[00:00:00] Hey, hey, hey y'all. Welcome back to another episode of the Vagina Rehab Doctor podcast. Y'all know who I am. It's Janelle and I'm a pelvic floor physical therapist. I love talking about the pelvic floor, sexual wellness and our vaginas, vaginal health. It impacts our life in so many ways. And I think that we have to talk about that, those ways, like how does your pelvic floor health impact your social life?
Because, listen, if you have bladder pain or if you're peeing your pants and you can't hold your bladder, you're gonna be running to the bathroom when you're out to dinner with your friends or you may not even want to go out with your friends because you know That you're going to have to be constantly in the bathroom or let's imagine that you want to go on a vacation but traveling and sitting on a plane causes pelvic pain, Let's imagine that you want to wear jeans, but you can't because you have a vagina and your vaginal opening clitoris is burning. let's imagine that you want to have a baby. You want to be a mom. You want to be a parent. You want to give birth, but there's [00:01:00] endometriosis. There's fibroids, there's vaginismus and penetration is not even possible or it's excruciatingly painful.
Our pelvic floor, our vaginal health, our sexual wellness really impacts our quality of the life we live. That is what this podcast is all about. And so if you have been enjoying this podcast and learning. From me I would really appreciate it if you could leave a five star raving review if you haven't heard already Okay, that would really help me and support this podcast.
So let's get into the episode today. We're gonna be talking about DIY Self healing ways for vaginismus for incontinence and for tight pelvic floor muscles. And so these things typically go together. I see a lot of women that have like tight pelvic floor muscles, whether they have constipation or whether they can't empty their bladder, whether they are running to go pee every 20 minutes, whether they feel this [00:02:00] urgency when they have to pee, like they can't wait.
Like all of a sudden you got to pee right now. or whether sex is just like not happening. Sex is excruciating and it's been this way for years from the first time you had sex on your wedding night. Like sex has been horrible and it's now five years down the road and you're still struggling. Let's assume your pelvic floor is too tight.
Okay, that's the common denominator with these conditions that I've just gone through is tightness. Restriction and poor ability of the pelvic floor to let go and open. So imagine your hand is in a fist for most of the day and it doesn't open. So that's essentially what can happen with a tight pelvic floor muscle group.
And so here are some things that you can do to actually work on giving yourself some self healing tools. And I'm going to go through this with you and I want you to take notes because I want you to make this actionable. Please don't listen to this podcast if you're not interested in actually making your life better.
Like if you just want to listen to more knowledge and go, [00:03:00] Ooh, that was deep. Ooh, that was good. I've never heard that before. I mean, I guess that's helpful on some level, but like, I want you to take away at least one thing that you can actually implement tomorrow. And if you are not able to do all of what I say today, that's fine.
But I want you to write this stuff down. especially if you know, you're struggling. With tight pelvic floor muscles, vaginismus, RUP, or pants. So incontinence, and I don't care if it's just a little bit of pee coming out. If you sneeze, cough, get on the trampoline, you're trying to go for a run and you have to wear a pad or you're wearing panty liners throughout the day because of urinary leakage.
That's this is incontinence. And so we're going to talk about some things you can do at home to give yourself some therapy. Notice I didn't say physical therapy. Physical therapy is a medical appointment. And so we want to make sure that. We're not thinking that it's the same exact thing, but what I do see is people underestimating what they can do at home and there's so much dependence on medical providers because there's not enough [00:04:00] education on what we can do to better understand our bodies and nurture our own bodies.
So the number one thing that I think you should do. Is come up with a pelvic health routine. What this means is how many times a week are you dedicating to spend time with your pelvic floor, to spend time with your sexual anatomy, to spend time with your pelvis. This does not have to be hands on, but it could be something that you're intentionally doing to improve.
To listen to, to nurture, and to invest in your pelvic health. Can we choose two times a week if you're currently doing nothing? Can you go on a walk for just 15 minutes? If that's too much, can you stretch for five minutes? Can you take five minutes to do diaphragmatic breathing? But how many times a week are you going to do that?
Okay. Are there some foods, easy [00:05:00] foods? I'm talking about blueberries. I'm talking about Greek yogurt. I'm talking about salmon. I'm talking about almonds. cherries. peaches. pineapples. ginger. What are some of those foods that you know will fight inflammation and help bring down some of that pain and some of that, hypersensitivity to pressure and to touch.
and it's gonna be a four course meal Let's be realistic with ourselves so that we can start making smaller changes that are actually able to be maintained And help us to sense, feel a sense of victory and success as well.
