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Speaker 1: You're listening to I Choose Me with Jenny Garth. Hi, everyone,

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Speaker 1: welcome back to I Choose Me. This podcast is all

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Speaker 1: about the choices we make, the big ones, the small ones,

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Speaker 1: the messy ones, the magical ones, and how they lead

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Speaker 1: us to where we are right now. Today's guest is

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Speaker 1: someone who helps people, especially women, but also men, make

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Speaker 1: incredibly powerful choices about their bodies, their health, and ultimately

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Speaker 1: their lives. Doctor Sarah Reardon, also known as the Vagina Whisper,

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Speaker 1: is a board certified pelvic floor physical therapist with over

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Speaker 1: eighteen years of experience. She's the founder of The Behive

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Speaker 1: and the author of Florida Complete Guide to Women's Pelvic

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Speaker 1: Floor Health at Every Age and stage. You may have

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Speaker 1: seen her in Harper's Bazaar in Style Yahoo. Sarah is

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Speaker 1: here to help us understand what the pelvic floor really is,

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Speaker 1: why so many people silently suffer with dysfunction, and most importantly,

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Speaker 1: what choices can we make starting today, to feel strong, empowered,

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Speaker 1: and pain free in our own bodies. Sarah, Welcome to

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Speaker 1: the podcast. We are so happy to have you here.

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Speaker 1: The Vagina Whisper herself thank you for coming on and

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Speaker 1: sharing all of your knowledge with us.

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Speaker 2: Hey, Jenny, nice to meet you.

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Speaker 3: Nice to meet you.

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Speaker 1: Okay, So, doctor Sarah, we have a problem there. It's

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Speaker 1: such a lack of awareness around something one in five

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Speaker 1: of us will have to deal with. And if those

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Speaker 1: numbers don't bump you out, the shame associated with it

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Speaker 1: just might. So let's lay the foundation. What the heck

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Speaker 1: is the pelvic floor and what does it do? And

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Speaker 1: why is it so often ignored?

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Speaker 4: Your pelvic floor is a group of muscles that sits

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Speaker 4: at the bottom of your pelvis. So we're all used

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Speaker 4: to kind of putting our hands in our hip bones.

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Speaker 4: That's our pelvis or seeing that, you know, pelvic model

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Speaker 4: in a doctor's office, And at the very bottom of

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Speaker 4: that is a group of muscles, culture pelvic floor. That's

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Speaker 4: literally the floor of your core. Those muscles support your

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Speaker 4: pelvic organs like your uterus and ovaries and bladder which

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Speaker 4: holds urine, and bowels which holds stool, and in female bodies,

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Speaker 4: that muscle also has three openings, one for theorie throw

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Speaker 4: opening where you're in exits, one for the anal opening

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Speaker 4: where poop exits, and then the vaginal opening for vaginal

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Speaker 4: intercourse and menstruation and vaginal birth. So you know, everything

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Speaker 4: we do during the day from you know, coughing and

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Speaker 4: sneezing and exercising and peeing and pooping, and then other

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Speaker 4: things like being sexually active or being pregnant and postpartum

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Speaker 4: our pelvic floor is working and changing, and yet we

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Speaker 4: don't ever talk about this part of our body unless

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Speaker 4: we start experiencing problems, and then we often are told

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Speaker 4: it's normal or kind of just deal with it. You

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Speaker 4: had a baby, or you're in menopause.

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Speaker 1: Hmmmm, yeah, I read that half of women will end

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Speaker 1: up battling this.

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Speaker 3: Okay, so what are you really did?

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Speaker 1: Just jump right in there to all the pea and

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Speaker 1: the poop and everything.

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Speaker 3: I love you, yor we're game. Okay, let's do this.

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Speaker 1: What are some common or not so common signs that

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Speaker 1: something's wrong for both women and men.

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Speaker 4: You know, it's really great that you bring that up, Jenny,

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Speaker 4: because I think men don't realize they have a pelvic floors,

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Speaker 4: but all genders have a pelvic floor.

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Speaker 2: We do see more.

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Speaker 4: Pelvic floor problems in women because one, they have a vagina,

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Speaker 4: so that extra opening at the bottom just makes us

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Speaker 4: more susceptible to weakness and then also we go through

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Speaker 4: pregnancy and birth and menopause, which men do not. Oh yes,

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Speaker 4: and so those are also risk factors for pelvic floor

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Speaker 4: issues because our body is just transforming during that time,

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Speaker 4: and often the muscles get weaker or less supportive. Some

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Speaker 4: of the common things that starting with female bodies, you'll

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Speaker 4: see that are really common, but again related to the

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Speaker 4: pelvic floor our urinary leaks, like with coughing and sneezing

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Speaker 4: those Yeah, so that's your pelvic floor talking. That's your

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Speaker 4: pelvic floor saying like I can't quite support what you're

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Speaker 4: asking me to do and then you leak. Other things

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Speaker 4: are painful sex, it could be due to muscle tension

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Speaker 4: where your muscles aren't relaxing well, it feels like your

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Speaker 4: partner's hitting something, or you know you've got deeper pain,

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Speaker 4: you know, like there's a tenderness or bruisiness with sex

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Speaker 4: or even afterwards.

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Speaker 2: And then other kind of more intimate.

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Speaker 4: Issues like pelvic organ prolapse where your muscles aren't supporting

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Speaker 4: your organs as well and they start to push into

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Speaker 4: your vaginal wall.

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Speaker 2: I know your eyes just got big.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, that sounds scary.

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Speaker 2: And it feels scary.

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Speaker 4: I know, but you know, so many women experience this

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Speaker 4: and they don't even realize that it's their pelvic floor,

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Speaker 4: and they don't realize they can get help for it.

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Speaker 2: You know, it's a part of our body. We don't

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Speaker 2: talk about a lot.

