Hip and back pain

Getting these muscles optimised to their full potential is what we are best at! This is our jam! No flimpsy pamphlet and generic instruction given… we assess you fully, and get your started on how to get these wonderful muscles, power house strong, and able to respond to what you will throw at it. Your program will be individualised to EXACTLY what you need. We don’t want your pelvic floor muscles to be your weakest link! Sometimes that might involve pelvic floor muscles relaxation (link through to this service from the pain section) first, before we can work on the strength, power, co-ordination and endurance of these muscles. They have to be fast enough to catch those coughs and sneezes, and have enough endurance to last a full day on your feet! They have to have enough tone to support your pelvic organs, and be able to fully relax to wee, poo and have sex! They need to be able to respond to impact during a lift or a jump…. And if you follow our recommendations… who knows…. Maybe you just might be able to shoot that ping pong ball across the room!

We will even help you with tips and trick on how to fit these exercises into your day, so that you can keep up the great work life long.

One of the first things we do in our assessments is look at how your posture is faring. Why? Our bodies and posture go through huge transformation throughout pregnancy and childbirth. All of your muscles and ligaments, which have softened and stretched to accommodate your bub, usually take some months post delivery to recover. Tummy muscles can also separate and the connective tissue through the midline can become stretched, causing something called diastasis rectus abdominus (DRA).

When the pelvis is tilted forward or back (think ‘butt tucking’ or ‘butt sticking out’ J-Lo style!) then the alignment with our spine, pelvis and rib-cage is compromised. This can throw everything out of whack, causing pain and constricting the breath.

All of this lengthening and weakening of our abdominal muscles can affect the control of our pelvic floor, spine and pelvis and depending on the level of trauma during birth, there can be varying degrees of perineal (pelvic floor) pain. This weakening or pain can happen whether you had a vaginal or C-section, and can depend on how long you pushed for or if you had any birthing injuries. Sounds fun!

A lot of women ask us what is the first step towards healing when they’ve had a baby. They’re often surprised to learn, it’s ALL about the breath. Restoring the breathing mechanics after pregnancy is always the first step, as your growing baby has very helpfully redesigned the position of the diaphragm and the rib cage. Without the right sort of breathing, other rehab on diastasis rectus abdominus or the pelvic floor muscles is null and void. Breathe, baby breathe!

The pelvic floor and the diaphragm work in a piston like movement, moving up and down with your breath. On your inhale the rib-cage and stomach expands, the diaphragm lowers and the pelvic floor chillaxes. On your exhale the rib-cage and stomach softens, the diaphragm ascends and the pelvic floor elevates slightly.

Breathing right is the first step towards restoring our posture and our pelvic floor, getting the diaphragm and pelvic floor to work in synergy. Often, gentle hands on massage and myofascial release from our physiotherapists is the first step to get rid of any restrictions so our new mums are ready for breathing well, functional movement and getting their strength back.

Breathing chills us out, gives us energy and is our life force. When we breathe shallowly from stress, because of being squished from growing a baby, or breathe only in our bellies, we aren’t using the healing properties of breath to its full potential. If you’re popping up or flaring through the ribs, or if you’ve got a hypertonic (overly tight) rib cage, then everything else is affected. The body is a wonderful set of dominos, and the ripple effect is a biggie!

What is manual therapy? This is where the therapist uses their magical healing hands to manipulate or manually handle joints, muscles or nerves in order to restore mobility and relax or activate muscles. The physiotherapist team at Pelvic Solutions are post graduate trained in specialist manipulative therapy and consistently find amazing results with their clients.

We combine manual therapy techniques with dry needling and self-release exercises, which can include using balls or foam rollers, to release tight areas of the body and help our clients find lightness and freedom in their movements.

Dry needling

Dry needling technique involves the insertion of acupuncture needles into taut muscle bands with the aim being to gain muscle relaxation, stimulate healing, and restore the normal nerve function.  Tension through muscles can contribute to postural problems,  faulty movement patterns and pain and by restoring muscle function  we can improve these issues.  We use dry needling in combination with other treatment techniques like manual therapy, functional movement retraining, and exercise prescription for lasting treatment effect.

It is reasonably common to experience a temporary ache in the area that has been treated for a few hours after treatment along with a welcome improvement in mobility.

Acupuncture

We use acupuncture in combination with other therapeutic methods to encourage healing, reduce or resolve pain and restore balance and function to many areas of the body, including the internal systems (such as the bladder and gut). Acupuncture involves the insertion of very fine needles through the skin and tissues at specific points on the body. Acupuncture can be a hugely affective treatment modality for a wide range of pelvic health and other health conditions.

Reducing the downward pressure onto the pelvic organs and the pelvic floor can help improve prolapse symptoms. Common strategies that we see are ladies who are very grippy with their abs, creating pressure from above which can worsen prolapse symptoms. The way you breath also has a big impact on the ability of the pelvic floor to be able to support you. Improving things like chronic constipation and chronic coughing can help take the load off too. Posture matters. Subtle postural changes can make the world of difference to prolapse symptoms.

Being a healthy weight matters when it comes to prolapse. We can help you with this and also work closely with other member of our trusted team to give you the best advice on how to become a healthy weight.

The experience of pain is not necessarily mean there is injury or disease.  It is a brain output that causes pain and this is influenced by many things including stress, movement patterns, how you think and feel, and past experiences.  We aim to restore the ability of the nervous system to move and stretch as you move, with functional movement and rehabilitation. Movement combined with knowledge of other contributors to pain, can help liberate you from being in pain.

We use a biopsychosocial approach, with strong clinical reasoning strategies, to help address not only the physical aspects of the nervous system, but also educate about acute and chronic musculoskeletal, central and peripheral and neuropathic pain states.