So even if it's, Hey, can I get an apple three times this week? That's anti inflammatory an apple that will literally help with your digestion. It could help with, your, your bowel health. It can help with, feelings of like your mood. So foods that come from the earth have, um, phytochemicals and antioxidants that also help with anxiety and depression and mood disturbances.[00:06:00]
So this is an example of something that you can do. Another thing that you can do is if you know there are tools that you have, whether it's a pelvic wand or whether it's, whether it's a dilator or whether it's, I don't know, maybe you actually want to strengthen and your pelvic floor physical therapist has told you to use like Kegel balls, or has told you to use a tool that helps to tighten and to strengthen.
As long as that has been recommended to you, I always say, make sure that your doctor or your pelvic floor physical therapist, your pelvic floor physical therapist has told you to do kegels. I would caution anyone to just assume that she'll be kegeling. Okay, if you're peeing your pants, that doesn't mean your muscles are loose and you need to kegel.
Most people are two tenths. Um, I would say about 70 to 80 percent of people. And then there's the 20 to 30 percent that would actually benefit from strengthening and some Kegels, but it's just not very common. And so I would encourage you to figure out what is your pelvic health routine during this time?
Can you light [00:07:00] candles? Can you sit down and put on some soft music while you just breathe with the lights down low? Can you read about your condition in a very stress free environment? What can you do to nurture your pelvic floor? Most of you know of some things already, but can you put that in your calendar?
One of the biggest issues That people have that's keeping them from pain free sex, strong pelvic floor muscles, control over their bodies in terms of like bodily control, whether that be urine or feces, etc. Is lack of consistency and accountability. And that is one of the reasons why people tend to get better with us is because instead of us expecting you to go do these things on your own, you We're turning on Zoom.
You're actually meeting with us and we're saying, Okay, turn your camera off for a second. Turn your camera off for right [00:08:00] now. Okay. Let's actually do this together. Let's use these dialects together. Let's use these ones together. And so you're having the accountability and the consistency, but there are some things that you need to do on your own, in your free time, in your personal time.
And even if it's not by yourself, maybe it's with your partner, maybe it's with your, your wife, maybe it's with your husband. How can you create a routine? on a regular basis that nurtures your pelvic floor. The next thing that I think that you should consider doing is using exercise to help you. And I will say this, people overestimate Pilates.
I don't know. Who did the marketing for pilates, but everyone thinks they need to be doing pilates. Pilates is not the cure for everyone. Same for yoga. Okay. This is a lot, a lot of really great marketing for yoga and for pilates. Okay. Let me just say this. I like them both. I like the idea [00:09:00] of both of them.
Yoga tends to improve not just flexibility, but your mobility, your ability to stretch your ability to be flexible. I know it's not just that for my yogis out there. They're like, no, it just, it works on strength and core as well. I know, but for the most part, I would say yoga is about breathing and being present and being mobile and getting it to different positions that sort of lengthen the body.
What I find for people who have hypermobility, meaning some of your joints are actually moving past the normal range of motion, Some people literally have hypermobility to the point where you're too flexible. What tends to happen is the pelvic floor, because it's a core muscle, it needs to stabilize those pelvic organs and protect those pelvic organs.
Those muscles tense up even more. Because of the hypermobility So by only doing yoga, which tends to create more flexibility and it's [00:10:00] stretching a lot Then just doing that alone may actually not get you better at all If you have a tight pelvic floor sexual pain vaginismus vulvodynia And so if you are only doing yoga and you have hypermobility already, meaning you're getting in the splits, you don't feel a stretch.
You're bending backwards. You barely feel anything. You're super duper flexible without even trying. And the main thing that you're doing is yoga. I'm not saying don't do yoga and I'm not saying it's the most horrible thing. It's beautiful. A lot of the exercises I recommend are actually taken from, Yoga and which comes from the Indian culture, Do it yes But you might need to consider if you have hypermobility and you have a tight pelvic floor You might want to consider What are some lights? And low, intensity strengthening exercises. Just consider if you need more guidance on this, like if you want one on one individualized guidance, then you can always work with us and we can like give you the [00:11:00] map.
