Findings in a new study are now more than ever clearly defining the link between the brain and the gut microbiome. The study showed regular laxative use tied to increased risk of dementia. Researchers followed over 500,000 UK residents over 10 years and those that regularly used osmotic laxatives (stool softeners) or a combination of...
As many as 50% of people with chronic constipation have pelvic floor dysfunction. This dysfunction is commonly diagnosed as “pelvic floor dyssynergia,” which is a fancy way of saying the pelvic floor muscles are not coordinating correctly to have a bowel movement. When the muscles aren’t coordinated correctly, there is disruption in the signals our...
As pelvic health physical therapists, we see CrossFit athletes for various reasons at our Boulder and Lafayette clinics. CrossFit is not an activity that is detrimental to the pelvic floor, even research has shown that, so we want all our CrossFit athletes to continue doing what they love. However, there are some common pelvic floor...
Quick answer: NO. Often what is seen clinically in those who experience urine leakage with something like walking, running, or jumping movements, is that these individuals will begin to clench and contract their pelvic floor during these activities to try to prevent leakage. While that seems to make logical sense, this technique often doesn’t solve...
By now, you’ve probably heard of the “pelvic floor” as it is becoming a household term, but are you aware of how vital the pelvic floor is for our athletic success? The pelvic floor is the name given to the group of muscles, ligaments, fascia, and nerves that live in and around the bony pelvis....
Patients coming to pelvic health physical therapy often have abnormalities with the bladder or bowel habits. And often, if these habits have been around for a while, it is difficult for someone to know what is normal. So what is a ‘normal’ bladder like? Frequency -Voids aka peeing, should occur 5-8 times in 24 hours....
What is athletic pubalgia/sport hernia? This diagnosis is essentially an imbalance of the adductor muscles and abdominal muscles at the pubis. Specifically the adductor longus and the rectus abdominis are the most important muscles involved in athletic pubalgia/sport hernia as they share fascial connections in what is called the pubic aponeurosis or the abdominal/adductor aponeurosis....
Vaginal yeast infections, also called candidiasis, are an uncomfortable and common issue most women will deal with at some point in their life. According to The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), 3 out of 4 women will experience candidiasis at least once, if not twice, in their lifetime. As a pelvic floor specialist, we...
One common symptom treated in pelvic floor physical therapy in our Boulder and Lafayette clinics is urinary urgency and frequency. These symptoms can be due to a number of musculoskeletal or nervous system dysfunctions: hypertonic pelvic floor or abdominal muscles, irritated pudendal or genitofemoral nerves, a high sympathetic nervous system state, learned behavior, etc. Patients...
In the world of pregnancy and postpartum exercise, lack of available evidence has led to a fear-based model of avoiding heavy weight training due to unknown risk. As more research is being done on the pregnant population the evidence is becoming clear that activity, including heavy weight lifting, does not increase risk to mom or...