You’ve probably heard the term ‘pelvic floor’ thrown around here and there, but what actually is the pelvic floor and why is it important?

The pelvic floor is a group of muscles located in our pelvis that stretch like a sling from the pubic bone at the front of your pelvis to the tailbone at the back of your pelvis, and side to side to each ischial bone (sitting bones).

In the simplest terms, the pelvic floor supports the pelvic organs that sit above it and prevents the pelvic organs from falling through. Above your pelvic floor sits your important organs including the bladder, bowel and the uterus, and the pelvic floor muscles help to control release of urine and faeces from these organs by relaxing and contracting muscles around the openings of these organs (sphincters). The pelvic floor also plays an important role in sexual function in both males and females.

Image source: https://www.continence.org.au/about-continence/continence-health/pelvic-floor

Just like any other muscle in your body, the pelvic floor muscles can become weak. This can happen in both females and males! This means that they are unable to support the pressure coming from your abdomen, or cannot control the flow of urine or faeces out of the bladder or bowel.

Some of the signs of this include bladder leakage with coughing, sneezing, laughing, running, jumping, urgency to use your bladder or bowels, or in females, signs of a prolapse including heaviness or pressure or the feeling as though something is coming out of your vagina.

Who is at risk of pelvic floor issues?

 Some people have a higher risk of developing pelvic floor problems:

• Women who are pregnant, recently given birth (regardless of the birth type) or who have ever been pregnant
• Women who are going through menopause or women post-menopause
• People who have had surgery on the pelvis e.g. women who have had gynaecological surgery, men who have had prostate surgery, or following pelvic radiotherapy
• People who participate in high-impact exercise e.g. running, jumping sports or high intensity cardio; or heavy lifting e.g. at work or at the gym
• People who have a chronic cough or sneeze e.g. due to asthma or smoking
• People who suffer from chronic constipation

So, what can physiotherapists do about it?

If you can relate to any of these symptoms, just remember you are not alone. 1 in 4 people (males and females) will experience bladder leakage, 1 in 4 women will experience a prolapse in their life, and 1 in 10 young women will experience bladder leakage during sport – but just because this is common doesn’t mean it is normal!

Physiotherapists are experts in managing musculoskeletal problems, and the pelvic floor muscles are no exception! The research suggests that exercises for your pelvic floor which are done for a minimum of 12 weeks can significantly reduce symptoms of pelvic floor dysfunction, and if started during pregnancy can prevent pelvic floor issues after pregnancy!

Our Shepparton physiotherapists are trained in delivering these exercise programs which we can design for you to complete at home and can make sure that you are completing the exercises correctly. Alternatively, our Clinical Exercise (formerly Clinical Pilates) classes are also designed to target the pelvic floor muscles if this is an issue for you.

I want to exercise – how can I modify my exercise to take care of my pelvic floor?

 If you are worried about your pelvic floor during your regular exercise routine, here are some tips that you can start with to reduce strain on your pelvic floor:

• Engage the pelvic floor before performing an exercise, if you’re unsure how seek help from your Shepparton physiotherapist
• Perform exercises in sitting or lying down, rather than in standing
• Increase the number of repetitions (10-15) or sets (3-4) but reduce the weight you are lifting
• Avoid holding your breath while completing an exercise
• Switch from higher impact to lower impact cardio exercise e.g. walking or swimming rather than running
• Switch from single leg to double leg exercise e.g. skipping on two feet rather than one

Unsure where to start?

Our Shepparton physiotherapists can assist you to form an exercise regime that is safe for your pelvic floor based on your individual needs. We can also help guide if you need to see a specialist women’s health physiotherapist.

Helpful Websites:

Continence Foundation of Australia

Pelvic Floor First, Pelvic Floor Safe Exercises

Go Against The Flow (support for young women with incontinence)

–Emily Wiedemann

Physiotherapist Shepparton

GV Sportscare

The post What is the pelvic floor and how does it impact my exercise? appeared first on GV Sportscare.

You’ve probably heard the term ‘pelvic floor’ thrown around here and there, but what actually is the pelvic floor and why is it important?

The pelvic floor is a group of muscles located in our pelvis that stretch like a sling from the pubic bone at the front of your pelvis to the tailbone at the back of your pelvis, and side to side to each ischial bone (sitting bones).

In the simplest terms, the pelvic floor supports the pelvic organs that sit above it and prevents the pelvic organs from falling through. Above your pelvic floor sits your important organs including the bladder, bowel and the uterus, and the pelvic floor muscles help to control release of urine and faeces from these organs by relaxing and contracting muscles around the openings of these organs (sphincters). The pelvic floor also plays an important role in sexual function in both males and females.

Image source: https://www.continence.org.au/about-continence/continence-health/pelvic-floor

Just like any other muscle in your body, the pelvic floor muscles can become weak. This can happen in both females and males! This means that they are unable to support the pressure coming from your abdomen, or cannot control the flow of urine or faeces out of the bladder or bowel.

