Latest / The STA Clinician Podcast / Ep.245 'Musculoskeletal Health at Menopause' - Reflection with Nichola Smith

Transcript

Ep.245 'Musculoskeletal Health at Menopause' - Reflection with Nichola Smith · The STA Clinician Podcast

0:00
Music.
0:12
You doing? Welcome to episode 245 of the Sports Therapy Association podcast.
0:18
My name is Matt Phillips, creator of runchatlive.com. And as always,
0:21
this episode is being recorded live at eight o'clock on a Tuesday on the Sports
0:26
Therapy Association YouTube channel.
0:28
In this 11th episode of our Reflection Series, I will very shortly be chatting
0:34
with Nicholas Smith of chamomilehealthholistic.uk, who has chosen to reflect
0:39
on episode 210 of the Sports Therapy Association podcast,
0:43
which was entitled Musculoskeletal Health and Menopause, recorded August 27th, 2024,
0:49
with special guest Michelle Lyons.
0:52
Before we bring up Nicola, as you may be aware, apologies for last week,
0:57
and there wasn't a live recording, so even the people coming through the room
1:00
now, I know you're in line for apologies.
1:02
So sorry, Cecily, sorry, Nikki, sorry, Angela thomas it was
1:06
unfortunately yes sophie's throat like a lot of people around at
1:09
the moment was not in the mood for talking and rather
1:12
putting her through that strain and through our audience through the strain of
1:15
a creaky little whistly voice and we thought we'd postpone it but the good news
1:18
is that sophie gover of run doctor.co.uk will be happening the episode will
1:25
be happening on july the 15th and sophie's going to be reflecting on episode
1:29
146 of the podcast which was entitled Gait Analysis for Runners and Modern Approach,
1:34
which anyone who knows me realizes that that's the name of my CBD course.
1:38
And so, yeah, back in 2023, the tables were kind of turned and Gary Benson,
1:43
who's the founder of the STA, sat in the host chair and he asked me about running
1:48
gait analysis and my course and all that sort of stuff.
1:51
So, yeah, Sophie Gover is going to be reflecting on that episode,
1:54
which is going to be interesting.
1:55
So if you do work with runners, then put eight o'clock on Tuesday,
1:59
July the 15th in your Diary and join us live on YouTube or Facebook if for some
2:05
strange reason you prefer Facebook.
2:08
Also, a little bit of housekeeping going tonight, people. Thanks for bearing with me.
2:12
Also, on July the 1st, we're going to be recording a live panel episode called
2:18
Facebook Groups for Massage Therapists. Helpful or Hateful?
2:23
Quite like that title. I was quite proud of that. And you can't see the artwork
2:27
if you are listening to the podcast, but you will see there's like an emoticon
2:31
with kind of a zip on its mouth.
2:33
And basically what we're doing is some feedback from our listeners and STA members.
2:38
There's quite a large group of people now, younger therapists,
2:42
less experienced therapists who feel that they're being bullied a little bit, not bullied,
2:46
but maybe just felt like they feel like they're being bullied a little bit by
2:50
comments and judgments on social media and they're not in a good place.
2:54
So what we're going to do is we're going to have a debate on Tuesday,
2:59
July the 1st with six people who have felt,
3:01
kind of pressure in Facebook groups when they were just kind of trying to ask for advice.
3:06
And then on the week after, because there's always two sides to the story,
3:09
there's always a pendulum.
3:10
On the week after, I'm going to have a group of older therapists,
3:14
more experienced therapists who will be stating why sometimes,
3:18
you know, the truth's going to hurt.
3:20
And we do, as an industry, need to infiltrate, is the word they'll probably
3:25
use, a lot of the forums where.
3:28
Less, let's say, non-evidence-informed practice is being thrown around and people
3:32
are maybe cheating or asking questions about topics which are totally out of
3:36
their scope of practice.
3:38
And sometimes, yeah, you've got to kind of say how it is. So yeah,
3:42
we're going to have that.
3:42
And then maybe we'll have a third episode where the guys and girls will get
3:46
