Mobility Session 4 (Video)

Video Transcription:

John: All right. We're here with Dr. Lindsay Mumma for another mobility series. Today we're going to be talking about pelvic floor dysfunction. We haven't had any direct complaints concerning pelvic floor dysfunction. However, we have had some clients inadvertently describe some symptoms that involve pelvic floor disfunction, and it also ties into a very important topic, which is correct breathing patterns both for lifting purposes and just day-to-day life.Dr. Mumma: Pelvic floor dysfunction comes up a lot when talking about pregnancy, but it doesn't just apply to pregnant women, and it also doesn't just apply to women. It applies to men. Kind of how John was talking about, it's very closely correlated with breathing.One of the first things that I'm just going to ask John to do, and he would not typically do this, but he's going to be a good sport and show me a really bad example. John, will you take a deep breath for me, please? You can let it out now. So typically if you ask somebody to take a deep breath and you see the shoulders elevate and the chest go up and they're taking in a nice deep breath like this. But if we have John over at the bar, and he's going to squat, and we say, "All right, John, get ready. You're going to move this heavy weight, and we want you to take a nice deep breath before you go in." Now, not just because the bar is on his shoulders, his shoulders though, will not move. He's going to take a nice, deep, belly breath. What that does is activate his diaphragm, which is one of the biggest low back stabilizers. By activating his diaphragm, his pelvic floor then responds accordingly.Your diaphragm is up here, your pelvic floor is down here, and they're actually going to compress together to give you this nice kind of girdle of support. If you don't have good function of the diaphragm, you don't get that counter-balancing effect of the pelvic floor. If neither one of these two things are working, you can end up with low back pain or things like urinary incontinence, which doesn't necessarily mean that you're not able to hold in urine. But with explosive movements, like running or especially [inaudible 2:00] we hear a lot, you'll lose control specifically of your bowels.One of the biggest fixes that you hear for urinary incontinence is Kegels, but all Kegels do is tighten up the pelvic floor. It doesn't actually strengthen anything of it. So one of the best ways, it kind of takes a little bit longer, and it's not specifically an exercise that you can do, but one of the best ways to strengthen the pelvic floor is to improve breathing. Typically, if you breathe how John showed us in the improper way, it's going to be hard for you to adapt to a new breathing pattern. What we're going to do is I'm just going to show you how we can practice breathing.If you have a nice little belly like I do, you can actually see this happening. You put your hands on your hips though, and breathe in through your nose and out through your nose. You should actually push all of your fingers out. So I'm going to have my hands on my hips. So I'm working on pushing my thumbs out and my fingers right inside my hip bones here, and I get nice expansion. That's going to actually allow me to take a really deep breath as opposed to breathing up with my shoulders.Now if I'm running or doing some strenuous exercise, I'm going to breathe also with my shoulders elevating, but most of the time I should just be breathing into my belly. We're not just talking about belly breathing as in the belly going out, but when John was in the rack, if he takes a nice, deep breath, he's going to expand 360 degrees. He's essentially giving himself a weight belt. So, if you find that using a weight belt helps, that's because it's doing the exact same thing that breathing into your belly is doing. You're counter-balancing the activity of the diaphragm with the activity of the pelvic floor. Once those two things are working together, you just kind of have this nice belt that goes around, which, can help prevent low back pain, make you stronger, and make you a more efficient athlete.It's not necessarily a quick-fix overnight, but what I like to tell a lot of my patients is do 10 deep belly breaths at night before you go to bed. Not only does it get you in the pattern and the habit of breathing correctly, it also helps you fall asleep faster. Some nice, deep, relaxing breaths.If this is something that you're concerned about, then you definitely want to be focusing on breathing, not just when you're in the gym and when you're under weight, but also throughout the day. So the best way to start is at night and then gradually introduce this into the rest of your everyday pattern. The good news is that if you're coming to SuaSponte, one of the best things you can do for pelvic floor function is squatting.John: I knew it. I think it's important to point out too that, whether you're necessarily concerned with it or not, practicing belly breathing is just a good all around thing to do, even if it's just because you're trying to make your squat better.Dr. Mumma: Absolutely. So nice deep belly breaths. No more shoulder breathing, stop mouth breathing, in through your nose/out through your nose.John: All right.Dr. Mumma: Let's keep it classy.John: Keep it classy. All right. Bye buddies.Dr. Mumma: Bye buddies. So short.So come see us at Triangle Chiropractic and Rehabilitation Center. We’re in the Twin Forks Office Park, right on Six Forks Road at 6060A. We’re nestled in between Sandy Forks, Six Forks and Lynn Road. So come by and see us today, and we’d love to help you out. Thanks.CONTACT US TO LEARN HOW WE CAN HELP WITH YOUR BACK AND NECK PAIN.Dr. Mumma is an experienced chiropractor who has served the Raleigh area. Learn about our Raleigh chiropractic treatments.