Since we are all currently practicing socially distancing, we are offering virtual physical therapy sessions. How does that possibly work? You have probably asked yourself this question already. We definitely can't do any hands on therapy, which is a huge part of how I generally work with my clients, however there is a ton of other stuff we can do. You may not get the instant gratification and warm fuzzy feelings of that tight muscle being released, but I can teach you how t

I often get asked the question, "What exactly do you do in pelvic floor physical therapy?" It is a specialty that many people are not aware of and once they find out it may help them it can seem a little scary since they aren't sure what to expect. I created this video to explain a little better what we typically do in the first physical therapy appointment. Every case is a little different, but generally this is what you can expect at Recharge Therapy. Probably most pelvi

What is pelvic organ prolapse? Pelvic organ prolapse is when one or more of your internal pelvic organs drops into the vagina. The bladder, uterus or rectum can prolapse. The can sit just a little lower than normal or can prolapse enough to be seen or felt outside the vagina. The most common symptom of pelvic organ prolapse is a feeling of heaviness or pressure in the pelvis or vagina. Most people do not have pain. There also may be an associated decrease in bladder or bo

Many clients tell me they never heard of pelvic floor therapy until they met me or googled their symptoms. Unfortunately most doctors aren't spending enough time with their patients to ask the right questions and refer patients to pelvic floor therapy. A colleague of mine developed this quiz to see if pelvic floor PT might be beneficial. You can take the quiz below and find out if you would benefit from pelvic floor PT. This is from the Cozean Pelvic Dysfunction Screening P

I see a lot of clients due to neck pain. Often this neck pain is due to our society and technology and sitting in front of the computer for many hours during the day. Most neck pain does not occur from “sleeping wrong” but more often from what we are doing during our waking hours. Here are my top four tips to help relieve neck pain. 1. Check your desk set up. If you work at a computer for most of your day make sure your screen is just below eye level, your feet are support

Constipation is something we have probably all dealt with at some point in our lives. The first time I really felt constipated, that I can remember, was on my first international trip. It is common to get constipated with traveling due to eating a different diet, not sleeping as well and maybe not drinking as much water or liquids. It was 4 days into our trip in Italy when my friends started talking about how they hadn't pooped at all since we arrived. I hadn't paid attent

This picture was posted at a recent workshop I did talking to women about pelvic floor therapy and it's so true. So many industries prey on women’s insecurities. The fitness industry, the fashion industry, the makeup industry. All these things are fine and good, but are you purchasing these things because they make you feel good or because they make you feel like you need to be better or different or you're not good enough as you are. One industry my colleagues and I would

So you want to jump without peeing yourself? Here is a progression of jump training you can do. These are only guidelines, never medical advice. Also, I have to say that nothing is better than an individual evaluation because I see women who leak with jumping and they all have different reasons for leaking. Some need to strengthen their pelvic floor muscles. Some need better endurance of their pelvic floor muscles. Some need to change the mechanics of how they are jumping

It’s winter and it is officially ski and snowboard season here in North America! I live in Southern California, so we don’t see snow daily, but we have mountains that get snow in the winter and it is beautiful! I went snowboarding for the first time this season a few weeks ago and it was beautiful! We had a dusting of fresh snow, which is good for southern California. Sometimes the best we get in the mountains is man-made snow, which isn’t great, but better than no skiing!

I have had a few clients and friends recently ask me my opinion on tampons. Are tampons safe? Are there harmful ingredients in tampons? Are organic tampons better? There are lots of opinions by many different people and manufacturers, but I set out to do some research and found a few reliable resources. There are tons of articles written by each tampon company, but that is likely very biased information. I did find a few facts and research articles that I think are as unbi

Kegels, everybody’s heard about them. Most women think they should practice them, but most don’t really know what they are or how to do them correctly. Often, as women, we hear we should practice our Kegels and they are the muscles that hold back our urine, so we practice them whenever we go to the bathroom. It’s a good reminder, right? Practice every time you pee. You should not practice Kegels when you go to the bathroom and here are the reasons why. I’ve seen many wome

What treatment options are there for endometriosis? Is hysterectomy the only option? No, find out how physical therapy can help and why hys

I haven't ran in over a year. I'm not an avid runner and I don't like running competitively. To me running is a time to be outside, move my body and clear my mind. Last August my foot started hurting when I ran. I don't know why. I don't remember injuring it, but it started hurting. The physical therapist side of me said I needed to stop running and let it heal. The side of me that wants to be fit and in shape had a hard time with that, but I eventually listened. I neve

How is your breathing? Do you breathe short, shallow breaths? Do your shoulders move up and down when you breathe? Do you breathe a deep breath into your belly? Breathing is one of the most important things I talk to my clients about. Most of us do not breathe efficiently, which means we are not getting the most amount of oxygen out of each breath. Many people are only breathing shallow breaths into their upper lungs. They use their shoulders to help them breathe in and

If you are having constipation due to not feeling the urge to have a bowel movement this may help stimulate your body to move things along o