We'll show you the map, turn left, keep going, speed it up, slow down, stop. We'll do all of that for you. But if you can't, or if you don't want to make the sacrifice or commitment, that's fine. But just know that about yoga. Now, let me talk about Pilates. Pilates is also a very great form of exercise. It can really help for you to strengthen your core.
It can really help for you to feel more stable in your body. And it can also help you with mobility. A lot of Pilates is centered around core strengthening. What happens when we contract the abdominal wall is that the pelvic floor also contracts. so if you have a tight pelvic floor and the main thing you're doing is Pilates that could be tightening your pelvic floor more am I telling you to divorce Pilates and yoga forever?
No, what I'm saying is to just be aware of these things and to remember that a lot of these exercise programs and stuff, they have just really good marketing, but it is not necessarily the cure or the [00:12:00] fix for your issue. If you have a pelvic floor problem, The number one person you should be linking up with is a Pelvic Floor Physical Therapist.
And, if you cannot work with a Pelvic Floor Physical Therapist, if you cannot work with us one on one, we are Pelvic Floor Physical Therapists, Dr. Mapa and myself. If you cannot work with us one on one, this is what I will say. Can you listen regularly to this podcast? I want you to have the Pellix Floor Therapist guidance and education if you can't have access to us weekly, Can you read from us? Can you learn from us? Can you follow us? How can you get closer to a Pellix Floor Physical Therapist who knows what they're doing and who has a track record and who seems knowledgeable? I'm not saying just go to the first person you find on Google or the first person that your doctor recommends.
Word of mouth referrals are the best testimonials and the best form of marketing. So if you have a friend or someone who's like, Hey girl, I work with Dr. Tina and [00:13:00] I can have sex now. Or I work with Janelle and I'm not, I'm not peeing my pants anymore. That's pretty darn good. Okay. But if you can't, I want you to be as consistent as you can.
Let's tap it into these resources that I have for you for free. and if you cannot do pelvic floor therapy with someone else, or you don't want to work with us, then you can at least continue educating yourself. So, so that's the other thing. Number one, create your pelvic health routine. How many times a week can you do some activities that's just for nourishing your pelvis floor, your pelvic floor, just for nourishing your pelvis, right?
Just for helping you to feel more alive in your pelvis. Number two, Number two is, after you have already started creating a routine, then you want to think about how you can start using exercise to nourish yourself, to nourish your pelvic floor. And so that's a big one. I have had people to get better from using my vagina CEO release [00:14:00] guide.
Now, does it happen every single day? No, but I have had a person tell me that she got better from painful sex that happened to her for over 10 years. From using my vagina ceo releasey guy exercises in there so that's possible for you. And if you want that guy, there's a link in the show notes This other thing that i'm going to talk about again, we're talking about how can you do things at home to help heal use tools?
Use tools If you have dilators, baby Can you start using them again? If you have A pelvic wand. Can you use that? Can you use your fingers? Clean, nail short, you know, lubricant, right? How can you use the tools you already have? You may not need that course, that 12 week course. How can you use the tools you already have?
Now, if you already have these tools and you've tried them, it doesn't work. There's so much pain. You don't know what to do. You're stuck. You're plateauing. These are signs you need to work with a professional. and figure out how can [00:15:00] you, how can you tap into that? Can you save up for that? Can you do a payment plan?
Because if, if your life is telling you, listen, what you're doing, it's not working. If you've seen the power of floor physical therapist, it's not working. And you have goals, you have desires, you have a vision for your life. You want to be a mom. You want to find love. You want to be able to run again without leaking, without, without peeing on yourself.
You want to be able to go to the mall and shop without peeing every 30 minutes. You want to poop without straining. You don't, you're tired of those hemorrhoids. Listen. Okay. If that's you and you've already tried the tools at home, you've already tried that. Then yes, you do want to consider tapping into individualized help, but many people have tools at home and they're not using them at all.
I want to encourage you to pick those things back up, pick those things back up. It's not going to be perfect when you use those tools. If you use a dilator and it's hurting you, Guess what? That's part of the healing journey. Your body's not broken, but you do need [00:16:00] to find ways that can help you manage that pain and decrease that pain and relax a little bit more.
