In Episode #25 we have the great pleasure in interviewing Carolyn Vandyken – an extremely knowledgeable and experienced pelvic health and musculoskeletal physiotherapist (and educator!) based in Canada. This is a must-listen for anyone who works with clients who have musculoskeletal pain or pelvic floor dysfunction – ie EVERYONE!

Carolyn is a physiotherapist, educator, researcher and advocate in the areas of low back pain, pelvic health and pain science. She has been practicing for 33 years and is passionate about helping therapists get out of their silos and integrate a biopsychosocial perspective. Her research is in the area of connecting pelvic health to low back pain.

In this interview, we discuss

• what pelvic pain is and what it might look like
• the link between the lumbar spine and pelvic pain
• how pelvic floor dysfunction might masquerade as other types of musculoskeletal pain such as low back or groin pain
• why pelvic floor screening is so important for all musculoskeletal /sports physiotherapists and fitness professionals to consider and how they might go about it
• why consideration of the whole person is so important when helping clients with symptoms
  of pelvic pain or pelvic floor dysfunction

If you would like to get in touch with Carolyn Vandyken you can find her at: https://www.physioworksmuskoka.com

Here are some of the articles that Carolyn wanted to share with everyone:

Hilton S, Vandyken C. 2011. The puzzle of pelvic pain. A rehabilitation framework for balancing tissue dysfunction and central sensitization, I: Pain physiology and evaluation for the physical therapist. JWHPT 35:103-113.

Vandyken C, Hilton S. 2012. The puzzle of pelvic pain. A rehabilitation framework for balancing tissue dysfunction and central sensitization, II: A review of treatment considerations. JWHPT 36:44-54.

Louw A., Hilton, S. Vandyken C. 2014. Why Pelvic Pain Hurts: Neuroscience education for patients with pelvic pain. Minneapolis: OPTP.

Vandyken C., Chapter contribution to the IASP proceedings of the 1st International Congress on Abdomino-pelvic pain, 2014.

Vandyken C., Hilton S.: An Integrative Approach to Physiotherapy; Chapter contribution in Padoa, A., & Rosenbaum, T. The Overactive Pelvic Floor (2016).

Vandyken C., Hilton S. 2017. Physical Therapy in the Treatment of Central Pain Mechanisms in Female Sexual Dysfunction. Sex Med Rev 5: 20-30

Dufour, S., Vandyken, B., Forget, M., & Vandyken, C. (2018). Association between lumbopelvic pain and pelvic floor dysfunction in women: A cross sectional study. Musculoskeletal Science and Practice, 34, 47-53.

Keizer, A., Vandyken, B., Vandyken, C., Yardley, D., Macedo, L., Kuspinar, A., Faghani, N., Forget, MJ., & Dufour, S. 2019. Predictors of Pelvic Floor Dysfunction Among Women with Lumbopelvic Pain. Physical Therapy

This episode is a little different in that we have a guest host – none other than Antony’s daughter, Amie Lo.

When Antony mentioned that we were having the privilege to interview Molly Galbraith (Women in Charge of Girls Gone Strong) again and that we were going to be talking about body positivity, Amie had so many great questions for us that we thought it would be great if she asked Molly herself!

In this episode Molly shares her journey with us and how she turned her life (and her health) around by healing her relationship with her body.

Some of the things that she found helped were:

1. Noticing when she was having negative thoughts about her body and how often she was saying really negative things about herself and her body.
2. Getting clear on her values and what she believed.
3. Questioning the thoughts she was having and how they did not align with her values
   • Moving her thoughts from negative to positive
4. (she gives a great example here regarding chronic pain)
5. Focusing on things related to her body that had nothing to do with how her body looked. This could include what her body could do, how her body served her and what value she added to the world.
   • Curating what images she exposed herself to on social media…


Some other questions that Amie asked include:

• do you get affected by social media influences like IG models?
• does posting on social media cause any anxiety?
• do you ever get tempted to photoshop or alter your photos?

Please listen and share this interview with your friends and family. This is a great one for your teenage girls!

If you want to get in touch with Molly you can find her at:
www.girlsgonestrong.com
https://www.facebook.com/mollymgalbraith/
https://www.facebook.com/GirlsGoneStrong/
https://www.instagram.com/themollygalbraith/
https://www.instagram.com/thegirlsgonestrong/

We’d also like to share GGS free 5-day course on pre/postnatal coaching!
*
*
What You Must Know About Pelvic Health – Your Ultimate Guide To Working With Pre- & Postnatal Clients
Sign up here: http://bit.ly/33GKbEw

Did you know that 67-75% of people who hire a coach or trainer are women, and 85% of women will have a baby in their life.

The curriculum for this course was developed by world-leading pelvic health physiotherapists, OB/GYNs, PhDs, pre- and postnatal fitness experts, university researchers and other women’s healthcare team members — so you can feel confident it’s up-to-date and evidence-based.

Sign up here: http://bit.ly/33GKbEw

***Disclosure Notice – By choosing to use the link, you will be supporting The Women’s Health Podcast. The money the podcast earns goes back to supporting the technical running of the podcast and donating to our chosen charities. Please click the link and support the podcast! Thank you!

In this episode we have the pleasure of speaking to Chantal Traub – a doula based in NY city.

