The Biggest Mistakes Women Make When Treating Their Pelvic Floor & Leaking Issues #1

The Biggest Mistake Women Make #1 Click on the blue link!

In order to help you get the BEST outcome from seeing Wendy our pelvic health therapist or someone else, I need to share with you some gold stuff that will make you successful in getting the outcome you want.

For those ladies coming to see us here, that outcome is ALL about

“finding the freedom to move, live and love your life again without limitation, shame or the fear of leaking or pain”.

There are 3 common mistakes that are STOPPING you getting the outcome you want and ultimately living the life you want.

So, lets uncover these mistakes right now.

If I can help you start to change your thoughts and beliefs about your body and life,

You will take BETTER action and get BETTER results!

Leaking will be a thing of the past! Hooray we all cry!

So, let’s get started.

Mistake #1

Most of you when booking an appointment to sort the problems you’ve got with leaking, prolapse or pain, whether that is postnatal or not, have made the assumption ALL you need is a one off “check” to get you on the right path and you can take it from there…..

Now, firstly, lets remember “once postnatal, always postnatal” so all this applies to you whether you had your child a few weeks ago or years ago.

There are SEVERAL reasons why this thinking is going to lead you to a rubbish outcome.

Firstly, we need to cover a fair bit of stuff in this first session. We have to ask lots of questions about you and your history, we need assess you moving and what your muscles are doing (AND YES this will involve an internal examination if you consent for this to happen).

We then need to discuss with you what’s going on, what the problems you have are and then outline the options you’ve got to fix them.

Next we may then have the time to start you off with your treatment and exercises AND we need to give you LOTS of advice and tips that are going to make you even more successful at getting better.

That’s a lot of stuff right! All to be done in 50 minutes!

Lets look at the research here, we know that you only retain 50% of the information you get told at any one time.

After 24 hours you this figure drops down to 30% and,

After 1 week this is 10%.

So, the week after your appointment, you will have forgotten 90% of the stuff we talked about and the action you needed to take.

Those numbers aren’t good are they? You’ve forgotten most of it! With the best will in the world you won’t be getting everything you need from that session as it will be in one ear and out the other!

Now let’s look at habit forming. The research shows us that you need to be doing something consistently for around 30 days for it to become a new habit. There are several things that will make this more likely to make it happen like being held accountable and supported as you make the changes. You also need to keep motivation HIGH. Brains LOVE dopamine to be around when you are learning so keeping positive and on track will help this.

Leaving you to your own devices to figure out how to fix yourself with all this information (that blew your mind anyway), after just one session with us, is going to lead to OVERWHELM, UNCERTAINTY, LOW MOTIVATION and therefore a POOR outcome.

It ain’t going to happen and then you’re going to feel rubbish about yourself.  You’ll feel like a failure, like you’re NEVER going to solve the problem with leaking and that you have just got to accept it as what you have to deal with the next 30,40,50, 60 years.

NOOOOOO!

When all you actually need is to stick with the programme! Get regular support, progression, motivation, coaching, mentoring and training.

You need to realise that the REAL goal of that first appointment is figure you out and AGREE a plan.

It is ALL about getting ALL the information together.

-          From hearing your beautiful often heart-breaking story that led you here today,

-          to looking at ALL the things in your body that can (and will) be influencing how your pelvic floor is working (and other pains or problems you may be feeling)

-          To THEN being able to put all the pieces of your unique puzzle together.

Next you NEED to understand what is going on – otherwise why on earth would you stick to doing the things we want and NEED you to do to fix the problem?!?

The valuable time we take to EXPLAIN and show you what is going on in your body and WHY you are experiencing the problems you are is CRUCIAL. This bit gives you CLARITY about your problem and helps you make SENSE of it. It is also the VITAL bit you need so you know WHY you need to do the things we are asking you to do. After all time is precious. You are juggling HEAPS. There has to be a pretty darn compelling reason for to you to give up your precious time to do something that might not show results immediately!

We then need to outline the steps involved in achieving your goals. Whether that is running a 5k without leaking or being able to do a HIIT class without needing to empty your bladder before you skip. The list is endless. What ever you want to achieve, we need to be SUPER CLEAR about it. We need to set our GPS, otherwise you could be going to London and I’m off to Paris! We both, as in, you AND your therapist need to know exactly what we are aiming for.

Setting realistic expectations comes next. With milestones in place and a clear idea on timeframes there is NO ROOM for the unrealistic expectations we see when people first come the into clinic.  Sometimes we need to have a very honest conversation with you. One you may not want to hear (but that is for another time and my next video!).

This is a LOT to cover in a 50 minute appointment!

We haven’t even got to your first exercise, treatment technique or bits of advice you need to start following!

The final piece after all of this is for you to understand your options for treatment and choose one. Without having all the bits of information above how can you make an informed, excellent choice? You can’t! Therefore your outcome won’t be as good.

If you are SERIOUS about stopping your leaking, pain, mobility, fitness and strength struggles then have to be SERIOUS about the plan you put in place to CHANGE them!

That involves a plan of treatment NOT just a check or quick fix one off appointment.

So there is our first mistake women generally make when looking to solve the problems they have with incontinence or prolapse or pain.