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Speaker 4: It's often embarrassing to address, so we kind of secretly

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Speaker 4: deal with these issues. But yet there's this treatment out

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Speaker 4: there in pelvic floor therapy and what I discuss in

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Speaker 4: my book Floor that can really help relieve these issues

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Speaker 4: and help you have a better quality of life overall.

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Speaker 1: Yes, yes, okay, So does it show up differently in

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Speaker 1: women than men?

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Speaker 4: Yeah, so, because we go through things like pregnancy and

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Speaker 4: birth and menopause, we'll see more weakness issues in females.

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Speaker 4: In men, you can have weakness after like a prostate

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Speaker 4: procedure or something like that. But in men we often

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Speaker 4: see pelvic for tension and that can create things like

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Speaker 4: pain with erections or difficulty maintaining erections, premature ejaculation, difficulties

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Speaker 4: starting your urine stream it feels like you have to

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Speaker 4: push to get it started, or you're not emptying well,

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Speaker 4: pain with bomb movements or constipation, and hemorrhoids.

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Speaker 2: So kind of.

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Speaker 4: More tension related issues where relaxation and stretching and things

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Speaker 4: like that need to be addressed versus you know, key

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Speaker 4: goals and tightening type exercises.

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Speaker 3: Yeah.

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Speaker 1: I read a men's health article talking about when men

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Speaker 1: have floor dysfunction that it can do just that lead

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Speaker 1: to erect dial dysfunction. Yeah, and sexual dissatisfaction. So what

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Speaker 1: do you recommend that men specifically can do to increase

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Speaker 1: the strength of their public floor or maybe there's something

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Speaker 1: that partners can do together to write.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, I think partner support is key. It's

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Speaker 4: like if I had a broken leg, I would expect

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Speaker 4: my partner to help me day to day and kind

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Speaker 4: of encourage me when things get down, to help me

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Speaker 4: with my exercises. And this is no different. This is

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Speaker 4: maybe it's a more intimate part of our bodies, but

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Speaker 4: partners can absolutely be supportive. I think the first thing

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Speaker 4: is we need to have the conversations. Oftentimes partners are

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Speaker 4: experiencing pain or discomfort and they don't even talk to

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Speaker 4: their partners about it, and so they're kind of already

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Speaker 4: carrying this shame and secrecy.

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Speaker 2: The first thing is talk about it.

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Speaker 4: We have patients come in all the time, female patients

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Speaker 4: that will say like, hey, I think my husband might

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Speaker 4: have a pelvic floor issue, and then they kind of

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Speaker 4: start nudging their husband to come. The other thing is

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Speaker 4: that if you start seeing early signs like you are

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Speaker 4: starting to have like a harder time maintaining erections or

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Speaker 4: you know, premature ejaculation, I mean those if you're a

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Speaker 4: young male and you don't have high blood pressure or

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Speaker 4: a nerve injury, it could be your pelvic floor. I mean,

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Speaker 4: your muscles need to be strong and active to maintain

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Speaker 4: erections and have orgasms.

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Speaker 2: I feel ejaculate.

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Speaker 3: That's crazy.

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Speaker 1: I mean when I'm thinking of those issues that you mentioned,

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Speaker 1: I'm not thinking, oh, that's probably his pelvic floor.

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Speaker 3: I'm thinking, I know, that's what did I do wrong?

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Speaker 3: Or what's wrong with our marriage?

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Speaker 4: No? And that's what's interesting is that, I mean these

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Speaker 4: are women often feel the same way too. It's like

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Speaker 4: if you can't if you have vaginal dryness or you

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Speaker 4: have pained with sex, we start to feel like what's

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Speaker 4: wrong with me? I feel like I'm not good enough

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Speaker 4: or I'm not aroused enough, where it really could just

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Speaker 4: be a blood.

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Speaker 2: Flow issue or a muscle type, you know, tension.

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Speaker 4: So it's always important to check in with your medical

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Speaker 4: providers or urologists or a gynecologist to make sure there's

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Speaker 4: nothing major going on, but then also getting a pelvic

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Speaker 4: floor assessment to see is there muscle tension here and

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Speaker 4: we need to work on relaxation and different things like

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Speaker 4: that and then start strengthening the muscle. A lot of

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Speaker 4: men have tension that needs to be released before you

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Speaker 4: start strengthening.

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Speaker 1: Okay, this is getting weird, but how do you get

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Speaker 1: a pelvic floor assessment?

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Speaker 3: Like what's involved with that?

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Speaker 2: I love this so much, so we're just going right there.

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Speaker 4: The way that we examine the pelvic floor is through

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Speaker 4: the vaginal opening or the anal opening, because these muscles

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Speaker 4: are deep in the pelvis. So when you come in

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Speaker 4: to see me, I see all genders. We do kind

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Speaker 4: of an external assessment looking at your hips and your

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Speaker 4: belly and your thighs and all those things, and then

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Speaker 4: to do the internal assessment. And females, we have them

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Speaker 4: undressed from the waist down like you're at a gynecologist,

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Speaker 4: but it's much more comfortable.

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Speaker 2: You're covered with a sheet.

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Speaker 4: There's no like peate crinkly paper and like yucky gowns

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Speaker 4: and scooting to the edge of the table so you're

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Speaker 4: undressed from the waist down. And then we kind of

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Speaker 4: look externally at the volva and females and say, okay,

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Speaker 4: I want you to do a kegel contraction and see

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Speaker 4: how you contract and relax, and then I want you

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Speaker 4: to push your bear down like you're pooping or having

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Speaker 4: a bomb movement. And then I insert my gloved lubricated

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Speaker 4: finger in the vagina and say, okay.

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Speaker 2: Do the same thing.

