What follows below is a most basic outline of the pelvic floor and pelvic health. Your understanding will become more comprehensive and specific as you work in partnership with Michelle.

The pelvic floor is a unique, complex and very individual area of our bodies. The pelvic floor is comprised of several layers of muscles and other soft tissues, forming the base of our torso. Among other purposes, the pelvic floor supports the weight of our organs, is in large part responsible for urinary and fecal continence, and influences the function of our sexual organs. It is also an important part of our ‘inner core’, providing support for our pelvis and spine. As such, our pelvic floor has a tremendous impact on our everyday experience and our physical, emotional and mental health.

We are tremendously interdependent beings. Our optimal pelvic health occurs when all the muscles of the pelvic floor work in a balanced and synergistic way, together and in relationship to the rest of our body. An imbalance in the pelvic floor can shift this relationship and greatly affect our overall health.

Imbalances occur in the pelvic floor in a variety of ways, and the map of your pelvic floor is uniquely yours. Our physical, mental and emotional experiences in this area, considered by some to be our ‘area of survival’, can deeply affect the optimal balance of our pelvic floor. For persons of all genders, if you experience any of the following symptoms, pelvic health physiotherapy may benefit you:

• pelvic, genital or rectal pain

• persistent low back or hip pain that does not diminish over time with other treatment

• urinary or fecal incontinence, hesitancy or incomplete emptying

• frequent urination

• waking at night to urinate

• constipation

• tailbone/ coccyx pain

• pain with sexual activity

• rectus diastasis (separation at the centre of the abdominal muscles)

• some forms of erectile dysfunction

• prostatitis where infection has been ruled out

Pelvic health physiotherapy is a proven, effective method of successfully treating pelvic floor symptoms and conditions. It is becoming more widely recognized as an effective first line catalyst toward increased pelvic and overall wellbeing. Michelle has been specifically trained to assess your pelvic floor muscles in relation to one another and to the rest of your body as a whole, including your fascia, organs, nervous system, hips and spine. Informed by your story and by an external and internal physical assessment, where appropriate, Michelle will work with you to develop an effective personal treatment and practice plan designed specifically for your needs.

Michelle believes that a multi-disciplinary approach is helpful. A medical physician can help rule out any condition that may require allopathic treatment. Massage therapy, yoga practice, meditation or other methods of breathing and stress reduction can help calm our nervous system, re-pattern the ways we hold tension and emotion in our muscles and fascia, and potentially assist in developing a new relationship with our body and ourselves. A therapist or counsellor may help address some of the emotional or historical experiences in our lives.