Optimum Body Mechanic – Week 6

“Childbirth is an amazing process. The time when you get to meet mini-you in person. This squishy bundle of joy in your arms. Nothing beats this experience. A natural process and the female body is designed to cope with it. The female body is one tough unit! You’re probably thinking why I’m talking about childbirth and how it relates to injuries.

If you have given birth and you feel you’ve been getting aches and pains that have no explanation, it maybe that it could be linked to the birthing process.

C-section (whether planned or unplanned) and normal delivery are the two main delivery methods. There are pros and cons of each and your midwife would have discussed both with you.

Both these types of delivery methods can have an impact and be related to injuries due to the trauma it creates on the body. With c-section, an incision is made in the abdominal wall to deliver the baby. With normal delivery, there may be a chance of tearing. Both these are traumatic events on the body. With the body, when one area is not working well, somewhere else could pick up the slack.

An example is lower back pain. The lower back is over working because their glutes and hips are not functioning correctly.

A client recently attended clinic with lower back pain. There was also slight incontinence when sneezing and coughing. She had followed her midwifes advice and practised the post natal exercises. But there was no improvement in symptoms. Below is an image of the Deep Front Line (image courtesy of Thomas Myers Anatomy Trains). In the image, the blue areas are the muscles that are contained in this line and a lot of them are part of the deep core musculature.

Her child was delivered through the normal method and some tearing had occurred. Even though it had been stitched and healed well, the dysfunction was still present. You can see in the image that the lower back and pelvic floor are part of this deep front line. Her body responded to the trauma by locking it down. She had an OVERactive pelvic floor. No wonder the post natal exercises did not help. As the pelvic floor was overactive, it was creating an imbalance in the body and the loewr back muscles were not functioning as normal.

Through a thorough assessment, her condition was resolved in a few minutes and she has some homework to do. The body is always geared for survival and will do everything it can to ensure that is met”

If you experience or know someone who has a niggle or injury or symptoms of pelvic floor dysfunction, contact us at venard@optimumbodymechanic.com to arrange your FREE 30 minute assessment. All sessions are performed fully clothed and there is no physical contact with that area. Don’t think you escape guys. Guys can also get pelvic floor dysfunction.

Team PTW