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Speaker 4: Squeeze, relax, push, and then I press on the muscles

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Speaker 4: to see if there's tenderness or tightness, and that lets

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Speaker 4: me know is their weakness, is their tension? Is there

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Speaker 4: incordination in male bodies. We do this through the anal opening,

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Speaker 4: so we go have them in sideline and do it

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Speaker 4: through the anal opening. And it's honestly, it's like it's

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Speaker 4: so quick, it's no. It's actually more comfortable than going

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Speaker 4: to see a doctor. And I think if people know

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Speaker 4: what to expect, they're like, Okay.

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Speaker 2: I kind of know what to expect, because you know.

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Speaker 1: When they go to get a prostate a check up

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Speaker 1: or whatever check their prostate, they know they're going to

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Speaker 1: get the finger up the right and so that is

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Speaker 1: it's hard enough to get a guide to go to

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Speaker 1: that appointment. Now I'm going to add on, oh wait,

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Speaker 1: we need to do that again for a different assessment, right.

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Speaker 4: And the good news is is that by the time

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Speaker 4: men come to see us, they're like, I'll do anything,

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Speaker 4: you know, Like they're often maybe experiencing urinary issues or

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Speaker 4: ball issues, but it often takes a man experiencing sexual

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Speaker 4: dysfunction for them to be like, now I need to

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Speaker 4: get help. And then it's actually quite relieving to them

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Speaker 4: because they think like they have cancer or like a disease,

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Speaker 4: or that you know, their penis is never going to

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Speaker 4: work again. And when we say like, oh, this is

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Speaker 4: just muscles, we can work on this, it's almost relieving

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Speaker 4: for them to be like, this is addressable.

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Speaker 3: Yes, yes.

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Speaker 1: I think what stands out to me is just how

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Speaker 1: many of us, myself included.

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Speaker 3: Just assume that these.

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Speaker 1: Certain things are inevitable, like like you said, well, I've

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Speaker 1: had kids, or I'm over forty, or I had surgery,

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Speaker 1: and we don't realize that we still have agency over

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Speaker 1: these things. And that's where this really gets exciting, because

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Speaker 1: you help people reclaim that agency.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, and I think It's one of the biggest reasons

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Speaker 4: I started my Vagina Whisper Instagram account. I had been

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Speaker 4: a pelvic floor therapist for ten years. I've been practicing

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Speaker 4: for eighteen now. And I started my Instagram account when

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Speaker 4: I was pregnant and I had a lot of friends

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Speaker 4: asking me questions about like pregnancy and perineal massage and

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Speaker 4: postpartum recovery. And I was like, why am I the

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Speaker 4: only one that has this info? Or you know, why

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Speaker 4: did I just happen to pick this field where I

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Speaker 4: knew how to care for my vagina and pelvic floor.

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Speaker 2: Every woman needs this info, and so.

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Speaker 4: I just started putting it on social media, and you know,

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Speaker 4: the growth of my account and you know, just pelvic

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Speaker 4: for therapy in general, I think is a real testament

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Speaker 4: that women want this information and we're not getting it

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Speaker 4: from elsewhere, and we're like why not, you know, And

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Speaker 4: so it really can give you agency over your body

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Speaker 4: and often help you live the life you want to

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Speaker 4: live with exercise and travel and sex and comfort versus pain,

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Speaker 4: and you know, leaking.

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Speaker 3: That's yeah, we don't want that.

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Speaker 1: Okay, So say I'm listening and I'm like, wait, this

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Speaker 1: is what I'm experiencing what do?

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Speaker 3: What do I do? What do you say to them?

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Speaker 2: So there's a couple of options.

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Speaker 4: And this is the great thing about medicine now is

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Speaker 4: that we have so many different ways for people to

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Speaker 4: access care. You can always go to an in person

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Speaker 4: therapy appointment. So I would, you know, look at Google

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Speaker 4: pelvic fo therapy near me as your gynecologists, ask your girlfriends.

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Speaker 4: They're going to kind of be your best resources to

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Speaker 4: how do I find a pelvic fo therapist? You can

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Speaker 4: do telehealth sessions, you can do online programs like I

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Speaker 4: have an entire online workout program with pelvic floor exercises

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Speaker 4: from everything from painful sex to menopause to pregnancy. Because

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Speaker 4: we should be proactively caring for our bodies in this area,

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Speaker 4: but we're just not told how.

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Speaker 1: Wait wait, wait, where do we go for that exercise routine?

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Speaker 4: So it's it's the vagina Whisper dot com, which is

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Speaker 4: my Instagram handle. And then I have my new book

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Speaker 4: coming out, Floored, which is really I think giving people

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Speaker 4: just a comfortable way to start learning about their bodies.

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Speaker 2: It doesn't have to be with someone else.

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Speaker 4: It can really just have them, you know, give them

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Speaker 4: an opportunity to start investigating, like, hmm, what is normal

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Speaker 4: for bladder health or sex or menopause, and what can

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Speaker 4: I do proactively to you know, prevent issues or if

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Speaker 4: I'm experiencing them, what can I start doing right now

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Speaker 4: to help?

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Speaker 1: Right right? Okay, So I've had both of my hips replaced.

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Speaker 1: It did a cool episode on that, So if you

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Speaker 1: didn't listen to that episode, go back. But I talked

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Speaker 1: all about it, and I change it and it really

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Speaker 1: changed how I.

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Speaker 3: Move and feel in my body. Do you think that.

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Speaker 1: Joint issues or surgeries or even even as simple as

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Speaker 1: our posture, those kind of things impact the pelvic health.

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Speaker 4: One hundred percent? And I talk about this in almost

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Speaker 4: every chapter of the book of When You're pregnant, when

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Speaker 4: you are going through menopause, if you have bladder problems,

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Speaker 4: like how are we sitting and standing and moving? That

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Speaker 4: affects our pelvic floor. You have thirty six muscles that

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Speaker 4: attach to the pelvis, and so these pelvic floor muscles

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Speaker 4: aren't working in isolation. Many of them are actually hip muscles.

