Latest / I Choose Me with Jennie Garth / BONUS CONTENT with Dr. Sara Reardon (aka The Vagina Whisperer)

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BONUS CONTENT with Dr. Sara Reardon (aka The Vagina Whisperer) · I Choose Me with Jennie Garth

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: You're listening to I Choose Me with Jenny Garland. Welcome
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: back to I Choose Me. Doctor Sarah Reardon, also known
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: as the Vaginal Whisper, is a board certified pelvic floor
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  Speaker 1: physical therapist with over eighteen years of experience. So, doctor Sarah,
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: let's talk about what we can do today. Let's get practical.
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: Let's go through. If you don't mind what we talked about,
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: let's do some rapid fire just to bring it home.
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: What are the small daily choices people can make to
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: support their pelvic floor starting today.
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  Speaker 2: First thing is I'm going to tell you how to
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  Speaker 2: pee and poop so that you can change that immediately.
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  Speaker 3: Okay, good.
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  Speaker 2: When you pee, you need to sit down on the
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  Speaker 2: toilet instead of hover, unless it's like Novy supergrowth no huk.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah.
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  Speaker 1: I used to be able to hover. This is gonna
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  Speaker 1: get TMI for our listeners, maybe not for you. I
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  Speaker 1: used to be able to hover, and now with the hips,
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: I can't have anymore. So I guess that's a good thing.
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  Speaker 3: It's a good thing.
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  Speaker 2: Your hips are moving you in the right direction, so
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  Speaker 2: sit down and then don't push. So don't push when
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: you pee, your bladder pushes your urine out when you pee.
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  Speaker 2: If you're pushing, I call it power peeing. You're weakening
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  Speaker 2: your pelvic floor. You're gonna lead to it's gonna end
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  Speaker 2: up incontinence and prolaps. So just sit and chill and
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  Speaker 2: let your bladder empty, and if you feel like it
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  Speaker 2: doesn't empty all the way, then like wiggle your hips,
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  Speaker 2: rock your hips back and forth, and then stand up
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  Speaker 2: and sit down again, and then see if a little
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  Speaker 2: more urine comes out.
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  Speaker 3: Don't push when you pee.
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  Speaker 1: Have you ever heard of the stop start technique?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, don't do that.
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  Speaker 1: Don't do that.
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  Speaker 3: No, don't do that.
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  Speaker 2: Oh no, okay, okay, Because so the stop star technique
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  Speaker 2: is that when you're thinking, like, do kegel contraction to
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  Speaker 2: tighten your pelvic floor, to strengthen it.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, like stop peeing mid flow and you can do it,
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  Speaker 1: pee again and then and then be again.
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  Speaker 3: I'm so glad you brought this up. You can do
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  Speaker 3: it once.
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  Speaker 2: And that's to see how you do a kegel contraction,
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  Speaker 2: because stopping your stre is a kegel contraction, and so
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  Speaker 2: it's just making sure you feel like you're doing it correctly.
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  Speaker 2: But when you're peeing, you should be relaxed. Stopping and
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  Speaker 2: starting your stream is like the wrong message to your
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  Speaker 2: bladder and can lead to problems, so like incomplete bladder
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  Speaker 2: emptying things like that. So just sit, chill and breathe
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  Speaker 2: and let your bladder empty. And that's pushing ping and
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  Speaker 2: no pushing, no pat Just say no to power ping.
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  Speaker 2: Tell me about poohing, my other favorite topic. You sound excited,
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  Speaker 2: I am. So when you're pooping, you should put a stool,
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  Speaker 2: a step stool, or those little squatty potties under your feet.
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  Speaker 1: I was going to ask you should we all be
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  Speaker 1: using a squatty poties?
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  Speaker 2: Everybody should be using one, and even your kids, like
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  Speaker 2: even little kids need to have their feet on a stool.
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  Speaker 2: When you put your feet on a stool, that elevates
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  Speaker 2: your knees, and when you kind of lean forward and
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  Speaker 2: relax in your elbows you it puts.
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  Speaker 3: You in a squatting position.
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  Speaker 2: And swatting is the best position to relax your pelvic floor,
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  Speaker 2: which is your anal opening, so you don't have to
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  Speaker 2: strain with bomb movements. Pushing and straining during pooping weakens
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  Speaker 2: your pelvic floor more than jumping, coughing, running, like all
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  Speaker 2: of these things.
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  Speaker 3: And if you're pooping.
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  Speaker 2: Once a day and straining it will cause hemorrhoids and
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  Speaker 2: prolapse and hernias and things like that. So you know,
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  Speaker 2: feed on the stool, lean forward. You can push when
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  Speaker 2: you're pooping, not peeing, but you can push, but just
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  Speaker 2: don't hold your breath. Make sure that you're exhaling, like
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  Speaker 2: you're blowing out a bunch of candles or something.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, I'll be thinking of you later. What about what
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  Speaker 1: about just in case peeing? Like you're gonna leave and
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  Speaker 1: you don't really have to pee, but you should pee
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  Speaker 1: before you get in the car?
