Body Gears: Don't Ignore Your Pelvic Health

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NEWSLETTER The Newsletter About Your Health And Caring For Your Body

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What do back pain, urinary incontinence, and abdominal hernias all have in common? They can all be a result of the way you breathe! How can that be? Your diaphragm, the muscle connected to your lower ribs that helps you to breathe, is actually a core muscle. If it's not working right, it'll affect the rest of your core muscles that protect your back and abdominal area. What is the 'core' exactly? People refer to 'the core' all the time, but what are they really referring to? You can think of your core like a balloon: The top is your diaphragm, the front is your transversus abdominis muscles, the back is your multifidi muscles, and on the bottom are your pelvic floor muscles. They all work together to maintain a pressure system that allows you to breathe, stay upright, and regulate bodily functions. Just like a balloon, if you squeeze one side too hard, it will increase the pressure on the other sides. If those sides aren't strong enough or ready to take the pressure, that's when you can start to experience all sorts of different symptoms including back pain, DON'T IGNORE YOUR PELVIC HEALTH Live An Active Life Free of Worries! INSIDE: • Embarrassed to ask? Here are some answers • Body Gears News

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® or bearing down when you are having a bowel movement) which significantly increases the pressure in your abdominal cavity and can also lead to urinary leaks or even abdominal hernias.The benefit of your diaphragm having such an impact on your pelvic floor is that breathing re-training can be a highly effective component of pelvic pain and urinary incontinence treatment. Finally, posture and movement can also test your pressure system. Sitting in a slumped posture or standing with a big arch in your lower back taxes your core muscles and could lead to back pain. Even when you land from a jump, your organs exert pressure down on your pelvic floor. Should I hold all the sides of my core really tight all the time to prevent back pain, incontinence, and hernias? Don't waste energy trying to hold your core rigid because a rigid core can't adapt to pressure changes. With proper training, you won't have to consciously do anything! As long as your core muscles are strong enough, able to relax, and your resting posture is efficient, your core muscles will activate the proper amount automatically. Early training might require consciously activating these muscles if they've lost the ability to do so automatically, but eventually, your core will remember how to respond appropriately to changes in pressure all by itself. If you or someone you know is struggling with back pain, urinary incontinence, abdominal hernias, or pelvic pain, ask to speak with one of our Women’s HealthTherapists. Why suffer when you can ask for help? (continued inside)

incontinence, and even develop abdominal hernias. How do you 'squeeze one side too hard'?

There are all sorts of ways you test the integrity of your pressure system every day. Laughing, sneezing, and coughing are all ways the diaphragm exerts pressure from above. Those with a weak pelvic floor know all too well the leaking that can result from that increased pressure. The extreme version of this is exhaling against a closed throat (aka the valsalva maneuver

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