy Helps Fecal Incontinence
Loss of bowels can be quite alarming considering a recent systematic review revealed that nearly 7.7% of community adults, with no difference in gender, have fecal incontinence.2 Fecal incontinence is defined as an uncontrolled loss of stool and can have significant implications on one’s physical and psychological well being. It is associated with social isolation, anxiety, loss of employment and …
Understanding Pelvic Floor Movement
By Katie Hunter, DPT Drop, push, bulge, squeeze. These words are used regularly when talking about pelvic floor function but what do they actually mean? We often talk about how the pelvic floor muscles become dysfunctional and can cause daily symptoms of pelvic pain, bladder and bowel urgency and frequency, incontinence, prolapse, and sexual dysfunction. Today, I …
Diaphragmatic breathing, pelvic pain, peeing and pooping
Diaphragmatic breathing aka deep belly breathing – how is that an exercise? Many of my patients are surprised when I prescribe and emphasize diaphragmatic breathing in their home exercise programs. Historically, they have associated physical therapy and/or exercise with strengthening, stretching or the need to get the heart rate up. However, with the pelvic floor muscles, especially for …
Kegel What?
By Admin The Kegel, the black box of the exercise world. Are you really doing it right? In today’s post we are going to review some simple exercises to help get to know the pelvic floor muscles. Now, I strongly recommend going through my past post “Exercises for Short/Tight Pelvic Floor” first. Generally speaking, patients …