Let’s talk about pelvic health

When it comes to pelvic health, Taupo-based Dr. Melissa Davidson knows her stuff. She's the only Specialist Physiotherapist in Pelvic Health registered with the New Zealand Physiotherapy Board, has (among other qualifications) a Masters in Pelvic Health from the University of Melbourne, and a PhD from the Auckland Bioengineering Institute researching the pelvic floor. And she is sharing her knowledge with the physiotherapists she teaches and the clients who see her.

 

So what sort of things does a pelvic health specialist do?

A prolapse is when either your bladder, bowel or uterus (or all of them at once) descend or bulge into your vagina. This feeling of heaviness and dragging can be improved with corrective pelvic floor physiotherapy. Melissa's website states that over 50% of women over the age of menopause suffer from prolapse. And that some unlucky women develop prolapses immediately after giving birth. 

A good pelvic health practitioner can help women (and men) considerably. Prolapses, prostates and incontinence as just some of the factors that can be assisted by good pelvic health treatment. After giving birth, over 33% of women will suffer from urinary incontinence. Its common, but shouldn’t be accepted as ‘normal’. It’s also very treatable – the success rate is over 80% with correct pelvic floor muscle exercises supervised by a specialist physiotherapist in pelvic health.

over 50% of women over the age of menopause suffer from prolapse.

Melissa says that she was drawn to this work as she is driven by a need to help people, especially helping them with things that just don't get talked about, and are often overlooked by the medical establishment.

We connected recently because she was looking for NatFem samples to have in her clinic and classroom and I must say I am actually deeply moved that NatFem is on her radar.

Recently Melissa was interviewed by Petra Bagust with fellow pelvic health physiotherapist Tania Mclean for the latest episode of the Grey Areas podcast. I really recommend you listen to it as it is so informative and may provide help you are looking for.

Here is a link to Melissa's website for clients:
https://www.melissadavidson.org/

If you are a physiotherapist or other registered health professional seeking training in this field head to:
https://www.drmelissadavidson.com/

And if you are based in New Zealand and looking for a pelvic health specialist in your area check out :
https://www.pelvichealthdirectory.co.nz/

If you are a health professional and interested in purchasing bags of NatFem samples to have in clinic please drop me an email and we'll get that sorted.

 And here’s Petra Bagust's podcast episode on Spotify. You can also find it in all the other usual podcast places.