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  Speaker 2: Also a no, also a negative when you I know.
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  Speaker 2: So it's good to pee when you have the urge,
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  Speaker 2: which normal peeing should be every two to four hours
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  Speaker 2: during the day or zero or two times at night.
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  Speaker 2: The only times that are good to just in case
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  Speaker 2: p are like before you work out, after sex, or
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  Speaker 2: before sex, or maybe before bed. But otherwise you should
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: wait for your bladder.
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  Speaker 3: To fill and then empty.
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  Speaker 2: If you go just in case all the time, then
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  Speaker 2: your your bladder only fills a little bit and then
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  Speaker 2: empties feels a little bit and then empties, and so
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  Speaker 2: you're training your bladder to like be small and then
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  Speaker 2: you'll have to go pee all the time.
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  Speaker 3: So go when you have the urge.
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  Speaker 1: What if you already have a small bladder. I am
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  Speaker 1: asking for someone who might be listening right now, not me,
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  Speaker 1: but I know somebody that has to pee a lot
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  Speaker 1: all the time, and they say, oh, it's because I
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  Speaker 1: have a small bladder.
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  Speaker 2: So I would there's a way that you can, like
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  Speaker 2: it's called stretching your bladder or bladder training. You start
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  Speaker 2: increasing your kind of intervals between peeing by fifteen minutes,
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  Speaker 2: so say you go every thirty minutes, I'd be like
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  Speaker 2: set a time or just go every thirty minutes, and
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  Speaker 2: then after that you go every forty five minutes, and
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  Speaker 2: then after that you go every hour, So you kind
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  Speaker 2: of like are gradually it's like training to run a race.
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  Speaker 3: You kind of gradually.
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  Speaker 2: Increase the time until you get to the two hour mark.
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  Speaker 2: And if you pee and then you feel like I'm
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  Speaker 2: not sure I got it all out and you go
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  Speaker 2: back and only have a little bit, then you know
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  Speaker 2: that that second one was a false urge, and then
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  Speaker 2: next time you just kind of ignore it.
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  Speaker 3: And I give a lot.
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  Speaker 2: Of tips in the book for like urge suppression and
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  Speaker 2: how to like quiet the urge when you have it,
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  Speaker 2: because you need to train your bladder to be bigger
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  Speaker 2: so that you can sit through a movie.
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  Speaker 1: Well, I tried to quiet my daughter's urge to pee
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  Speaker 1: once when she was back in the back of my car,
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  Speaker 1: and it didn't work and she peed in my car.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's gonna happen. I would say for kids, it's
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  Speaker 2: a different set of rules, so but for the adult bladder,
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  Speaker 2: I would say, try to stretch it and also think
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  Speaker 2: about what you are drinking, like sparkling waters and alcohol
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  Speaker 2: and sugary drinks and artificial sweeteners, acidic drinks.
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  Speaker 3: Those will all cause you to.
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  Speaker 2: Pee more often. And then this is the other thing.
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  Speaker 2: If you're constipated, you're going to have more bladder urgency
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  Speaker 2: because all that poop in your pelvis is pushing on
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  Speaker 2: your bladder. So often when people will come in for
• 6:01
  Speaker 2: bladder issues, I like work with them when they're pooping
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  Speaker 2: and that can help their bladder emptying as well.
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  Speaker 3: I know it's your mind blown right now.
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  Speaker 1: So you just said I work with them when they're pooping.
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  Speaker 1: That is very intimate doctor patient relationship.
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  Speaker 3: I work with them on pooping.
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  Speaker 1: On Okay, it's different. Oh my gosh. Okay, for someone
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  Speaker 1: listening who's overwhelmed and wants to start today, what's a simple,
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  Speaker 1: like five minute routine they can do to try to
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  Speaker 1: connect with their peblic floor. Like, I know, we can
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  Speaker 1: visit your website on your instagram the vagina whisper, But
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  Speaker 1: what's an easy, like five minute thing we can do.
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  Speaker 2: Breathe is the first one. A lot of us whole tension,
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  Speaker 2: So just taking big, deep, diaphragmatic breaths helps our pelvic
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  Speaker 2: floor relax. Other things are watch how you're sitting. Make
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  Speaker 2: sure that you're not clenching your bat you're not twisting
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  Speaker 2: your legs up like a pretzel kind of sit with
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  Speaker 2: your feet flat or cross at the ankles. That can
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  Speaker 2: release a lot of tension in your pelvic floor.
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  Speaker 3: Move.
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  Speaker 2: So many of us are sitting for too long throughout
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  Speaker 2: the day, so taking a break every thirty minutes or
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  Speaker 2: an hour can bring blood flow to.
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  Speaker 3: The pelvic floor.
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  Speaker 2: We talked about how to pee and poop, and then
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  Speaker 2: if you're exercising, like you don't have to carve out
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  Speaker 2: separate times to do pelvic floor exercises. If you're doing yoga,
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  Speaker 2: you're working on pelvic floor relaxation already. If you're doing
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  Speaker 2: strength training or weightlifting, bring that pelvic floor contraction into
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  Speaker 2: that weightlifting routine so that you get the bang for
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  Speaker 2: your buck and your pelvic floor while you're strengthening already.
