Posts

Pilates and Women's Pelvic Health Part 3: Prolapse, Bowel Problems, Pelvic Pain, Pelvic Surgery, Menopause

Image
  Pilates and Women's Pelvic Health Part 3 In part 1 of this blog series, we discovered that Pelvic Health problems exist in 25% of women, and can often significantly affect their quality of life.  We showed how Pilates Instructors can be of great benefit in coaching and supporting Women with Pelvic Health Dysfunctions.   A deeper knowledge of Pelvic Health when teaching Pilates classes encourages self-help, and preventative physical therapy in a relaxed environment with open, informed discussion on this often delicate topic.  Having briefly listed the various Pelvic dysfunctions, in part 2 we detailed two types of Urinary Incontinence as specific and common examples - demonstrating how Pilates is particularly effective as a targeted, physical therapy for the Pelvic Floor and Core. In this concluding part, we will explore, the other Pelvic dysfunctions you may hear about in more detail.  Pilates is equally appropriate as a targeted physical therapy to prevent, treat and rehabilitat

Pilates and Women's Pelvic Health Part 2: Urinary Incontinence - How Pilates can help?

Image
 In the previous first part of this series, we discussed how Pilates teachers can play a vital role in helping Women with their Pelvic health , providing expert exercise therapy and a comfortable environment to address the issue openly.   In this second and subsequent third parts, we will detail the individual dysfunctions and explore why Pilates is such an ideal form of exercise for the Pelvic Floor.  Starting with Stress Urinary Incontinence: What is STRESS URINARY INCONTINENCE (SUI) ?:   As a generalisation, Urinary incontinence is simply the involuntary leakage of urine. Stress Urinary Incontinence (SUI) occurs during everyday sudden physical exertion or movement such as laughing, coughing, sneezing, running, lifting, or having sex. These activities put pressure on your bladder, causing the accidental release of urine.  Stress incontinence is much more common in women than in men and this article specifically addresses women. If you suffer from stress incontinence, you may feel em

Osteoporosis: A consideration for all Pilates teaching and practice, throughout life.

Image
  Prevalence of Osteoporosis and related fractures occurring in the UK Older women are naturally at the greatest risk of osteoporosis due to their increasing rate of bone loss caused by decreasing oestrogen production at the onset of the menopause. Development of Osteoporosis increases considerably from around 20% when aged 50 years to almost 50% when aged 80 years but many of these people will be completely unaware of their reduced bone density. One in two women and one in five men in the UK will sustain one or more osteoporotic fractures in their lifetime, and around 300,000 fragility fractures each year are the result of Osteoporosis.  Although far less common and somewhat preventable rather than a natural occurrence, it is also notable that adolescent, elite sportswomen of slight frame and body mass; for example, gymnasts and dancers may fail to accrue enough bone density when young, when peak bone mass should naturally be formed.  Somewhat paradoxically, over-exercising before