FLOORED

 If you are a woman and you have a pelvic floor, you need to read this book, written by a pelvic physiotherapist. I am a gynaecologist, and I have always undermined pelvic physiotherapy. After having my first child, my mom started babysitting for me. By the time my baby turned 2 years old, my mother’s stress incontinence had worsened from leaking a couple of drops to being wet most of the time. Having a chronic cough wasn't helping as well. I was hunting for a urogynaecologist in town to fix the problem. I felt responsible that lifting my little baby was a possible contributing factor. A colleague recommended a urologist. We had a consultation, he suggested we start with a cystoscopy and urodynamic studies. I found the urodynamic study very invasive, and it didn't add any new information. The urologist suggested a tape, and off my mom went for surgery. We did not send Mom for any pelvic floor physiotherapy. 

You don't have to be in your 50s or sixties to have pelvic floor problems. I had one vaginal delivery, and I know my ability to hold my pee and poo is not the same as my 20s. We underutilize pelvic physio in most aspects of women’s lives. Dr Sara points out how we get all the other organs regularly checked out, and we forget about the pelvic floor until there is a prolapse or a leakage. 

As Dr Sara educates us in her book, nearly one in three women suffer from pelvic floor disorders such as painful sex, prolapse, back pain, constipation, urinary leakage, and lack of orgasms. These conditions affect women’s self-esteem and their ability to exercise or have intimate relationships. Urinary leakage alone is costing women in the USA over 20 billion dollars per year, yet most of these treatments are temporarily successful and do not address the main underlying cause, which is pelvic floor dysfunction. 

There are multiple body stretches that are instructed in the book that help, relax the pelvic floor muscles. She explains the importance of pelvic physiotherapy during pregnancy to reduce pelvic girdle pain, and improve the strength of the pelvic muscles. She explained her own birth experience going smoothly, with an intact perineum. She explained that taking time and effort with the help of her partner to give her regular perineal massages. 

The book is written in a very easy-to-read style, with a friendly tone. It explains the anatomy and physiology of female pelvic organs in simple terms that people who are not medical professionals can understand better. There is a holistic approach into how the pelvic organs and the pelvic floor function, besides doing the Kegels, such as giving us hints as  how to efficiently empty our bowels and bladder without causing tension and ongoing dysfunction. 

Read it You have ever leaked while sneezing, feel "disconnected" from your core, are preparing for birth, or are navigating menopause. It is essentially the "owner’s manual" for the female body that most of us never received in school.