This Book Can Change Your Life!



I’ve recently read this fabulous book, ‘My Pelvic Flaw’ and have taken the author’s advice about strengthening my pelvic floor muscles and  I’m already experiencing positive changes.

If you are suffering from urinary or faecal incontinence or obstruction, constipation, vaginal or uterine prolapse, vaginal or rectal pain, sexual dysfunction or pelvic pain – I urge you to get this book. You don’t have to put up with these problems any longer.

The author of “My Pelvic Flaw’ is Mary O’Dwyer, a pelvic floor physiotherapist with 30 years of clinical and teaching experience. Her book is easy to read and is filled with great illustrations that were created by Mary's daughter.

Over the years, Mary's patients have described to her, the horrific effects that pelvic floor dysfunction has had on their lives. The many stories inspired Mary to write this book. She is clearly passionate about the subject and is determined to educate us about our own pelvic floor health. She also wants to enlighten and empower us in the management of relevant problems, while giving us the confidence to make informed decisions.

Our Meeting
 
Mary and I arranged to meet at a cafe in the city, moments after I arrived I noticed a statuesque and beautifully groomed woman approaching. It was Mary, I recognised her face from her television appearance the previous day. She had a warm, welcoming smile and as I discovered later, a dynamic and appealing personality.

We got to know each another by swapping brief stories of our lives and our families. I enjoyed hearing about Mary's life and felt that we could easily become friends.

During our interview, I was totally mesmerised by Mary’s intense enthusiasm. It was obvious that Mary loved her work and she answered each of my questions with thoughtfulness and fervour. She told me she could talk about the subject all day.

I was so involved in learning how to improve my own pelvic floor that I barely remembered to eat my lunch. Our ninety minute interview seemed like only 30 minutes.

Mary’s conversation was inspirational and fascinating as you will see below.

Mary, I love the title of your book,‘My Pelvic Flaw’, how did the name come about?

Mary:

It’s a great title isn’t it?  My original title was ‘My Pelvic Floor in the Too Hard Basket’ which a few women identified with but when we did our American research, for some reason, the Americans do not understand the term generally, ‘too hard basket’, so we needed to work out a different title.

18 months ago I was walking through Prague with my husband, a city that I have always wanted to visit, a magical city, and as we were walking he said, “you should call your book My Pelvic Flaw  - F- L -A- W” and I excitedly said, “that’s it, that’s brilliant”.

Lana:

What inspired you to write the book?

Mary:

The subject has been so important to me for many years. I have been seeing women with pelvic floor problems and the effect it has on their lives, self esteem and their ability to exercise. If women don’t exercise we put on weight and become depressed. Our sporting opportunities are reduced as well as relationships. I have heard many heart wrenching stories about what happens to women during intercourse. Some partners tell them that they can no longer feel anything. Some loose urine during intercourse and others feel pain. It really disturbs me that so many women are suffering. I want to let women know that help is available and through my book, I hope to get my message out.

Lana:

I have a female family member that was a bed-wetter as a child and still suffers from frequency, the problem has really affected her life, particularly after giving birth. What’s your advice to her?

Mary:

Certainly evidence shows that little girls that have frequency and ongoing problems when they are little become exacerbated after having babies. The problem is, women accepted it, they never speak about their problems and just put up with them. The research undertaken in the last 10 years, has been so amazing – there’s much better understanding now and professionals are able to assess better, give  a better diagnosis that leads to treatment and improvement. Women with problems need a deep and thorough assessment and an account of their history. Many women with these symptoms suffer from something that I typically see, inco-ordination of the pelvic floor muscles with the deep abdominals.  You might have read about it in the book, that many of us women have learnt to strongly and tightly keep our waist locked back and hold our stomachs in by pulling our navels back strongly. Our brain then learns automatically to keep tension around our waist.  When we move we automatically switch on these stronger muscles around the tummy and base of the ribs that builds up a lot of pressure inside the abdomen that pushes down on the pelvic floor. New research of last year has backed this up. The researchers looked at women with bladder problems and women without. They’ve looked at what muscles they use when they do an action and when they move, the women who have no problems when they move, cough or lift automatically tension the pelvic floor and deep abdominal. This is the correct way as those muscles should be the first muscles in our body to tension, however, women with the bladder problems switch on the waist and base of ribs which builds up the tension and overwhelms the pelvic floor.