Chantal is an active birth doula, childbirth educator, pre/postnatal yoga teacher and MUTU Systems trainer and has been assisting expecting families in New York City for 17 years. She is also a Women’s Health Coach empowering moms through (Peri) Menopause.

She created her workshop Pushing Power (2nd stage Labor & The Pelvic Floor) to help moms with the education, knowledge and the tools to set themselves up for a functional, meaningful and positive birth experience and full postpartum recovery.

Some of the topics that we discussed were:
-The relationship between baby and pelvis during birth (it’s worth watching the video to see her demonstration on this!)

• The role of the Pelvic Floor during birth
• Understanding 2nd Stage Labor
• How women can best prepare ahead of time

You can learn more about Chantal on her website:
https://www.chantaltraub.com
or contact her via email:
chantal@chantaltraub.com

In this episode, we chat to Lisa Ryan, Crossfit competitor and Pregnancy and Postnatal Athleticism coach. Lisa has a fascinating story to share about her experiences through pregnancy and postnatally, in particular her journey in living with significant diastasis recti and her ultimate decision to have surgery.

Lisa tells us her story about

• how she came to love Crossfit and find that she was a competitor
• how she discovered that she had diastasis recti after her first pregnancy
• her journey with different physiotherapists and coaches between her pregnancies and during her second pregnancy
• diastasis recti and body image
• her decision to have surgery for the abdominal separation and how she found the right surgeon
• her pre-operative plan
• her emotions leading up to the surgery and how she felt in the early weeks post-surgery
• her post-surgical recovery to date- including those first few weeks
• her tips for women considering surgery

You can learn more about Lisa here:

Website: https://lisa-ryan.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LisaMarieRyan22/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lisa.marie.ryan/

Get prepared to feel pumped up!
In this episode we talk to the amazing Dr Carrie Pagliano (DPT) about

• her story (why she became a pelvic health PT and her work with the American Physical Therapy Association)
• what a pelvic health PT actually does
• what an assessment might look like with a pelvic health PT
• what kind of treatments may be offered
• how physical therapists can get more involved in working in pelvic health.
  This episode is great for those who are considering a visit to a pelvic health PT but perhaps don’t know what to expect. Or if you are a health or fitness professional and have maybe heard about pelvic health PT and think you might have clients who need this service and want to learn more…this is well worth a listen!
  You can find Dr Carrie Pagliano at
  https://carriepagliano.com/
  https://www.facebook.com/CarriePaglianoPT/
  https://www.instagram.com/carriepagliano/
  https://twitter.com/CarriePagliano
  She works with clients in the Washington DC area.
• By clicking on this link, you will be supporting this podcast with the commission it earns. Thank you!

Dr Julie Granger (DPT) speaks with Marika and Antony about hormonal teenagers, painful periods, working with elite female athletes…and so much more!

In a nutshell, we ask Julie:

• Why are you so passionate about working with young women?
• What are some of the issues you see that are unique to young female athletes? Do you feel that this has changed in recent years? (eg more stress on athletes, technology etc)
• What tips would you give to mothers of a driven teenager?
• What tips would you give to teenage athletes – esp those with big dreams?
  To find and follow Julie, here are her socials:
  www.drjuliegranger.com/energizeyourhealth
  www.drjuliegranger.com

Dr. Julie Granger at PRISM Wellness Center

And here is an ebook book written by Julie specifically for young female athletes:
https://buildstrongirls.com/…/the-young-female-athletes-pl…/

And for those that don’t know Julie, here is her bio:

Dr. Julie Granger, PT, DPT, SCS, WHC is a teen & women’s health and life coach, sports physical therapist, and career and business coach to physios and health professionals. She specializes in holistic treatment and coaching of active, busy women, teens and professionals.

Julie is fluent in “speaking teenager” and has a passion for helping girls and women find simple ways to fix or prevent health problems without sacrificing their whole lives to do it. She also loves helping health pros do more with less in their businesses or careers so they can spend more time living and less time working.

Dr. Granger loves sharing her passion & knowledge with others as an accomplished speaker. She is an adjunct clinical professor in the Emory University Doctor of Physical Therapy program, from where she also received her DPT degree & performed research on the holistic sports health of girl and teen athletes. She has lectured both nationally and internationally & is faculty member for the Integrative Women’s Health Institute (IWHI).

In early 2017 Julie published her first book, The Young Female Athlete’s Playbook.

As a lifelong elite swimmer & cancer survivor, Dr. Granger knows firsthand what her clients are stacked up against.

Now in an international coaching practice, she helps show women and teens that health is more than a never ending series of appointments, supplements, nutrition changes and out of the box lifestyle changes. Instead, she helps them embody the universal human truth that health begins and ends with the state of mind that we hold.

Dr. Granger swam collegiately at Duke University where she majored in child & adolescent developmental psychology. In her free time she enjoys swimming, being outdoors, drawing and painting, playing the clarinet, and traveling and adventuring with her husband, Daniel, and Labrador pup, Aspen.

Haley Shevener shares her Pelvic Organ Prolapse journey with Antony during this podcast.

Brianna Battles discussed The Athlete Brain – a mindset which drives decision making and needs to be understood and accounted for if we are to help the client in front of us.

Lindsay Vaughn asks a question that is often asked so Antony decided to make this an episode since so many people want to know about lifting belts. Lindsay’s question was actually about a male client she has but the information is very relevant for female athletes and one of the most common questions on Antony’s course – The Female Athlete.