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Speaker 4: So when you have hip pain or get a hip replacement,

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Speaker 4: or have impingement syndrome, I mean a lot of these

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Speaker 4: other muscles around the pelvic floor will start making the

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Speaker 4: pelvic floor get tight or tense or weak. So some

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Speaker 4: I always think of therapy like peeling layers of an onion,

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Speaker 4: Like I want to look at your hips and your

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Speaker 4: back and your posture and your breathing and then kind

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Speaker 4: of work on are those influencing the pelvic floor? So absolutely,

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Speaker 4: and I think that a lot of us, if we

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Speaker 4: have pain or dysfunction, we're not moving, or if you

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Speaker 4: have pain, you're tight and tense and uncomfortable, and that

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Speaker 4: causes your pelvic floor to get tense or tight and uncomfortable,

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Speaker 4: and that can lead to other issues like painful sex.

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Speaker 4: There are a hard time emptying your bladder.

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Speaker 1: You talk a lot about listening to your body, but

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Speaker 1: for people who kind of feel disconnected or like their

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Speaker 1: body has let them down, Yeah, how do they even

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Speaker 1: begin to listen to their bodies?

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Speaker 4: You know, this is a great question, and I think

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Speaker 4: that it's really hard to listen to your body when

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Speaker 4: it's speaking a different language. When you're experiencing a pelvic

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Speaker 4: floor issue, you don't know what's going on, and so

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Speaker 4: how can you tune in and listen when it's like

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Speaker 4: I don't even know what my body's saying, because we've

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Speaker 4: never been taught this information.

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Speaker 2: Like when we're.

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Speaker 4: Young women, we don't get pelvic floor education. We maybe

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Speaker 4: get a little bit of period education. We barely get

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Speaker 4: sex at and that all depends on where you live,

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Speaker 4: but we're not taught about our pelvic floor, which is

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Speaker 4: again how we pee, how we poop, how we have sex,

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Speaker 4: how we birth, how we exercise. So it's not that

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Speaker 4: there's anything wrong with you or that you're failing, it's

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Speaker 4: that really the system is failing us. You know, I

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Speaker 4: think that a lot of my goal in educating women

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Speaker 4: is because we're not getting that education, and we do

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Speaker 4: need to advocate for ourselves. You know, we do need

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Speaker 4: to get the referrals or seek out therapy or read

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Speaker 4: the book and just start owning this part of our

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Speaker 4: body because it does transform over life. And you know,

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Speaker 4: I think that it's not on you, and I think

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Speaker 4: the place to start is just getting education and then

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Speaker 4: kind of implementing really small, accessible tips in your day.

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Speaker 1: You have a background in helping people prevent and overcome

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Speaker 1: painful sex. Explain that to our audience. Are women having

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Speaker 1: painful sex from menopause and vaginal dryness? Or can dysfunction

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Speaker 1: in your pelvic floor muscle lead to all the other

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Speaker 1: kinds of sex discomforts.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, A and B all of the above now unfortunately, So,

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Speaker 4: you know, the opening to the vagina, which is where

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Speaker 4: if we're talking about vaginal intercourse, is muscles. And so

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Speaker 4: if those muscles are tight and tense, if you have

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Speaker 4: had a vaginal birth and head tearing at the opening,

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Speaker 4: those muscles may be restricted. They may be kind of

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Speaker 4: in spasm. That tissue may be tight and it won't

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Speaker 4: allow something to enter. It can literally feel like your

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Speaker 4: partner's hitting a wall. This can also happen with tampon

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Speaker 4: insertion or pelvic exams and so. And the other thing

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Speaker 4: is there is kind of a cultural aspect to this.

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Speaker 4: Like if we've been told like something's bad, don't touch it,

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Speaker 4: don't do and then all of a sudden we say

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Speaker 4: get married and we're like, okay, sex is fine now,

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Speaker 4: and you're like, wait, hold on, I was told that,

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Speaker 4: like never talk about this or touch it. It's not

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Speaker 4: so easy to kind of flip that switch. So the

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Speaker 4: outside muscles can be tighter tents the inside, deeper canal

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Speaker 4: muscles of the vagina, which are also part of the

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Speaker 4: pelvic floor can be tight in tents, which can give

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Speaker 4: that sensation of like bruising or tenderness or like your

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Speaker 4: partner's hitting something. And then also when our hormonal change,

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Speaker 4: when we have hormonal changes like low estrogen, we have

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Speaker 4: vaginal dryness and that can happen definitely during perimenopause one

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Speaker 4: hundred percent after menopause, but it can also happen if

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Speaker 4: you're breastfeeding relactating after giving birth when you have low

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Speaker 4: estrogen levels. And again we're just like left in the

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Speaker 4: dark about this part of our body and thinking, Okay,

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Speaker 4: I'm either going to have to like stop having sex

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Speaker 4: or just endure the pain if I want to have sex.

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Speaker 4: And that's just going to be my next forty years.

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Speaker 3: Oh that doesn't sound enjoyable.

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Speaker 4: No, but so many women go through it, and you know,

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Speaker 4: I just I had just had a conversation with doctor

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Speaker 4: Mary Claire Havern. She said one of the most common

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Speaker 4: questions she gets is like people telling that telling her

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Speaker 4: about like painful sex and dryness and discomfort, and you know,

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Speaker 4: I think the older generation just thought that this was

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Speaker 4: their destiny, like there's nothing you can do, You're own menopause.

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Speaker 4: But in fact, there is so much you can.

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Speaker 1: Do right, yes, because during menopause, that's what happens. We

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Speaker 1: are estrogen drops yep, and that lack of estrogen then

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Speaker 1: weakens the pelvic floor muscle, and then, you know, then

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Speaker 1: all the other issues come into play, right.

