http://rosehipphysiotherapy.com/

Rosehip Physiotherapy, 3771 Spratt Road #4, Ottawa, ON (2026)

10/25/2022

If you have a pelvic floor issue the first thing that comes up on google is that your pelvic floor is likely weak and needs lots and lots of kegels.

BUTTTTTT…..

It is just as likely that your pelvic floor might be tight and kegels will actually make the problem worse 🤯🤯

Do any of these symptoms apply to you?
✨Difficulty starting to p*e, or second p*e
✨Frequent UTIs
✨Pain with pe*******on
✨Constipation
✨Doing Kegels made the issue worse
✨SI joint pain, hip pain, low back pain

Take the QUIZ- find out if your pelvic floor is tight! - https://form.jotform.com/222925308192254

10/17/2022

Breathing properly is the corner stone of rehab. Proper breathing allows for better core activation, pelvic floor function, and bracing for heavy loads.

A poor breathing pattern is typically a result of:
* Habits- such as belly breathing or habitually sucking in your stomach
* A stiff thoracic spine and a slumped posture- limit the mobility of the ribcage and the ability of your lungs to expand. The diaphragm is inhibited from contracting, further decreasing the volume of the thoracic cavity
* Stress and anxiety- causes shallow breathing

If you do one thing for your health today, start learning how to breathe properly. Practice every single day for 5 minutes!

Read my blog post called “4 IMPORTANT COMPONENTS OF PROPER BREATHING” (link in bio) to learn more!

10/17/2022

Are your glutes working?

 The function of the glutes is to
* Extend the hip
* Laterally rotate the hip
* Abduct the hip
* Adduct the hip
* Posterior tilt the pelvis
* Provide stability to the pelvis

Why might they go on vacation?
* Tight hip flexors - Place the glutes at a biomechanics disadvantage
* Constant clenching/ tucking- for a muscle to function properly it needs to lengthen and contract. When the glutes are in a shortened position all day long, it is difficult to produce power
* Habit- the body will do what is easiest, even if it will create pain and dysfunction in the long term. If it is easier to compensate with the hamstrings or TFL (small muscle at the front of the hip) it will.

What are signs that the glutes are inhibited?
* Appearance- flat gluteal muscle
* Chronic groin/ hamstring strains- the adductors and hamstrings overwork and are prone to injury
* Aches and pains - back pain, hip pain, knee pain etc
* Pelvic floor dysfunction- the pelvic floor muscles compensate for the inhibited glutes and can develop chronic tightness and trigger points. A tight pelvic floor can lead to incontinence and pelvic pain

Check out my blog post “Glute inhibition- are your glutes working?” to learn more!

10/14/2022

Stop doing kegels! 🤯🤯🤯

I recently had a patient who told me that she has been doing 50 kegels a day for the last 30 years because she was told that is what you have to do after giving birth…. 😬

It is not surprising that her assessment revealed a very tight pelvic floor and her complaints included hip pain and leaking when sneezing.

First, what is a Kegel?
Kegel is the name of an exercise where you activate your pelvic floor muscles. These muscles provide several important functions such as pelvic organ support, bladder and bowel control and sexual function.

It is too often that people are told to just do KEGELS when they present with any incontinence, organ prolapse, or sexual function concerns. Despite the catchy tittle of this post, Kegels can be an important part of pelvic floor treatment. However, so often the opposite is the case! If you have a tight pelvic floor, doing more kegels will not yield good results. In fact, it might make things worse by making the muscles even tighter.

Why would a pelvic floor be too tight?
🧘‍♀️Compensating for a weak core, hips, or legs
🧘‍♀️Overdoing kegels
🧘‍♀️Stress and anxiety
🧘‍♀️Improper voiding technique- ie: pushing out p*e or bearing down for a bowel movement
🧘‍♀️Genetics
🧘‍♀️Trauma
🧘‍♀️Giving birth

What if the pelvic floor is not tight, but you still experience issues?
Kegels might still not be the answer! As physiotherapists, we look at the entire body: range of motion, mobility, posture, pelvic positioning, movement patterns, and core strength. Your pelvic floor might work just find, but you are placing excess pressure on it due to poor pressure management.