Some of the signs of this include bladder leakage with coughing, sneezing, laughing, running, jumping, urgency to use your bladder or bowels, or in females, signs of a prolapse including heaviness or pressure or the feeling as though something is coming out of your vagina.

Who is at risk of pelvic floor issues?

 Some people have a higher risk of developing pelvic floor problems:

• Women who are pregnant, recently given birth (regardless of the birth type) or who have ever been pregnant
• Women who are going through menopause or women post-menopause
• People who have had surgery on the pelvis e.g. women who have had gynaecological surgery, men who have had prostate surgery, or following pelvic radiotherapy
• People who participate in high-impact exercise e.g. running, jumping sports or high intensity cardio; or heavy lifting e.g. at work or at the gym
• People who have a chronic cough or sneeze e.g. due to asthma or smoking
• People who suffer from chronic constipation

So, what can physiotherapists do about it?

If you can relate to any of these symptoms, just remember you are not alone. 1 in 4 people (males and females) will experience bladder leakage, 1 in 4 women will experience a prolapse in their life, and 1 in 10 young women will experience bladder leakage during sport – but just because this is common doesn’t mean it is normal!

Physiotherapists are experts in managing musculoskeletal problems, and the pelvic floor muscles are no exception! The research suggests that exercises for your pelvic floor which are done for a minimum of 12 weeks can significantly reduce symptoms of pelvic floor dysfunction, and if started during pregnancy can prevent pelvic floor issues after pregnancy!

Our Shepparton physiotherapists are trained in delivering these exercise programs which we can design for you to complete at home and can make sure that you are completing the exercises correctly. Alternatively, our Clinical Exercise (formerly Clinical Pilates) classes are also designed to target the pelvic floor muscles if this is an issue for you.

I want to exercise – how can I modify my exercise to take care of my pelvic floor?

 If you are worried about your pelvic floor during your regular exercise routine, here are some tips that you can start with to reduce strain on your pelvic floor:

• Engage the pelvic floor before performing an exercise, if you’re unsure how seek help from your Shepparton physiotherapist
• Perform exercises in sitting or lying down, rather than in standing
• Increase the number of repetitions (10-15) or sets (3-4) but reduce the weight you are lifting
• Avoid holding your breath while completing an exercise
• Switch from higher impact to lower impact cardio exercise e.g. walking or swimming rather than running
• Switch from single leg to double leg exercise e.g. skipping on two feet rather than one

Unsure where to start?

Our Shepparton physiotherapists can assist you to form an exercise regime that is safe for your pelvic floor based on your individual needs. We can also help guide if you need to see a specialist women’s health physiotherapist.

Helpful Websites:

Continence Foundation of Australia

Pelvic Floor First, Pelvic Floor Safe Exercises

Go Against The Flow (support for young women with incontinence)

–Emily Wiedemann

Physiotherapist Shepparton

GV Sportscare

The post What is the pelvic floor and how does it impact my exercise? appeared first on GV Sportscare.

Why is PREHAB important in ACL injuries?

There are many other benefits:

Opportunity for your Shepparton physiotherapist to assess your strength of your non injured leg. We use this measurement throughout your rehab post operative as part of your testing before you return to sport. We use testing to reduce chance of rupturing your graft. Taking this measurement before surgery gives us a more accurate measure of your strength BEFORE you decondition due to surgery. This gives us a more accurate measurement to aim for before returning to sport.

Reduce swelling before surgery and increase strength to improve your immediate post operative period

Improve confidence and walking pattern

Discuss goals, timelines and expectations

So while you may want to book the surgery and get going, consider and ask your surgeon about the benefits of prehab. As we get better at planning for major surgeries the outcomes continue to improve. Short term patience and effort can pay off in the long term

If you’re unsure, speak with one of our Shepparton physiotherapists before your surgery

The post ACL rupture, why bother with prehab? appeared first on GV Sportscare.

I know we are all keen beans to get back to sport, but for those fast bowlers amongst us, slow down a second 😉

Adolescent fast bowlers are more at risk of lumbar (lower back) stress injuries and how many balls you bowl per week for your AGE is very important! Now more than any other season we have the potential to overdo it given the lack of sport over winter.

As researched by Cricket Australia: ‘the frequency of bowling sessions (more sessions per week and less time between sessions) increases the risk of developing a lumbar stress fracture. This was a more prominent risk factor than the number of balls bowled’

🌟Guidelines for U/11’s through to U/19’s🌟

-Avoid bowling more than 2 days in a row where possible

-Avoid bowling more than 4 days in a week

-Allow one easy week (eg: 50% of target load) every 4-5 weeks

-Schedule a week off bowling after every 10-12 weeks of bowling to allow your body to recover

🏏 For further information on how many overs/match and ball/week fast bowlers in each age group should aim for see:

https://www.community.cricket.com.au/clubs/youth-pace-bowling-guidelines

🏏 For an in depth overview for elite level junior athletes:

 2019 20 Junior Bowling Guidelines Explained

Any questions or any early concerns of back pain in bowlers, should be addressed by your healthcare professional ASAP!