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Speaker 4: Pelvic floor weakness, pelvic for dryness, vaginal dryness. There was

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Speaker 4: a real that went viral recently about your labia disappearing

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Speaker 4: during menopause, and people were like, wait.

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Speaker 2: What you know? But it's all estrogen changes.

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Speaker 4: And you know, even in the book, I tell people like,

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Speaker 4: take a mirror and look at your parts, like you

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Speaker 4: have likely never seen this part of your body. More

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Speaker 4: doctors and partners have seen this part of your body.

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Speaker 2: Than you have.

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Speaker 4: And if we don't start connecting and identifying it and

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Speaker 4: knowing what our normal is, then we can't know when

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Speaker 4: something is abnormal or changing. And so it feels like

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Speaker 4: a big ask, but it's actually quite simple and not

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Speaker 4: that scary once you do it, and then you can

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Speaker 4: kind of monitor like how is my body feeling, what's changing,

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Speaker 4: and then you can proactively get help if something does change.

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Speaker 1: Right. Okay, So for someone who has gone through menopause

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Speaker 1: or you know, is it right there? Can you reverse

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Speaker 1: this in your body after menopause once you see the signs,

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Speaker 1: or are we just doomed to have p giggles for

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Speaker 1: the rest of our lives.

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Speaker 4: No, it's totally treatable and you can absolutely get help

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Speaker 4: no matter what age you are. I mean, I've worked

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Speaker 4: with women in their seventies and eighties with prolapse and

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Speaker 4: leakage and bladder problems, and they've gotten so much better.

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Speaker 4: Like the time to start is now. It's never too late.

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Speaker 4: And you know, we see women now, like in their

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Speaker 4: seventies starting to strength train and they are bulky and

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Speaker 4: have muscles and are so strong with just a year

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Speaker 4: or two of weightlifting. And it's the same thing for

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Speaker 4: your public floor, Like you can rebuild these muscles like

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Speaker 4: any other muscles in your body. You do have to

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Speaker 4: be consistent, though. I think one of the hard parts

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Speaker 4: with kind of healthcare now is we just want to

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Speaker 4: quick fix, like put me on the kegel chair, insert

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Speaker 4: the device, or rejuvenate my vagina. But you know, these things,

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Speaker 4: we have to be consistent with them. They're muscles and

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Speaker 4: if we don't use them, we will lose them. So

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Speaker 4: you do have to be proactive.

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Speaker 3: I don't want to lose my wootle. Okay, So.

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Speaker 1: Okay, what do you think about those tactics like vagina rejuvenation.

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Speaker 1: You go to the thing and they do the thing.

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Speaker 1: I had somebody send to my house a at home

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Speaker 1: vagina rejuvenator. I didn't ask for this. I think a

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Speaker 1: brand just thought, you know, because I speak a lot

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Speaker 1: about women's health and I've spoken a lot about my

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Speaker 1: menopause journey, that I needed it.

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Speaker 3: But I got it, and I was like, what the

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Speaker 3: hell do I do with this thing?

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Speaker 2: Right?

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Speaker 4: I know, it's a little intimidating. It's like a lightsaber.

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Speaker 2: So they're massive.

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Speaker 4: There's some new therapies that are coming out and some

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00:22:21,560 --> 00:22:23,760
Speaker 4: of them are totally bogus, and some of them can

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Speaker 4: actually be helpful. So some of the kind of internal

436
00:22:27,720 --> 00:22:31,160
Speaker 4: products that are available are like internal Keegel trainers. They're

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00:22:31,200 --> 00:22:33,320
Speaker 4: like little devices you can insert in the vagina that

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Speaker 4: look like tampons and you can squeeze around them.

439
00:22:36,080 --> 00:22:37,320
Speaker 2: So that can be helpful for.

440
00:22:37,320 --> 00:22:39,520
Speaker 4: Someone who needs strengthening and they can see kind of

441
00:22:39,560 --> 00:22:41,399
Speaker 4: their performance on their phone screen.

442
00:22:41,960 --> 00:22:43,280
Speaker 2: Eventually, you want to.

443
00:22:43,560 --> 00:22:45,800
Speaker 4: Do exercises on your own, but it's a great place

444
00:22:45,840 --> 00:22:49,400
Speaker 4: to start. Another device that's come out as an infrared wand,

445
00:22:49,600 --> 00:22:51,640
Speaker 4: and this is like a wand that you insert into

446
00:22:51,680 --> 00:22:55,320
Speaker 4: the vagina and it rejuvenates the tissue internally kind.

447
00:22:55,119 --> 00:22:57,800
Speaker 3: Of thing, that's what it is because it lights up.

448
00:22:58,200 --> 00:23:00,920
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's like those red lights mass we do for

449
00:23:02,080 --> 00:23:04,600
Speaker 4: rejuvenating our face. You can do the same thing for

450
00:23:04,640 --> 00:23:07,320
Speaker 4: your pelvic floor. So it's actually really it can be

451
00:23:07,400 --> 00:23:10,600
Speaker 4: totally beneficial. But the challenge is you have to keep

452
00:23:10,720 --> 00:23:13,440
Speaker 4: using it, Like if their studies have only been done

453
00:23:13,440 --> 00:23:15,400
Speaker 4: to three or six months, and then there's no long

454
00:23:15,480 --> 00:23:18,560
Speaker 4: term effectiveness to show, Like, Okay, if you stop after

455
00:23:18,560 --> 00:23:20,240
Speaker 4: three months, will this continue working?

456
00:23:20,560 --> 00:23:22,560
Speaker 2: We don't know, and the case is likely know.