When you feel some pain, I'm not encouraging you to sit through severe pain, but some discomfort and mild pain doesn't mean you're doing anything wrong. And if you don't want to be bothered, again, if you don't want to be bothered with trying to figure out what to do, are you doing it right? Are you making yourself worse?
How many times you do this? How many minutes did you hold this again? You should get someone one on one. But before that, so this is what I'm saying with people that come to work with us one on one. What they're saying is I have dilators at home. I have dilators. I have a pelvic wand. I have this, I have that, but they're not using it.
And if you have vaginismus and you are hearing this right now, you can't have penetration. You can't use a tampon. You feel broken in your body. You're ashamed. You're avoiding relationships. You're avoiding dating. You don't feel worthy as a wife. we can't keep letting this go on We don't want you to feel like this forever.
This is not your destiny. I'm sorry. This is not where you're supposed [00:17:00] to end up. This is not your final destination. So if you are not picking up those tools, how can you use them again in a manageable and realistic way? Can you start with just 15 to 20 minutes twice a week? Can you believe again?
Can you, can you use those tools? Can you try one more time? Listen, that's the truth. That's the truth. And we're here. We're here. If you're frustrated and you're crying and the pain is killing you and you just don't want, of course, listen, get some help, especially if you can pay. If you can pay to work with us, do it.
There are some people that's praying for healing, praying for healing, but you can just go ahead and pay for your healing. If you have to only depend on prayer, Hey, I believe in prayer, but sometimes honestly, we just need to invest if we have the capacity and the resources. So yes, I'm giving you three things that you need to start doing.
One, create a routine to tap into exercises, three, use the tools you already have. And number four, I [00:18:00] want you to realize the power of your mind. Yes, you can get better. Yes, there is hope for you. Yes, this is hard. This is, this is a struggle. You have been to people before. However, the thoughts that you think can help create the life that you live.
So if you think you will not get better, you will become complacent. You will stop trying for fear of failing and you will not be where you want to be. You will not experience the love you want to experience. You will not experience the pleasure you want to feel. You likely will not have the baby that you want to have.
You likely will not experience the job or the career growth you want to have. Can I talk to her about that for a second? I have so many clients who said, Hey, I struggle with pelvic pain, vulvodynia, vaginismus, and I was constantly thinking about my vagina at work. One of my clients who got discharged last year, her husband was a military husband.
He was away. He was deployed. And she said, [00:19:00] Janelle, I want to work with you and surprise my husband with a new version of myself when he gets back. And I said, let's do it. She signed up. She worked with me and we did eight sessions. And by the seventh session, her husband had come home to visit. They had pain free intercourse for the first time in their two year marriage.
And they went on a redo honeymoon. And this is what she told me when she got back from that redo honeymoon with her husband. She said, I no longer constantly think about vaginismus at work. This is impacting our lives, you all. And so start with what you can do at home. I'm not discouraging you from doing what you can do, but I, I am encouraging you to get help and support if you can.
That is just the most strategic and executive thing to do. I had to reach out and get help for my business. If I did not, my mental health would be suffering right now. We trying to figure out it alone, how to run a business, How to market, [00:20:00] how to manage all the emails, how to get people better, how to keep posting online.
That was, that was a big toll on me. And I have to say, I have to give up some of my money to hire someone and help me. And it has been more than worth it. I love, I love paying Dr. Mapa every two weeks. I'm like, here, take my money because you're helping not just me. You're helping my community. You're helping married couples.
You're helping individuals. You're helping people make families. I So many times there is an investment, but you know what the alternative is doing nothing and living a life that is beneath your desire and your vision for yourself. Okay. So here's some things that you can do at home. You can create a pelvic health routine.
You can tap into exercises and movement and stretches. You can also, you can tap into using the tools that you already have at home. And then if you don't [00:21:00] want to do that stuff, you just want to be told exactly how to get through this maze, how to get through this, suffering that you're in, right?
You can reach out for more help. There is no shame in that the same way. There's no shame when I wanted to hire someone, when you essentially you're hiring us to work for you. Welcome. You're the CEO. Do it. If you feel that it's necessary. Okay. There are links in the show notes. If you want to work with us one on one.
just send me, um, one word on Instagram coaching and you can schedule a free call to talk with me about our one on one coaching program. Thanks for listening y'all. And I will talk to y'all again next Monday.