We are starting to see more and more women in the studio with pelvic pain, and it was great to see that with input from their medical and allied health team they are able to put some movement back in their routine.
In many cases stretching can help with the pain. The Pelvic Pain Foundation have some stretches on their site.
We have developed some active stretches so that they can be easily done at home.

If you have pelvic pain it is so important to have it assessed by a professional, these stretches should only be used if they do not increase your pain. Start with a visit to your G.P so you can get a referral to your friendly gynaecologist. Another great resource is the Continence Foundation and women’s health physiotherapists.

1. Start by lying on your back with both legs straight. Bring your left knee in towards your chest, hold the knee with your right hand. Now bring your left knee towards your right shoulder then bring the knee down to the floor on your right side. Transition into a rest position, lying on your tummy, keeping the knee bent. Return to lying on your back and repeat with the right leg.
   
   
2. Glute stretch in motion Seated on a dining chair, cross your right ankle onto your left knee. Keeping your spine in a neutral position, rock forwards and backwards 10 times to help release the pelvic floor. Repeat on the opposite side.
    
3. Rocking in 3 positions Start on all 4s, hands underneath your shoulders and knees underneath your hips. Starting in a parallel alignment, start to rock forwards and backwards, keeping your spine in a neutral position. Now bring your knees together and feet apart then rock forwards and backwards. Lastly, bring your feet together and your knees apart then rock forwards and backwards. Repeat 10 repetitions in each position.
   
4. Frog pelvic curls Lie on your back with your knees bent and your feet resting on a stool. Bring the soles of the feet together, allowing the knees to open, like frog legs. Initiate your pelvic curl by tucking your pubic bone towards your nose then roll up through your spine. Roll back down, ribs, waist, hips then bottom. Repeat 10 repetitions.
   
5. Roll down with frog Standing with your feet hip-distance, drop your chin towards your chest and start to roll down through the spine. At the bottom, place your hands on the floor with your knees apart, arms inside your knees. Keeping your hands on the floor, try and straighten your legs then begin to roll back up to standing. Repeat 10 repetitions.
   

    

We are extremely lucky that our studio works like a community and everyone takes an interest in others wellbeing. One of our other amazing clients Liz who is a retired physio let us know about a new brace on the market for drop foot. We watched the video and were taken back by the amazing results!

The brace is called the Turbomed 3000 and you can view the video at http://turbomedorthotics.com/. Lee contacted the practitioner in charge of her braces in the past and they agreed that it could really work for her. So the week before she left for the mainland the brace arrived. It was amazing to watch Lee walk with the brace on, even with her improved strength and balance turning around was still an issue, but not with this brace on! It has just been the icing on the cake, the extra confidence in her walking is spectacular.

We will miss Lee terribly but we are very glad to see her starting her new life on the mainland with such great confidence. It has been a pleasure and honour to have been able to assist in Lee’s recovery.

In 2010, after being repeatedly prompted by my daughter (an Osteopath and Pilates Instructor in Melbourne), I started looking into Pilates. My Neurosurgeon’s secretary suggested I give 3 Degrees Pilates Studio a try which was then based in Sandy Bay.
And so began a six year relationship with Peta Titter – my Pilates instructor with a wealth of knowledge about trauma impacted bodies from her years of training and working as an Intensive Care and Emergency Nursing Sister. Peta made it her business to give me back my independence, my self confidence and some normality of life.

The first day was hard as I wobbled like a drunk into the studio and was thoroughly assessed by Peta. I had lost so much muscle tone and had practically no core strength. An exercise program was planned for me and we slowly started working on core issues. I saw Peta twice weekly and as time passed we both saw healthy progress with my damaged body.
All the braces were now gone, I was walking with the assistance of a walking cane, I was driving, even doing a few household chores. Slowly, my core strength improved, my muscles regained some definition and I began to feel like the woman I had once been.

Peta and her team adjusted my program as required. All the girls were caring and patient as sometimes there were setbacks which required a rethink regarding my exercises. I was also given back up exercises I could do at home.
It is now 2016. I walk really well, feel confident again, I’m independent and life is pretty good. I continue to do my Pilates religiously and have recently moved to the mainland requiring me to say an emotional goodbye to all the special team at 3 Degrees Pilates.

Every day I give thanks for the day I met Peta and her dedicated team and became part of the 3 Degrees family. Would I recommend Pilates and Peta to others with trauma impacted bodies? In a heartbeat! Even those that don’t have medical problems can only benefit from this mind and body strengthening modality we call Pilates”