With Mother’s Day coming up this month, we thought it would be important to focus on how women can benefit from our services. It is a common myth that physiotherapy can only help certain people who have sustained an injury and want to build strength back. While physiotherapy is certainly effective for these people, everyone can benefit from our work. Anyone looking to improve their quality of life, both physically and mentally, should consider physiotherapy. This means women at all stages of life can benefit from our services including younger women and older women as well as pre, during, and post-pregnancy. In today’s blog, we want to highlight all the unique ways physiotherapy can enhance a woman’s quality of life.
Prioritizing Your Physical and Mental Health
It is quite common for women, especially mothers, to put their care on hold to support other family members or friends. Even though this is not always the case, we often hear from female patients that they never considered physiotherapy because they just didn’t have time or thought they would be fine without it. After prioritizing their health and seeking our physiotherapy services in Kitchener and Baden, these women frequently regret not doing so sooner. This is because the lack of self-care can negatively impact a woman’s health and wellbeing. Always putting others before yourself and not prioritizing your health will catch up with you eventually. Here at LiveWell Health and Physiotherapy, our physiotherapists place a high value on overall fitness and caring for oneself. This is the first step women should be taking to better their lives and wellbeing. Our team can show you how much physiotherapy and prioritizing your health can have a positive impact on your lifestyle. Whether it be scheduled chiropractic care, regular massage therapy, trying out acupuncture, joining our Pilates sessions, or just getting a new pair of orthotics, our team is here to help you look after you. We are here to teach our patients how to adopt and maintain a self-care mindset that you can carry with you for the rest of your life.
Since the two are connected, prioritizing your physical health will also improve your mental health. Our physiotherapists can offer expertise in prescribing individualized exercise programs that you can do while at home. These daily exercises and routines can create stability, improve your mood, and promote a more positive overall wellbeing. When your brain detects that you are doing some form of physical activity, many various chemicals are released that ‘reward’ you for taking care of your body. These include important primary neurotransmitters like endorphins, serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine that contribute to feelings of happiness and reduced levels of stress. Doing these home exercises allow our female patients to feel more in control of their fitness and well-being. Aside from the obvious ability to decrease physical pain, this control can also increase a patient’s confidence which is intrinsically tied to better mental health.
Pregnancy and Physiotherapy
Pregnancy is an especially important time you should be considering physiotherapy. This includes prenatal, during pregnancy, and postnatal to help relieve any discomfort or pain. A lot of pregnant women experience lower back pain which can impact their ability to get a full night’s sleep and perform daily tasks. Physiotherapy is an effective way to manage any lower back aches and pains through stabilization exercises that focus on the muscles surrounding your spine. Our registered massage therapists can also help in controlling and reducing back pain for pregnant and non-pregnant women. Pelvic Floor Therapy is probably the most important service we can offer women before, during, and after pregnancy. This type of physiotherapy focuses on treating the muscles in the base of the abdomen that attach to the pelvis that support bladder, bowel, and uterus functions for women. Prenatal pelvic floor physiotherapy will help prepare your body for labour and limit any damage to the pelvic area. Postnatal treatment is also important to help strengthen your potentially stretched, strained, and often torn pelvic muscles. Both pre and post-childbirth, pelvic floor treatment can prevent urinary incontinence and lower back pain. In general, physiotherapy is a great and safe option for pregnant women to stay active which is important for an easier delivery.
Common Conditions Physiotherapy Can Help
Some other conditions physiotherapy can help treat that are more common among women include:
Osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis that happens when the protective cartilage that cushions the ends of your bones wears down as you age. This most commonly impact joints in the hand, knees, hips, and spine but can damage any joint in your body. The unique function and motion of women’s joints make them more prone to osteoarthrosis and often in more severe cases than men. Physiotherapy can aid in osteoarthrosis pain relief by controlling swelling and maintaining muscle strength. Education and an exercise program that puts minimal pressure on joints are important parts of a treatment plan.
Osteoporosis is a bone disease that occurs when the body starts to lose too much bone, produces too little bone, or a combination of both. This makes bones become weak and more susceptible to break from falls or minor bumps. Women are more commonly affected by osteoporosis because they tend to have smaller, thinner bones than men and go through a loss of estrogen through menopause which can cause bone loss. Physiotherapy can help strengthen your bones and muscles, manage any pain, prevent bone thinning, and increase balance to minimize the risk of falls.
Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a disease that targets the central nervous system including the brain and spinal cord. When someone has MS, their immune system attacks the protective covering (called the myelin) around the nerve fibres and causes communication problems between your brain and the rest of your body. There are still studies being done to explain why women are more susceptible to MS, but current explanations include the difference in hormones and higher levels of a blood vessel receptor protein that causes inflammation. Physiotherapy can provide muscle retention and exercise therapy to improve the patient’s muscle strength, balance, coordination, and mobility.
These are just some of the ways physiotherapy can help improve a women’s quality of life. No matter what stage of life you are in, our team of experts are here to help educate you on how best to look after your body and mind. Want more lifestyle advice on how to improve your overall health and wellness? Contact our team at LiveWell Health and Physiotherapy for more tips and don’t forget to view our other services that can help put you on the right track.