457
00:23:23,200 --> 00:23:26,600
Speaker 4: So these are kind of adjunctive to exercise, not in

458
00:23:26,720 --> 00:23:29,119
Speaker 4: place of I do think it can help kind of

459
00:23:29,880 --> 00:23:32,560
Speaker 4: turn over more tissue and help, you know, plump up

460
00:23:32,560 --> 00:23:35,840
Speaker 4: the vagina and give you more attention down there, But

461
00:23:36,359 --> 00:23:38,520
Speaker 4: you still have to do exercises and all your other

462
00:23:38,600 --> 00:23:39,720
Speaker 4: kind of pelvic floor care.

463
00:23:40,960 --> 00:23:44,280
Speaker 1: This is all so fascinating. You're really making me think

464
00:23:44,359 --> 00:23:48,159
Speaker 1: about all the times, not just in this area, but

465
00:23:48,240 --> 00:23:50,240
Speaker 1: all the times when I choose to just suck it

466
00:23:50,320 --> 00:23:52,280
Speaker 1: up and deal with it instead of choosing to find

467
00:23:52,280 --> 00:23:53,080
Speaker 1: a better way.

468
00:23:53,680 --> 00:23:55,600
Speaker 4: Yeah, well, you don't always know there's a better way

469
00:23:55,680 --> 00:23:58,280
Speaker 4: until you do, right, And so I think a lot

470
00:23:58,280 --> 00:24:00,520
Speaker 4: of women don't know that there's a better way until

471
00:24:00,520 --> 00:24:03,080
Speaker 4: we start having these conversations, which is why this is

472
00:24:03,119 --> 00:24:06,119
Speaker 4: so amazing that we can talk openly about it and

473
00:24:06,160 --> 00:24:09,600
Speaker 4: that you're sharing this with your community because you are

474
00:24:09,600 --> 00:24:10,280
Speaker 4: not alone.

475
00:24:10,720 --> 00:24:10,960
Speaker 2: Nope.

476
00:24:11,040 --> 00:24:14,919
Speaker 4: And I think that we have as women as a gender,

477
00:24:15,040 --> 00:24:17,240
Speaker 4: kind of been like, Okay, we'll just we'll either deal

478
00:24:17,280 --> 00:24:19,440
Speaker 4: with it later or we're super strong and we'll suck

479
00:24:19,440 --> 00:24:23,040
Speaker 4: it up. But if we continue to do that, once

480
00:24:23,080 --> 00:24:25,760
Speaker 4: we get to perimenopause and menopause, like we don't have

481
00:24:25,800 --> 00:24:29,240
Speaker 4: our hormonal systems to prop us up anymore, and then

482
00:24:29,280 --> 00:24:32,200
Speaker 4: you're swimming upstream. So you almost have to like fill

483
00:24:32,240 --> 00:24:34,919
Speaker 4: your cop and get strong and healthy in your pelvic

484
00:24:34,960 --> 00:24:37,720
Speaker 4: floor and have the right habits or at any point

485
00:24:37,760 --> 00:24:40,919
Speaker 4: start doing this because as you age, you're kind of

486
00:24:41,040 --> 00:24:44,159
Speaker 4: you're fighting gravity, you're fighting hormones, so you've got to

487
00:24:44,240 --> 00:24:48,240
Speaker 4: kind of really be proactive about this. It's never too late,

488
00:24:48,280 --> 00:24:50,679
Speaker 4: but I encourage you to like start now because you

489
00:24:50,960 --> 00:24:54,760
Speaker 4: I'm like I don't want diapers to be my destiny.

490
00:24:54,960 --> 00:24:57,399
Speaker 4: You know, I want to work out for all of

491
00:24:57,400 --> 00:24:59,360
Speaker 4: my days. I want to have great sex for all

492
00:24:59,400 --> 00:25:02,119
Speaker 4: of my days. So I deserve that right, and so

493
00:25:02,280 --> 00:25:03,639
Speaker 4: this is what I have to do to kind of

494
00:25:03,720 --> 00:25:04,200
Speaker 4: ensure that.

495
00:25:04,600 --> 00:25:07,920
Speaker 1: Yes, definitely, I think this is this is so good

496
00:25:07,920 --> 00:25:09,639
Speaker 1: that we're hearing all this, even if it makes some

497
00:25:09,680 --> 00:25:13,800
Speaker 1: people uncomfy, it's really important. Like me, it's really important

498
00:25:13,840 --> 00:25:16,680
Speaker 1: to talk. It makes me uncomfy, and it's my podcast,

499
00:25:16,800 --> 00:25:20,560
Speaker 1: so I'm really conquering things within and also trying to

500
00:25:20,560 --> 00:25:21,720
Speaker 1: share this info.

501
00:25:22,240 --> 00:25:24,199
Speaker 4: You know, and you're I think it makes a lot

502
00:25:24,240 --> 00:25:27,440
Speaker 4: of people uncomfortable. I mean, I do this all day

503
00:25:27,480 --> 00:25:29,480
Speaker 4: and I've done it for eighteen years, so I can

504
00:25:29,520 --> 00:25:32,600
Speaker 4: talk about this part of the body like it's you know,

505
00:25:33,600 --> 00:25:35,439
Speaker 4: like it's a TV show or like what did I

506
00:25:35,440 --> 00:25:38,159
Speaker 4: have for lunch? You know, so it's it's not a

507
00:25:38,160 --> 00:25:41,040
Speaker 4: big deal to me. And this is a part of

508
00:25:41,080 --> 00:25:44,480
Speaker 4: our body that I think we've been told is icky

509
00:25:44,840 --> 00:25:49,520
Speaker 4: or embarrassing or yucky or we should hide it. And

510
00:25:50,119 --> 00:25:53,080
Speaker 4: I think that that's part of what prevents us from

511
00:25:53,119 --> 00:25:56,560
Speaker 4: getting help, is that we we don't talk about it.

