What You Need to Know about Pelvic Health with Emilee VanHoven, DPT

Episode 46. You guys. I have the pleasure of sharing with you today my chat with Emilee VanHoven PT, DPT, AT, ATC. I was excited about this interview, but listening to it back today, I got chills. I think that Emilee is wise beyond her years and I've learned so much from her. I've gone down a rabbit hole lately into the world of women's health care and the areas where we are missing the mark. This podcast is all about how to move away from ineffective strategies to "control our bodies" and try to get them to fit into societal mold of what health is supposed to look like. Then we also want to look at what works, what's effective. What struck me in this interview was Emilee's talk about holding space for women, meeting them where they are at and helping guide them to take the step that feels doable at that time. Empowering them and not worrying about throwing all the evidence-based strategies at them during the short amount of time they have. It made me truly reflect on the importance of having more women in healthcare, because women can be pretty darn great at doing this. We need more providers willing and able to work within the system to hold space for all people, but particularly women as they navigate balancing work and home life, particularly pregnancy and post-partum. In this interview, we cover a lot, including but not limited to: What is the pelvic floor and why all women, really all humans, need to better understand itThe time periods in your life where a pelvic floor PT visit would be useful (you'll probably be surprised about this!)What symptoms indicate pelvic floor dysfunctionThere is WAY more to it than "Just do kegels!" And in fact that advice may not be what you need at all We talk about the role of shame, pressure, and shoulds and again how it's way less about your provider having the perfect strategies and way more about creating space for healing, which may mean you don't get to all the perfect strategiesDo NOT miss what she says that almost every women says when Emilee looks at the