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  Speaker 2: So there are ways to like really easily bring this
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  Speaker 2: into things you're already doing.
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  Speaker 3: I feel like we have so many things to worry about.
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  Speaker 2: There's a fire hose of health information coming out. But
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  Speaker 2: if we learn these tips early or whenever we do,
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  Speaker 2: they just become part of our lifestyle, like brushing our
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  Speaker 2: teeth or you know, flossing our teeth, they just become
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  Speaker 2: part of our daily routine.
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  Speaker 1: Every time I work out, I usually end it with
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  Speaker 1: pelvic thrusts. You know when you lay on your back
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  Speaker 1: and you push your pelvis put down. I think I'm
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  Speaker 1: doing that for like my glutes, yep, but I guess
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  Speaker 1: it's also.
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  Speaker 2: It's also if you contract your pelvic floor, like you're
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  Speaker 2: sipping up a smoothie with a vagina, like with your vagina.
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  Speaker 2: So I always tell people think of sipping up a
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  Speaker 2: smoothie with your vagina, and that's like they're drawing up.
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  Speaker 2: Then it also becomes a pelvic floor workout.
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  Speaker 1: Oh my gosh, sorry about the sound effect. Okay, Yeah,
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  Speaker 1: this is all so so interesting how it really does
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  Speaker 1: come back to daily choices, from how we sit to
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  Speaker 1: how we pee and food, how we breathe, what we eat.
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  Speaker 1: It's not just about fixing something, it's about choosing to
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  Speaker 1: feel better long term.
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  Speaker 3: Right exactly.
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  Speaker 2: And that was one of the reasons for the book.
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  Speaker 2: It was like, I don't as much as social media
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  Speaker 2: it's just been amazing for disseminating health information. There's not
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  Speaker 2: always credentials behind that, and I think it's really important
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  Speaker 2: that we kind of go to sources that are using
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  Speaker 2: evidence and science and clinical experience to help us with
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  Speaker 2: our health care.
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  Speaker 1: Absolutely, you talked about tightness in the woodle. That's what
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  Speaker 1: I call it. I've ever heard that before.
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  Speaker 3: Now that's a new one for me.
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  Speaker 1: We always call it a woodle around here. Lots of
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  Speaker 1: oodles in this house. What about people who complain of
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  Speaker 1: having a loose woodle.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, So that's one of the things that I think
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  Speaker 2: people expect to happen after pregnancy and breath and kind
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  Speaker 2: of with aging, is like my vagina is going to
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  Speaker 2: be loosey, goosey and sex is just not going to
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  Speaker 2: be pleasurable and I'm going to let my partner down.
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  Speaker 2: In fact, more people have tension and pain with sex
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  Speaker 2: after birth than tightness, I mean than weakness. But you
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  Speaker 2: can have more weakness with the more babies you have
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  Speaker 2: and getting into menopause, So this is where you want
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  Speaker 2: to focus on strengthening. And other types of weakness could
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  Speaker 2: be like your tampon falling out or you feel like
• 10:01
  Speaker 2: something's falling out of your vagina, So this is where
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  Speaker 2: you really want to focus on, like strengthening your pelvic floor,
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  Speaker 2: so just like we would strengthen your bicep. There's so
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  Speaker 2: many different ways to do it. You can, of course,
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  Speaker 2: do what we always think of as kegel exercises that
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  Speaker 2: kind of tighten and close the vagina, but you can't
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  Speaker 2: just do those like sitting in the car poolane. You
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  Speaker 2: need to do those standing and walking with squats and
• 10:25
  Speaker 2: lunches and lifting weights, like use those muscles and load
• 10:29
  Speaker 2: them and just like we do other muscles in our
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  Speaker 2: body and then turn them on before a cough or
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  Speaker 2: a sneeze or a workout.
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  Speaker 1: But it's okay to do them in the carpooling. I'm
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: just asking away for a friend.
• 10:40
  Speaker 2: Yes, the car puolane, the shower, while you're brushing your teeth,
• 10:45
  Speaker 2: while you're reheating coffee. Anytime you can work them in.
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: It's a good. It's a good. It's an easy workout.
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  Speaker 2: And nobody will nobody will even know you're doing it.
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  Speaker 3: It's the beauty of it.
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  Speaker 1: No. I loved it. I loved our conversation. Thank you
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: so much for being with us and talking about all
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: these fascinating things that have to do with our pelvic floor.
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  Speaker 3: Thanks for having me, Jenny, Bye bye.
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: Okay, So, if this episode hit home for you, maybe
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: you've been leaking a little when you laugh, or sex
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: doesn't feel the same anymore. I want you to know this.
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  Speaker 1: You don't have to just live with it. You don't
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: have to push it down, ignore it, or blame yourself.
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: Today can be the day you choose something different.