512
00:25:56,600 --> 00:25:58,879
Speaker 4: And so when I think about the next generation of

513
00:25:58,920 --> 00:26:02,439
Speaker 4: women behind us or kids even like my kids. I

514
00:26:02,440 --> 00:26:04,520
Speaker 4: have two boys, and they probably know more about like

515
00:26:04,760 --> 00:26:07,639
Speaker 4: the pelvic floor and vagina than like most adult women

516
00:26:07,680 --> 00:26:10,480
Speaker 4: because they hear me talk about it and it's so normal.

517
00:26:10,440 --> 00:26:13,320
Speaker 1: Right, That's so good though, that they know well.

518
00:26:13,320 --> 00:26:15,640
Speaker 4: And then I think my hope is like, okay, if

519
00:26:15,680 --> 00:26:19,720
Speaker 4: they are ever you know, with women, whatever happens, that

520
00:26:19,880 --> 00:26:22,680
Speaker 4: they will hopefully help them feel comfortable with their bodies

521
00:26:22,680 --> 00:26:25,520
Speaker 4: and know like what changes are and what a tampon is,

522
00:26:25,560 --> 00:26:28,760
Speaker 4: and you know what a period is and all these things.

523
00:26:28,760 --> 00:26:33,119
Speaker 4: So I just think that, you know, even just having

524
00:26:33,119 --> 00:26:35,879
Speaker 4: this conversation, even if it makes us uncomfortable, that's okay

525
00:26:36,000 --> 00:26:39,040
Speaker 4: because these symptoms also make us uncomfortable. So we kind

526
00:26:39,040 --> 00:26:41,240
Speaker 4: of have a choice like which discomfort do we want

527
00:26:41,280 --> 00:26:43,679
Speaker 4: to deal with? And we all get there in our

528
00:26:43,720 --> 00:26:46,280
Speaker 4: own time. And when people come in, I'm like, there's

529
00:26:46,280 --> 00:26:49,520
Speaker 4: no such thing as TMI, Like everything we talk about

530
00:26:49,520 --> 00:26:52,080
Speaker 4: I've probably heard before, or if they don't, like this

531
00:26:52,240 --> 00:26:55,040
Speaker 4: is totally confidential and I'll help you navigate it. And

532
00:26:55,920 --> 00:26:57,719
Speaker 4: but if we don't talk about these things, and how

533
00:26:57,720 --> 00:27:01,400
Speaker 4: do we get solutions? And it's it's just so rewarding

534
00:27:01,440 --> 00:27:05,040
Speaker 4: to be able to help women better understand their bodies

535
00:27:05,080 --> 00:27:06,040
Speaker 4: and feel good about them.

536
00:27:06,520 --> 00:27:10,600
Speaker 1: Right, No more it's yucky or icky talk like no,

537
00:27:11,160 --> 00:27:15,960
Speaker 1: as a parent, just erase that from your vocabulary, because yeah,

538
00:27:16,040 --> 00:27:20,720
Speaker 1: that's going to send some really long lasting incorrect messages.

539
00:27:21,359 --> 00:27:21,520
Speaker 2: Right.

540
00:27:21,600 --> 00:27:23,600
Speaker 4: I mean, I think it's also like, this is just

541
00:27:23,640 --> 00:27:25,879
Speaker 4: a body part, like an ankle or a knee.

542
00:27:25,880 --> 00:27:28,040
Speaker 2: I'm never like, oh that knee is so gross. You know,

543
00:27:28,080 --> 00:27:30,080
Speaker 2: it's like it's just a body part.

544
00:27:30,160 --> 00:27:33,360
Speaker 4: And so but you know, we're walking through cultural layers

545
00:27:33,440 --> 00:27:37,520
Speaker 4: and societal norms, and you know that takes time and work,

546
00:27:37,560 --> 00:27:38,880
Speaker 4: and so you know.

547
00:27:38,880 --> 00:27:40,640
Speaker 3: We're getting there. We are, we are.

548
00:27:40,800 --> 00:27:43,240
Speaker 1: I hope people will get there quicker because we're just

549
00:27:43,280 --> 00:27:47,159
Speaker 1: doing everything we can to destigmatize all the parts of

550
00:27:47,240 --> 00:27:47,880
Speaker 1: women's health.

551
00:27:48,280 --> 00:27:49,760
Speaker 2: No, and you're doing a great job.

552
00:27:49,840 --> 00:27:52,720
Speaker 4: And you know, I get kind of I think a

553
00:27:52,760 --> 00:27:54,960
Speaker 4: lot of people get like, oh my gosh, you know,

554
00:27:55,200 --> 00:27:56,199
Speaker 4: kind of get embarrassed.

555
00:27:56,320 --> 00:27:56,919
Speaker 3: Absolutely.

556
00:27:57,200 --> 00:28:00,200
Speaker 1: You just came out with your first book, Floored. Tell

557
00:28:00,240 --> 00:28:00,720
Speaker 1: me about it.

558
00:28:01,040 --> 00:28:06,760
Speaker 4: Yeah, so juicy grapefruit on the front. So it's embolic Lord,

559
00:28:06,800 --> 00:28:07,640
Speaker 4: A Woman's.

560
00:28:07,280 --> 00:28:08,440
Speaker 2: Guide to Pelvic Floor Health.

561
00:28:08,480 --> 00:28:11,760
Speaker 4: At every agent stage, you can see the little hammock here.

562
00:28:11,760 --> 00:28:14,399
Speaker 4: That's kind of like the pelvic floor muscles and you know,

563
00:28:14,440 --> 00:28:18,080
Speaker 4: the juicy grapefruit. So it's really a guide for women

564
00:28:18,240 --> 00:28:21,000
Speaker 4: at every stage of life because our pelvic floor requires

565
00:28:21,000 --> 00:28:26,120
Speaker 4: something different, whether it's menstruation, becoming sexually active, going through

566
00:28:26,119 --> 00:28:30,200
Speaker 4: birth and postpartum obviously, but then also into perimenopause. And

567
00:28:30,240 --> 00:28:32,359
Speaker 4: I think it's a myth that we think only pregnant

568
00:28:32,359 --> 00:28:34,679
Speaker 4: people are menopausal people have pelvic floor issues.