Don’t just do kegels w***y nilly. Get yourself assessed by a pelvic floor physiotherapist to find out about your body and what you can do to work on your concerns! 💪💪💪

10/14/2022

STOP normalizing leaking. Just. Stop. It

Is leaking common? Yes. Is it normal? No. Is it treatable? YESSSSSS

The amount of people I see who have been suffering for years from leaking with coughing, sneezing, laughing, or exercising is astounding. Actually a lot of these patients came to see me for an unrelated issue and through conversation we discovered this issue that plagued their lives for a long time.

Why does it take people so long to seek treatment? Society keeps normalizing this very common issue. Peeing your pants is not a punchline in a joke, it is not an inevitability, and it is not something you have to keep living with.

If this is an issue that bothers you, please seek treatment with a pelvic floor physiotherapist!

10/14/2022

So when should you actually see a pelvic floor physiotherapist?

Incontinence
✨Experiencing leaking with laughing, coughing, or sneezing
✨Experiencing leaking with a strong urge to empty the bladder
✨Experiencing leaking during $ex
✨Increased frequency of voiding during the day and night
✨Pain or burning when voiding

Pain with pe*******on
✨Pain during intercour$e, pelvic exams, or tampon use

During pregnancy or postpartum
✨Preparation for brith
✨Diastasis recti (abdominal muscle separation), pain, scar management, pelvic floor tightness/weakness, pain with intercour$e 
Pelvic pain
✨Vulvar and vagzinal pain

Sexgzual Dysfunction
✨Inability to achieve or maintain an erecti0n
✨Inability to ejooculate
✨Inability to achieve 0rga$m
✨Experiencing pain with 0rga$m

Back pain, hip pain, SIJ pain, or tail bone pain
✨The pelvic floor is typically involved in all of the above conditions

10/14/2022

Want more than 5 questions? Check out the following 9 ;)

If you say yes to one of the following, it might be a good idea to see a pelvic floor physiotherapist:
✨Do you pass urine less than 8 times or more than 12 times during the day?
✨Do you have to get up during the night to pass urine (if you are over the age of 50, once is considered normal)
✨Do you leak with coughing, sneezing, laughing or exercising?
✨Do you need to rush/hurry to pass urine when you get the urge?
✨Do you have a feeling of incomplete bladder emptying?
✨Do you need to strain to empty your bladder?
✨Do you have to wear pads because of urinary leakage?
✨Do you have frequent bladder infections?
✨Do you have pain in your bladder or urethra when you empty your bladder?

10/14/2022

Stress and anxiety don’t just affect your state of mind but cause a physical manifestation of symptoms.

Patients tend to brush off stress and anxiety as a major cause of their pain because “everybody is stressed” or “I am not that stressed” or “I do my breathing exercises”, or “what am I supposed to do about it?”. It is difficult sometimes to convince someone to take a better look at their mental health. This is because it is difficult for patients to see the direct cause and effect. Biomechanics issues are easy to see. I bend down, my back hurts. When it comes to stress and anxiety, it is tougher to see the direct link, and so patients are more reluctant to address this aspect of their health.

Stress and anxiety lead to, among other things:
✨Increased heart rate and shallow breathing
✨Poor sleep
✨GI concerns
✨Increased joint inflammation
✨Increase of overall inflammation in the body
✨Tight muscles, especially the neck, hips, and pelvic floor
✨Chronic pain

The link between anxiety and chronic pain really deserves its own post, or better yet, book Essentially, stress and anxiety increase the activity of our fight or flight response, causing our brain to be more sensitive to stimuli. Meaning, that pain signals are perceived to be greater than they would be in a relaxed state. This in no way means the pain is not real (please see my previous post on this topic). The pain is very real and in fact feels a lot worse and a lot more threatening to people who suffer from stress and anxiety.

People who suffer from chronic pain are often stuck in a loop where their stress and anxiety cause them to experience more pain which in turn causes them to experience more stress and anxiety. The longer the problem exists, the harder it is to break this cycle. HOWEVER, it can absolutely be broken!!! Recognizing that stress and anxiety may be contributing to your poor health is the first step towards healing.