#shepparton #cricket #sheppartoncricket #bowling #fastbowler #physioshepparton #loadmanagement #gvsportscare #gv #goulburnvalley

Sophie Woodhouse

Physiotherapist Shepparton

GV Sportscare

The post Cricket: Youth Pace Bowling Guidelines appeared first on GV Sportscare.

Shepparton Podiatrist Tom explains in this video how to map out your runs and think carefully about the amount of rest in between each run. He also explains why rest days, strength and conditioning and cross training are all great ideas.

When it comes to running injuries, Tom will often help his clients to write out their weekly routine and look at what can be added or adjusted to allow the individual to continue to run while rehabbing an injury.

Tom Davey

Podiatrist Shepparton, GV Sportscare

The post Mapping your weekly runs appeared first on GV Sportscare.

🥑    🌶️    🥒    🥜    🥓    ☕️    🥗    🧀    🐟

Dr Peter Brukner, the ‘founder of sports medicine’ in Australia, creator of Olympic Park Sports Medicine, left his lucrative role as sports doctor for Cricket Australia and became a full time advocate to reduce Australia’s sugar intake by half. Sophie was lucky enough to watch him evolve through this process, seeing him lecture on the topic 4 times over a number of years. Peter has joined many other top doctors around the world to look at the impact of high carbohydrate (high sugar) diets on obesity, type two diabetes and overall health. The LCHF diet is essentially returning to how we used to eat, before obesity was rampant and is not a diet so much as understanding what is healthy food and what is not. Learning from science, not from what the food industry markets to us. It is about understanding that starch breaks down to sugar and it doesn’t matter if that is found in your white bread or your banana, it still breaks down to sugar.

We are particularly interested in the LCHF diet as it also aligns with a low inflammatory diet and this can have a large impact on musculoskeletal and arthritic conditions. Excessive weight has been proven to negatively impact your joint health and therefore we find it important to talk about your weight and diet as part of your injury management. It also impacts the health of a diabetic and Dr David Unwin, your friendly local GP from the UK has had huge success with reversing type two diabetes via diet alone (ie drug free reversal of type two diabetes). This again links to Tom’s work as a Podiatrist providing skin and nail care for diabetics who are more at risk of ulcers and sensation/circulation complications. We had the pleasure of hearing Dr Unwin speak and he is a gentle and thoughtful Dr that has changed how he practices and truly listens to his patients. We highly recommend his content, particularly his youtube videos if you are a type two diabetic. 

As we are not dieticians or nutritionists we have put together a library of resources to read and learn from. We also have close contacts of people in these industries and can point you in the direction of a helping hand. It’s also important to note that different people have different food tolerances and this will impact what food is right for you. Chose your medium, don’t try to read/listen/watch to them all! 

Books

A Fat Lot of Good, Peter Brukner

Good Calories Bad Calories, Gary Taubes 

The Big Fat Surprise, Nina Teicholz

Websites and links

Low Carb Downunder, this website also has a list of Australian LCHF health professionals.  If you are looking for a particular health professional please feel free to also speak with us.

Sugar by half

Fat lot of good: website links, podcasts

Diet doctor: A low-carb diet for beginners 

Intermittent fasting for beginners

Detailed guide to fasting

Facebook pages to follow

Sugar by half

Dr James Muecke, 2020 Australian of the Year

Diet doctors

MovingDietician

Videos

Dr David Unwin: HOPE on the horizon. Type 2 diabetes.

Dr. David Unwin & Dr. Jen Unwin – ‘Behaviour Change ‘In a nutshell’ & Picking our low carb battles’

Dr David Unwin: Explaining low carb in a simple way

Low Carb Down Under

Podcasts

The Fat Lot of Good website has a great list of podcasts

GP Podcast: Low carb for diabetes: Part 1, Part 2

🥑    🌶️    🥒    🥜    🥓    ☕️    🥗    🧀    🐟

-Sophie Woodhouse

Physiotherapist Shepparton, GV Sportscare

-Tom Davey

Podiatrist Shepparton, GV Sportscare

Image sources:

–Sugar by half FB page

–Fat Lot of Good website

–Diet doctor FB page

–Low Carb Down Under website

The post Low Carb High Fat (LCHF) Library  appeared first on GV Sportscare.

🥦🥬🥥🥑🥩🥗 

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The post Achilles tendon pain appeared first on GV Sportscare.

Tom achieves this via foot/leg strength, movement/mobility and footwear selection.
👞

Everyone needs natural foot shape and function to move pain free. Certain features in most modern shoes prevent the foot from functioning as it should.
👣
Building foot and leg strength, increasing mobility within the foot and avoiding particular shoe features can see a bunion return to normal over time.
⏰
Surgery for bunions is necessary in some cases. However, it is important to know that there are treatments and changes that can be utilised to fix or manage the bunion conservatively.
💉

Tom Davey

Podiatrist Shepparton, GV Sportscare

The post Bunions: non surgical management appeared first on GV Sportscare.