Do you know the difference between your vulva and your vagina? Do you know that most women don’t? Lisa Flanders is among the experts you will learn from when you attend Kegels and Cocktails on March 2nd, and she will be speaking about vulvar care and hygiene. Lisa will also discuss which personal lubricants are safe to use on your private parts
Lisa Flanders is a Registered Physiotherapist who has specialized her training to focus on pelvic floor physiotherapy. She completed a Bachelor of Arts as well as a Bachelor of Kinesiology at the University of Manitoba prior to completing a Master of Science, Physical Therapy at Queen’s University.
Once beginning her career in orthopedic physiotherapy, which she loves and continues to practice, she discovered an interest in pelvic floor physiotherapy after completing several post-graduate courses on pelvic floor physiotherapy. She came to the realization that many people are often too embarrassed to seek advice, or are unaware that treatment is available for what they don’t realize are quite common issues related to pelvic health. Lisa aims to remove the stigma that surrounds pelvic health concerns and to work with individuals to recognize and better their relationship with their pelvic floor and their pelvic floor health.
What is a pelvic floor physiotherapist?
Pelvic health is a growing field of physiotherapy that focuses on the prevention and treatment of pelvic floor dysfunction. While both men and women can experience pelvic floor issues, women are often more at risk due to our anatomy and the extra loads placed on the body by pregnancy and childbirth. One of the roles of a pelvic health physiotherapist is to provide education and treatment for the pelvic floor and core muscles and how they function as part of the whole body. The main roles of those muscles include providing support your pelvic organs, optimizing bladder, bowel and sexual function and contributing to core stability for your pelvis and spine. While “kegels” have become a blanket prescription as the cure for all pelvic floor problems, unfortunately, it is not quite that simple. For a large majority of women, doing these repetitive, isolated pelvic floor contractions can actually be more harmful than helpful, causing the muscles to become hypertonic (tight) or too short.
What type of patient does Lisa treat?
Lisa uses a varying styles of treatment including manual therapy, acupuncture, education and home exercise programs. She treats individuals that have of concerns associated with orthopedic and pelvic floor pelvic health, including chronic pain, acute injury, sports injury, male and female urinary incontinence, pelvic organ prolapse, vaginismus (painful penetration), vulvodynia (pelvic pain) and coccydynia (coccyx pain).
I had the opportunity to ask Lisa a few questions about what she does and here are her answers:
What do you do?
“My name is Lisa Flanders, I am a registered physiotherapist at the Ottawa Integrative Health Centre. My area of expertise is women’s health and pelvic floor physiotherapy.”
How do you help women?
“When a woman comes into my office, my main focus is to help her to achieve her goals through developing a connection to her body and pelvic floor. That goal may be to have pain-free intercourse, it may be to stop urinary leakage every time she laughs or may be to resume exercise safely post baby. Through a thorough assessment process and physical exam, I design a treatment plan unique to that that individual. Use of manual therapy (visceral manipulation, craniosacral therapy and myofascial release), postural and movement retraining, breathing and home exercise programs are all part of the process.”
What’s one thing you would like women to take away from hearing you speak at Kegels and Cocktails?
“Understanding what the vulva is along with care and hygiene tips and learning about different lubricant options that are safe, fun and will keep the vulva and vagina.
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