10/14/2022

Do you p*e more than 12 times a day? Do you find that you have to p*e before leaving the house? Before the movie starts? Before you sit down to eat? Before taking a phone call? Before and after class?

Just in case p*eing means going to the bathroom because we are trying to avoid needing to p*e later on. What this does is teaches the bladder to send a signal to the brain to empty when it is not full. Our body is amazingly adaptable. When we empty our bladder at a small volume, it teaches the bladder to signal to empty at a small volume. To be able to hold our bladder longer, we simply need to train the bladder to send the signal to the brain when it is more full. This sounds difficult but in reality it just takes a little bit of patience.
The first thing you have to do is stop p*eing just in case!!! Ask yourself: do I really need to p*e right now? Can I hold it a few minutes?

Being able to hold it longer can be very freeing. Imagine not having to stop every half an hour on a road trip or worrying about where the bathroom is when going on a long walk.

Pay attention to your own habits today and see if you are going to the bathroom because you need to or just in case

10/14/2022

Are you breathing properly?

Yes it is possible to be breathing sub optimally

Proper breathing includes:

🧘‍♀️ Breathing through the nose- noses are for breathing, mouths are for eating

🧘‍♀️Expanding 360 degrees- breathing should not occur only at the chest or the belly. We should be expanding the chest, belly, sides, and back!

🧘‍♀️No accessory muscle use- at rest the muscles of the neck, chest and shoulders should be relaxed. These additional muscles should only kick in when demand is increased (ex: exercising)

🧘‍♀️Ribs move in a bucket handle fashion- ribs should expand laterally

🧘‍♀️Coordination between the diaphragm and pelvic floor- when we inhale the pelvic floor should reflexively relax

10/14/2022

Are you a butt gripper? You may not even be aware that you are!

Ask someone to take a picture of you from the back when you are not paying attention. Is your bum tucked under? Does it look like you are clenching? Are your pants wrinkled on the sides of your hips?

Why is this a problem?

Constantly clenching is a sign that something in the body is not working right. When we constantly contract a muscle it reduces mobility and flexibility of that muscle, creates trigger points, and causes to move ineffectively. Glute clenching also leads to a tight pelvic floor and poor core activation!!!

Why you might be doing it?

Habit or suboptimal posture could be a major factor. For example, in pregnancy many women end up tucking their buttoms under as their belly grows. If your hips are weak, you will tend to clench your glutes to provide stability to the system. If you are in pain or had a past injury, glute clenching may have been a strategy your body is using to reduce pain. One of the biggest reasons is stress! We all hold stress in our body and it can manifest in the neck, shoulders, glutes, and pelvic floor.

How do you stop?

First, figure out if this applies to you. If it is, then consciously check in with yourself if you are clenching many times a day and try to relax the glutes. You can do a little dance to help “shake it out”. Next, figure out the weakest link- do your hips and core require additional strength?
Perform the hinge exercise many times a day (see previous post on hinging and deadlifting). This is to increase length in your glutes. Lastly, if stress is a factor, begin by deep breathing for 5 minutes every day.

10/14/2022

In our fast paced, busy, active lives, why is it important to stop and take a few minutes to work on ourselves?

Meditation has become a key element in my treatment of all sorts of conditions including back pain and pelvic floor dysfunction.

This is because sometimes we can stretch a tight muscle, we can mobilize it, we can address posture and muscle asymmetry without getting anywhere. This is because the body is holding on to that tension for some reason.

Meditating allows you to become aware of the tension in your body and teaches you how to effectively let it go.

It is also incredible for down regulating the nervous system and reduce symptoms of stress and anxiety. I talked about the effects of stress and anxiety on your body in another post. Symptoms such as poor sleep, increased inflammation, and GI problems are detrimental to your health. A meditation practice can be so helpful in reducing these symptoms.

There are so many free and paid apps out there that will guide you through meditation. My favourite is (I am not sponsored!). Give it a try. In my experience those who resist meditating most, need it the most!

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