569
00:28:34,720 --> 00:28:36,080
Speaker 2: It's really at every stage of.

570
00:28:36,080 --> 00:28:39,440
Speaker 4: Life and there's something different that's required for our pelvic floor,

571
00:28:39,480 --> 00:28:41,560
Speaker 4: a different type of care at all of those stages.

572
00:28:41,640 --> 00:28:44,200
Speaker 4: So I just really hope it helps women, you know,

573
00:28:44,240 --> 00:28:47,400
Speaker 4: again better understand their bodies, but kind of start taking

574
00:28:47,440 --> 00:28:50,960
Speaker 4: proactive steps to address these issues, to prevent them and

575
00:28:51,000 --> 00:28:53,360
Speaker 4: then also overcome them if they're already experiencing them.

576
00:28:53,440 --> 00:28:56,720
Speaker 1: That's what it's about. Knowledge is power. Yeah, I'm absolutely

577
00:28:56,760 --> 00:28:59,560
Speaker 1: going to have my daughters listen to this episode. They

578
00:28:59,640 --> 00:29:01,840
Speaker 1: probably will be squarey, but I'm going to make them

579
00:29:01,840 --> 00:29:04,080
Speaker 1: do it. And I'm definitely going to pick up a

580
00:29:04,080 --> 00:29:05,040
Speaker 1: copy of your book.

581
00:29:05,160 --> 00:29:05,640
Speaker 2: It's great.

582
00:29:05,640 --> 00:29:07,959
Speaker 4: And then I also hope that medical providers can you know,

583
00:29:08,680 --> 00:29:10,840
Speaker 4: read it and learn something because I think that that's

584
00:29:11,080 --> 00:29:13,680
Speaker 4: those are our first points of contact, you know, and healthcare,

585
00:29:13,720 --> 00:29:15,480
Speaker 4: and so I think the more we're able to screen

586
00:29:15,520 --> 00:29:17,800
Speaker 4: for issues and ask the questions, we're going to be

587
00:29:17,800 --> 00:29:20,640
Speaker 4: better able to refer patients and give them a sense

588
00:29:20,640 --> 00:29:22,360
Speaker 4: of what to expect from therapy as well.

589
00:29:22,880 --> 00:29:27,080
Speaker 1: Yes, yes, Before I let you go, doctor Sarah, I'd

590
00:29:27,160 --> 00:29:30,160
Speaker 1: love to ask you the question that we always close

591
00:29:30,200 --> 00:29:30,720
Speaker 1: the show with.

592
00:29:32,040 --> 00:29:33,680
Speaker 3: What was your most.

593
00:29:33,440 --> 00:29:36,320
Speaker 1: Recent I choose me moment? It can be big or small,

594
00:29:37,080 --> 00:29:41,800
Speaker 1: something where you made a clear choice to put yourself first.

595
00:29:43,200 --> 00:29:48,120
Speaker 4: You know, I would honestly say this past year of

596
00:29:48,240 --> 00:29:51,840
Speaker 4: writing the book and launching the book, it's I had

597
00:29:51,880 --> 00:29:54,160
Speaker 4: to take a big step away from time with my family,

598
00:29:55,040 --> 00:29:58,200
Speaker 4: from socializing and traveling. I mean, I really had to

599
00:29:58,240 --> 00:30:00,920
Speaker 4: carve out a lot of time to write this and

600
00:30:00,960 --> 00:30:03,400
Speaker 4: it's something that I'm really passionate about, and so I

601
00:30:03,440 --> 00:30:06,600
Speaker 4: think that it kind of felt selfish sometimes, like oh,

602
00:30:06,680 --> 00:30:08,680
Speaker 4: I'm not there for my partner, or I'm missing my

603
00:30:08,760 --> 00:30:10,520
Speaker 4: kid's stuff, or I didn't get to go on this

604
00:30:10,560 --> 00:30:13,400
Speaker 4: girl's trip. But it was so important to me, and

605
00:30:13,480 --> 00:30:15,680
Speaker 4: I was like if I don't, if not now, then when,

606
00:30:15,920 --> 00:30:17,720
Speaker 4: Like when is there ever a good time to take

607
00:30:17,760 --> 00:30:20,280
Speaker 4: on something that you're really passionate about. It takes time,

608
00:30:20,400 --> 00:30:24,800
Speaker 4: so I would say like the daily choices of doing

609
00:30:24,840 --> 00:30:28,360
Speaker 4: that and you know, really kind of starting from scratch

610
00:30:28,600 --> 00:30:31,640
Speaker 4: and coming up with this kind of whole now book is.

611
00:30:32,120 --> 00:30:34,160
Speaker 4: It's just been amazing and kind of pushed myself in

612
00:30:34,200 --> 00:30:37,280
Speaker 4: a way I didn't even know I could be pushed,

613
00:30:37,280 --> 00:30:39,320
Speaker 4: and it's just been it's gonna it's really exciting to

614
00:30:39,400 --> 00:30:40,440
Speaker 4: kind of have this out in the world.

615
00:30:40,880 --> 00:30:42,440
Speaker 3: That's so great. You did the thing.

616
00:30:42,920 --> 00:30:43,640
Speaker 2: I did the thing.

617
00:30:43,920 --> 00:30:45,520
Speaker 3: You did it. That's such a.

618
00:30:45,440 --> 00:30:47,640
Speaker 1: Great message to anybody out there who's listening.

619
00:30:47,840 --> 00:30:49,840
Speaker 3: Do the thing. Don't wait