The FITMUMS Physio | Physiotherapy, Exercise Classes & Clinical Pilates for Women

Are you experiencing pain in the back pain during your pregnancy? 

It is a common misconception in pregnancy that back pain is normal and nothing can be done to help it. However, there is lots that can be done to both prevent and improve your back pain.

We recommend any expectant mother who has developed back pain to book an appointment with one of our Physiotherapists to uncover the source of their pain and to create a treatment plan to reduce/eliminate this pain.

Most commonly our management plans will include a combination of hands on therapy and exercise. We are very passionate about teaching women how to strengthen and move their bodies safely to support their growing babies in pregnancy.

After having your baby most women feel like their body is not their own.

This is very normal! 

Your body has undergone tremendous change during both pregnancy and delivery. Your muscles will feel softer and perhaps weaker than before, your joints may be a little stiff and you may have some aches/pains developing in various spots around the body (neck, shoulders, back, wrists...).

At the FITMUMs Physio we are here to get you back on track. We offer all our new mums a comprehensive Postnatal Assessment where we can assess and review some or all of the following (based on each individual mother's needs):

• Mobility 
• Strength (abdominals, gluteals, wrists...)
• Abdominal Separation 
• Joint pain and/or stiffness 
• Muscle tightness/pain 
• Pelvic Floor Muscle condition and strength 
• Prolapse 
• Episiotomy or C-section Scar evaluation 
• Return to exercise clearance 

After evaluating some or all of the above we will recommend the most suitable management plan. 

Urinary and/or bowel leakage in pregnancy or soon after delivery can be a common occurence for women.

However this is NOT something that should be accepted as 'normal' - there is plenty that can be done to help resolve this often embarrassing and uncomfortable problem.

Our Women's Health Physiotherapist can perform a comprehensive assessment that includes a detailed interview as well as an internal pelvic floor assessment.

An internal vaginal examination is the most effective way for our Physiotherapists to truly understand how your pelvic floor muscles are functioning and to ascertain the overal health and condition of your pelvic tissues. 

Following your Pelvic Floor assessment we may require you to gather some additional information for us i.e. by completing a bladder diary or performing a pad analysis. But either way, following your initial appointment we will commence a management plan and amend or progress this as we go.

At the FITMUMs Physio we are very passionate about helping women learn to understand their bodies better during and beyond pregnancy so that they can continue to participate and experience all that life has to offer! 

Pelvic pain is a condition whereby women report pain at or around the opening of their vagina and/or inside their vagina.

As women, we all feel pain at some time or another in our pelvic region i.e. with our monthly menstrual cycle. Some of us experience pain in our pelvis at other times, and this is when it becomes a little more complicated.

At the FITMUMs Physio, we can help treat and prevent pelvic pain.

Pain felt for short period of time, such as with menstruation is known as acute pelvic pain. This pain differs for all women and perhaps may involve conditions such as endometriosis which can cause very painful periods.

Pain that exists for a long time, often of varying degrees and a mix of different types of pain is defined as chronic pelvic pain. 

Chronic pelvic pain can originate from a variety of sources in the pelvis, including an irritable bowel, a painful bladder, pelvic muscle pain, pelvic nerve sensitivities, endometriosis, sexual pain, referred pain from the lower back and pelvic joints, anxiety and/or low mood.

As a result, pelvic pain of this type requires an indepth assessment. 

How do I know if you have chronic pelvic pain?

As chronic pelvic pain is often very complicated and you may be feeling a mix of different types of pain, it would help to keep a diary to note your symptoms. 

Perhaps some of these questions are you?

1. Do you experience pain with sex?
2. Do you find it difficult and painful using tampons?
3. Is urinating or passing bowel motions painful?
4. Do you find you need to frequently urinate both day and/or night?
5. Do you suffer from frequent urine or bladder infections?
6. Do you often feel bloated?
7. Does your period pain feel severe and last longer than the first 2 days of your period?
8. Do you experience sudden sharp pains on one side of your abdomen or pelvis?
9. Do you feel tired, depressed, hopeless or anxious with your pelvic pain?

If you have answered yes to any or all of these questions, and you feel pain almost most days, then seeking help is the next step.

Women's health physiotherapy has been shown to be most helpful in most causes of chronic pelvic pain.

What will a women’s health physiotherapists do to treat chronic pelvic pain?

A thorough assessment and tests to eliminate any infections and other conditions of the pelvis is the first step. This is best done by your gynaecologist.

Booking in to see one of our women’s health physiotherapists is the next step.

Our physiotherapists will assess for structural and alignment changes to the spinal and pelvic joints, pelvic floor weakness or spasm and vaginal structure. Our physiotherapists will work closely with your gynaecologist, GP, musculo-skeletal physiotherapist and psychologist, if you are seeing one.

After an internal vaginal examination, treatments from our physiotherapist may involve

• massage and trigger point releases of your pelvic floor muscles
• electrical stimulation to ‘relax’ the nerves and decrease their over–sensitivity
• education and instruction on how to use vaginal dilators to help to stretch and release your pelvic floor muscles at home
• re-alignment techniques and exercises to correct poor pelvic and spinal postures that contribute to your pelvic pain

What is a vaginal prolapse or pelvic organ prolapse?

Inside a women’s pelvis are organs including the bladder, uterus and rectum (back passage). Tissues called “fascia” and “ligaments” hold these three organs in place inside your pelvis with the pelvic floor muscles also working to support from below.

Problems can occur due to stretching, tearing or weakening of these tissues and/or pelvic floor muscles. This can often be caused during vaginal child birth and/or due to chronic constipation as well as because of menopause.

Changes to the condition/integrity of these internal pelvic tissues and muscles can result in the pelvic organs bulging down into the vagina. This is known as a vaginal prolapse, or pelvic organ prolapse.

Early signs of vaginal prolapse can be difficulties with good bladder control or pain when attempting to insert a tampon, or have sex.

How do you know if you have vaginal prolapse?

Early on, it may be hard to know if you have a vaginal prolapse and your GP at a routine PAP smear, or a women’s health physiotherapist during an internal examination may first detect early signs.

You may notice some of the following changes to your pelvic floor area indicating early signs of a vaginal prolapse:

• A heavy feeling in your vagina, often worse at the end of the day
• A lump in your vagina
• Pain or reduced sensation during sex
• Difficulty emptying your bladder, or notice a weak urine stream
• Recurring urinary tract infections
• Difficulty emptying your bowels

How do you treat a vaginal prolapse?

Depending on the degree of the prolapse, management can be as simple as pelvic floor muscle strengthening exercises and a modifications to your bowel and bladder habits.

What should I expect?

You do not need a referral to see our women’s health physiotherapists, but you may be referred by your GP, obstetrician or gynaecologist. After speaking with you over the phone about your pelvic floor problem, we will book you an hour long pelvic floor assessment.