Lana:

I did a Pilates course last year and was instructed to pull my navel back to my spine when doing crunches or sit-ups and to tilt my pelvis downwards. Your book states that this is incorrect.

Mary:

Unfortunately incorrect advice is often given. Sadly, nobody has ever trained yoga teachers or fitness instructors about the effect of exercise on the pelvic floor.  About 15 years ago, research was done and it was discovered that this navel back to the spine has really caused problems. This action is called ‘hollowing’.  When we do any exercise we are meant to keep a neutral spine without it flattening or pulling back so there’s no pelvic tilting and the tension should be in the pelvic floor and the deep abdominals, it should be felt in the bikini line area.

Spending so many years as women pulling our waist back in and trained to do that in exercise, we are creating dysfunction in our pelvic floor.

You wonder why women pull their waist in, males don’t do it and children don’t do it. I really believe we have a cultural imprint because women were corseted when their waist was shaped and cruelly controlled by corsets. If you read any books on corseting you will find that it caused great physical and mental problems. Women were laced in right through adolescence and pregnancy.

Lana:

What pelvic floor problems can occur at menopause?

Mary:

Urine loss especially during exercise, the problem can worsen with menopause due to the drop in oestrogen levels. The lining of the urethra becomes softer and this reduces the closing pressure at the base of the bladder. This loss can be reversed by correctly tensioning and strengthening the pelvic floor muscles.

There is also an increased risk of prolapse in menopause in women with several children and an increased waist measurement. Smoking and heavy physical work increase the risk of prolapse. If your mother had a prolapse, then you have a three-fold increased risk of having a prolapse.

Urinary tract infections can be caused by hormonal changes with the cessation of menstruation causing lower oestrogen, progesterone and testosterone levels. You may experience more urinary tract infections as urethral and vaginal tissues start to thin. You might find reduced vaginal secretions during intercourse and this can aggravate urinary tract infections and make intercourse unpleasant. Some women benefit from using a vaginal oestrogen cream or tablet.

Strengthening the bladder floor can improve urinary tract infections and bladder emptying.

Lana:

Can pelvic floor exercises improve orgasms?

Mary:

Definitely, strong pelvic floor muscles - equals stronger orgasms.

Lana:

I’d better start exercising those pelvic floor muscles!

Mary, can you share a couple of simple tips for us women over 50 so that we can avoid the flaw in our pelvic floor.

Mary:

Certainly changing the position to empty the bowel is very important. 

What happens with the bowel is very much related to bladder control. It’s also very important to maintain an upright posture because the muscles of the pelvic floor and deep abdominal are postural muscles.

Also, soften waist and let go of that tension because it has another horrible side effect as well by creating intra-abdominal pressure that can internally overwhelm the pelvic floor, because we keep holding our waist tightly, we don’t breath properly. When we breathe, we should open our stomachs and base of our ribs. The majority of women that I treat with pelvic floor problems have a breathing disorder as well. So if we breathe properly and open our stomachs it will help to, I hope, restore the coordination of our muscles in the inner cylinder. Our outer tummy muscles move us, the inner tummy muscles hold us. When you breathe, the base of your ribs and abdomen should open up as your shoulders stay relaxed.

When we slump they shut down so ongoing slumping will lead to weakness in those very muscles that we should be keeping strong.

Lana:

Mary, in your book you tell us to change our toilet position, please explain?

Mary:

Our bowels are designed to empty in a full squat and the cultures that do squat to empty the bowels don’t have the problems that we do. The trouble with our lovely western toilets - that we’re not about to give up, is we lose control of our lower back and round it and slump, that really compromises the bowel and then we pull back strongly with the navel to the spine when we strain, that closes the anal sphincter. The correct way to sit is with your feet on a stool, lean forward with legs opened, relax the stomach forward, this will allow for a much better emptying - combined with your fluid and fibre intake. You will notice the difference.

Lana:

I am really excited about your book Mary, I know it will help not only me  but also many, many other women.

Thank you for speaking with me today and generously sharing your wonderful knowledge. I wish you every success with your fabulous book, ‘My Pelvic Flaw’. I’m certain it’s going to be a best seller.

Mary, you are a very Wise Women and a gifted author.

You can purchase mary's book, ‘My Pelvic Flaw’ at

www.mypelvicfloor.com.au  



Mary O'Dwyer