2023 in Review!
Hi, Bestie! I am so grateful for all the time we got to spend together this year. Our chats have been some of my favorite parts of the year. From pelvic anatomy to bladder irritants, we covered a lot of ground this year! As 2024 draws closer, let’s review everything we’ve talked about in 2023!
We started off by chatting about pelvic health. This was such an important place to start because pelvic health is somewhat of a hot topic these days and there are various misconceptions at play. I come across TikToks, Instagram posts, and lines on television daily that share a false understanding of what pelvic health is and/or what it means to have a healthy pelvic floor. For example, this morning I saw a video on Instagram where a mom talked about how she regularly pees herself since having her kids. Tons of moms in the comments proudly shared “same here!” which made me want to shout at the screen that peeing one’s pants is not normal! When I tell folks I work in pelvic health, they often say “oh, like for pregnant people.” Yes, pregnant folks are one group of people that can benefit from pelvic health physical therapy, but this fails to capture pelvic health in its entirety. Our chat on pelvic health was just the beginning and since then, we’ve delved into many of the intricacies within the pelvic health world.
This year, we also chatted urinary incontinence. If you’ve been following along, you should be able to spot the differences between urge urinary incontinence (UUI), stress urinary incontinence (SUI), and mixed urinary incontinence (MUI)—impressive! What you also know is that urinary incontinence is hugely treatable in a pelvic rehabilitation setting and it is not a life sentence. Now go spread the good word!
Some of the things we returned to over and over this year were the problems that pregnant and postpartum folks face, including diastasis rectus abdominis (DRA), pelvic organ prolapse (POP), and coccydynia (tail bone pain). We even touched on special topics such as pregnancy-related osteoporosis. We’ve got loads more to talk about when it comes to this population of folks, so stay excited for 2024!
We also discussed a bunch of diagnoses and how these relate to pelvic and women’s health. I loved our chats on osteoporosis, interstitial cystitis (IC), and constipation, as well as those on dysmenorrhea, endometriosis, and pudendal neuralgia. Not only are these chats useful if you’re suffering from one of the above-mentioned conditions, but they can help improve understanding and empathy if you have a bestie dealing with a pelvic health-related diagnosis.
This year, we touched on treatments that are often included in pelvic rehabilitation plans of care. These included simple biofeedback, surface electromyographic biofeedback (sEMG BF), dilators, medications, transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS), exercises, nerve glides, rehabilitative ultrasound imaging (RUSI), and more. We also covered treatments for specific diagnoses including constipation, pelvic pain, urinary urgency, prolapse, and more.
Finally, we discussed some of the themes currently in the social discourse. We looked at recently published research, as well as newspaper articles to analyze popular topics. Some of these included how straws affect gastrointestinal bloating, why older women suffer from urinary tract infections (UTIs), whether chewing gum can help you poop, and how bacteria plays a role in endometriosis.
In all, it’s been a fantastic year chatting about pelvic health. I am counting my lucky stars to have you as a Bestie along for the ride. What topics do you want to hit this next year? Thank you for your support this year and I can’t wait to chat in 2024.
XOXO,
Your Pelvic Bestie
*The information contained in this article is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as health or medical advice. Always consult a qualified health provider regarding any questions you may have about a medical condition or health objectives.
