INTRODUCING A NEW FEMALE PELVIC HEALTH PHYSIOTHERAPY SERVICE IN MOSSEL BAY AND SURROUNDS

Why this approach?

I reached the conclusion after many years of practicing physiotherapy in both the private and public healthcare systems and through my own personal journey (including the birth of my children), that women encounter various challenges throughout their life – and these challenges manifest in various symptoms and problems.

Every woman that I encounter has a story to tell about how various life stages changed her – Some of these life stories included very painful menstruation, past surgery to “lift the bladder”,  experiencing pain or discomfort the first couple of times that a woman had sex, during sex or sudden discomfort after years of an active sex-life, or the challenges of infertility treatment, or body aches and pains during pregnancy, or just not getting fit after giving birth, or pelvic pain, or the sudden leakage of urine or a feeling of heaviness in the vagina after the birth of a child (or in the absence of childbirth), or flatulence or leakage of wind, urine or faeces, or pelvic discomfort during sport, or just the general feeling that her body is not the same anymore and she is unable to address what is different.

Some women will seek help when a certain tipping point has been reached. This tipping point is usually a combination of physical pain and mental exhaustion to the point where these discomforts are directly impacting on the woman’s daily health and her interaction with her family.

However, many women are unfamiliar with what services are available or uncomfortable with discussing or finding out about some of their “intimate” physical challenges and do not know where to seek help.  Perhaps the immediate community / past experiences /their own thoughts, reinforce their beliefs that their physical challenges and problems “are part of life / being a woman / aging” and that the individual must just “live with it” because of a collective societal misunderstanding or obliviousness of the interventions available locally, nationally and globally.

Many of these physical symptoms are connected to pelvic health and well-being and in various parts of the world women’s health physiotherapists (otherwise called pelvic health physiotherapists) are raising awareness, setting global standards of care and advocating for female wellness that includes pelvic health.

Many of the physical changes and challenges of the pelvis that women face throughout their stages of life are addressable and manageable and, in many instances, surgery can be avoided if changes and challenges are addressed early on.

PFPT (pelvic floor physiotherapy training) is a program of exercises to improve pelvic floor muscle strength, endurance, power, relaxation or a combination of these.  PFPT is performed by physiotherapists who has a special interest in Women and Pelvic Health and has completed the compulsive further training through the South African Society of Physiotherapy and are recognised by the Health Profession’s Council of South Africa and the South African Society of Physiotherapy as female pelvic health physiotherapists.

I hope to raise awareness through public speaking as well as using my website to address these misconceptions, to promote and protect a healthy, interactive pelvic floor and to encourage women to ask questions and seek answers and treatment for pelvic floor dysfunctions from practitioners who focus on women’s health and well-being.

Robust evidence-based support recommends PFPT with or without supplemental modalities for the treatment of urinary incontinence, pelvic organ prolapse, faecal incontinence, peripartum and postpartum pelvic floor dysfunction, and hypertonic pelvic floor disorders, including pelvic floor myofascial pain, dyspareunia and vaginismus, and vulvodynia.

The website is divided into quick reference guides for you to gather further information and also to determine if you will benefit from a women’s health physiotherapy service, but please WhatsApp or email me if you are unsure or want to discuss your symptoms further, or to find out if there are a women’s health physiotherapist closer to you that you can access, before making an appointment.  I will respond during working hours to your queries.

Please also contact me via WhatsApp / email me if you identify yourself as a woman and are on the waiting list for gender reassignment surgery, to find out if you will benefit from pelvic floor physiotherapy training.

Contact details below or send a message from the contact page.