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overactivity

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Is pelvic floor muscle overactivity finally proven in the research?

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I was really excited when I first saw this!

An article in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology talking about overactivity AND a musculoskeletal issue.

It was a systematic review, which means they find all the research relevant to the topic and distill it to find a conclusion. 

And here’s where things get  interesting…

We have to look back so we can look forward.

This article is a prime example of this. Because it’s showing us the terminology previously used is no longer the terminology we use. It’s hard to compare because it’s not apples and apples.

Even since the beginning of my career 23 years ago, overactivity wasn’t a thing. We talked about “tightness” and “pain”.

I can give you a lot of theories as to what’s causing the overactivity, but I can’t give you proof. Because the research isn’t there. 

And let’s not forget, there are SO MANY VARIABLE! 

There are so many different reasons a brain could be causing your muscles to be tight. And if we are going to change your brain’s actions, we need to give it a really good reason. 

But don’t think this article isn’t helpful! It gives us an idea of what we have up to this point and the questions we need to ask going forward. 

Clinicians and researchers are just in different places. And that’s why it’s important to find a provider that’s evidence informed. I can’t say that 100% of what I do is tied to research, but it is tied to my experience in what works. 

How I practice now compared to how I practiced even a year ago is related to the research that is showing us what questions to ask and investigate.

High tone and overactivity absolutely exist. But we don’t always know why. And that’s okay. 

Tell me what you think. If you’re a mom, I want to hear the explanations you’ve been given. 

If you’re a provider, I want to hear what you tell moms about overactivity. 

Is Overactivity Causing your Prolapse?

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SO MANY FIREWORKS! I feel like this past weekend everyone and their mother was setting off fireworks! 

I was talking to my neighbor about it and I told her I don’t think I’ve ever heard so many people setting off fireworks to celebrate the 4th of July before. She thought maybe it’s always been this way, but I’m just now noticing. 😳

Before I started working with postpartum women all the time, I don’t think I realized just how many women were dealing with leakage and prolapse symptoms. 

We are just now starting to consider overactivity a potential driver of leakage and prolapse symptoms, but it’s probably been there the whole time. We just didn’t notice. 

For the longest time, pelvic floor overactivity (a muscle being on too much) was basically only related to 

-pain with sex

-pain with tampon insertion

-hadn’t had kids yet

Internal exams were really only happening for these patients.

Anyone with leakage or prolapse was getting tested for muscle strength. THAT’S IT.

It’s only been the last 5-ish years we’ve been considering overactivity for leakage and only the last year I’ve been looking at PROLAPSE through the overactivity lens.

Think about it, if you feel like an organ is falling out of your body, you may reflexively be pulling in!

And you’re probably scared out of your mind that something is falling out of your body, so your brain is hypersensitive to that area!

We need to turn the prolapse paradigm on its head! The correlation has probably always been there the whole time, we’re just now paying attention. 

Tell me what you think.

If you have prolapse, have you had this discussion with your  provider?

If you’re a professional, have you considered this? Am I off my rocker?