How A Physio Can Help With Women's Health

Physiotherapy is one of the most essential therapeutic treatments available. Physiotherapy is utilised in a variety of medical circumstances, from long-term care to the treatment of acute injuries. Due to physiological differences between the sexes, the advantages of physiotherapy for women's health differ from those for males. This includes hormones, anatomical variances, pregnancy, and childbirth - when it comes to their bodies, women require gender-specific advice and physiotherapeutic supervision. 

Here are a few of the common women’s health issues that physiotherapy is used to treat.

Pregnancy

This is one of the largest areas where physiotherapy for women’s health can be beneficial. There are multiple pregnancy-related areas where physiotherapy can help a woman during her pregnancy, or after birth has occurred. 

If you begin to experience pain in your pelvic floor, lower back or ribs, you should definitely  seek out the help of a Sutherland physiotherapy clinic that specialises in women’s health. Physiotherapy while pregnant can also aid with teaching you how to exercise while pregnant, and how to help prepare your body for childbirth with particular stretches and exercises that are beneficial to the pelvis and lower back.

Incontinence

Incontinence is an issue that sometimes plagues some women as they get older, but they can also be caused by urinary tract infections, vaginal infections, but it can also be caused by certain medications. Incontinence can be treated by a physiotherapist in Sutherland by performing pelvic muscle exercises.

Constipation

Working in a similar way to incontinence, constipation can also be treated by physiotherapy. Constipation exercises may include pelvic and stomach muscle stretches. The goal being to encourage bowel movements by stretching the muscles that control the bowel.

Postnatal Protocols

The immediate period following childbirth is one of the most critical periods in a woman’s regaining of her health and wellness following the birth of a child. A physiotherapist in women’s health will often recommend a series of aerobic stretches to aid in the recovery process for the stomach and pelvic muscles of a postnatal patient. The goal of physiotherapy is to relieve some of the tenderness and pain experienced by the patient following childbirth. 

Other effects of postnatal physiotherapy include reducing complications post-pregnancy as organs and muscles reposition and repair themselves following the stresses placed on the body by childbirth. 

Menopause

A treatment option for patients experiencing menopause is physiotherapy with a specific focus on muscle and bone-strengthening exercises. Menopause causes a woman’s body to go through many changes, one of these is bone density changes - menopause can significantly increase the risk of osteoporosis and increase bone density loss by 20% - pre-menopausal patients may seek a women’s health physiotherapist for advice and an exercise routine to strengthen bones and muscles before menopause can do its damage.

Electronic Muscle Stimulation

Another option for women who’re seeking physiotherapeutic help for their health issues is the use of electronic muscle stimulation. Electronic muscle stimulation uses electrical currents to stimulate muscle movement, which can be a preventative treatment for muscular atrophy and other injury-related muscular stiffness and tenderness. 

You may have heard of a TENS machine before - TENS is used exclusively with pain management and is used on the patient’s nerves, whereas EMS is used on the muscular level.

How Aevum Health Can Help

Aevum Health has long been the go-to Sutherland physiotherapy clinic, and in the particular case of women’s health physiotherapy, we work hard to ensure that women experiencing gender-specific physiological issues are paired with women physiotherapists who are properly trained and better understand the female body and its physiological makeup to best treat female patients. 

If you’re experiencing any of the above-mentioned issues, get in touch with us and we’ll get you in for a consult as soon as we can.