together and it's all beautiful and we solve all world conflict.
3:50
So that's the plan anyway. So if you're interested, if you have suffered,
3:53
you feel like you've suffered in a Facebook group where all you wanted was a
3:56
bit of advice and you feel like if you jumped on a little bit and you'd like
4:00
to be on the podcast to talk about that with five other people, then hit me up.
4:05
You are listening to the Sports Therapy Association podcast putting evidence
4:09
back into soft tissue therapy. I'm obviously a leader of quality internet connection
4:12
and a webcam and a mic and all that and I will kind of check you out a little
4:16
bit to make sure that you're suitable.
4:18
But I'm sure as long as you've got that experience and you are a soft tissue
4:22
therapist, then it'd be great to hear from you.
4:25
That is going to be July the 1st. Right then, let's crack on with tonight's
4:29
episode. Let's just move that out of the way.
4:32
So tonight, as I mentioned, episode 210 we're going back to,
4:35
the Sports Therapy Association podcast, which was with the wonderful Michelle
4:39
Lyons of Celebrate Mouli Ebrity.
4:41
And my therapist tonight who has chosen to reflect on that episode is Nicola
4:45
Smith of Chamomile Health, who I shall now bring back.
4:49
Music.
5:02
Sorry to leave you down there for so long. I hope all your needs were taken
5:05
care of. You had grapes and fanning and all that sort of stuff.
5:09
I'm good to see you. Thank you for giving up your time. We spoke a little bit
5:12
off air. It is a bit nervous. Nervous, isn't it?
5:18
A little bit. I was like, where's the other people? Yeah, exactly.
5:22
I forgot to tell you that it would just be you. Sorry about that.
5:25
I must have slipped my memory.
5:26
But hey, this is one of the... We get some great feedback for this series of
5:31
reflections. And one of the things is it just gives other people confidence
5:34
to do something like this.
5:36
So I appreciate the fact that you are stepping out of your comfort zone.
5:39
Although I must admit that I do find it slightly ironic, given that you've just
5:43
got your second damn black belt in jiu-jitsu.
5:47
Can you explain that kind of like juxtaposition of nerves and yet?
5:52
I don't know. I was very nervous for that, to be fair. But I think when you've
5:55
got several people lying to throw you around, it kind of, it focuses the mind
6:00
a little bit, doesn't it?
6:01
So oh it's just a question of focus that's fine
6:03
yeah especially them most of them are at least half your age so
6:06
how did you get into that i'm really
6:09
interested how did you get into jiu-jitsu i see a lot of parallels with
6:12
jiu-jitsu and healthcare that's why but we won't go down that road well the
6:16
children were doing it my son was well son and daughter at that stage were both
6:20
you know training doing that and their sensei was asking some of us moms if
6:25
we wanted to you know We considered if they set up a women's only group,
6:29
would they be interested?
6:31
So a couple of us sort of said, well, I will if you will.
6:34
And here we are. And we're both coaching also. And that was... The kids have left.
6:40
The kids have left. But we're still here. We're still there.
6:44
And that was eight years, you say, to get your second down.
6:46
Thank you, Cecily. I just got to thank you. Yeah, Cecily says,
6:49
good on you, Nicola. Doing it for us girls.
6:53
Cecily, by the way, who will be on the show next week. So Cecily's sitting there
6:56
biting her nails, hands and feet, I imagine. She's very flexible, Cecily.
7:00
Yeah, she'll be on next week. So she will be, you're helping her as well.
7:04
Yeah, no, great to hear. Fantastic. That's inspirational in itself.
7:08
Right, let's crack on the show. So for people who aren't aware of you,
7:12
we've met a few times at Therapy Expo, and people may well have talked to you
7:15
at Therapy Expo, but people who don't know who you are,
7:18
Nicola, could you let us know a little bit about your history and what you do
7:22
for a living and where you're based in the world?
7:24
Well, I came in via a security route, really.
7:28
I was, well, I still am a dental hygienist. I've done that sort of 30 odd years.
7:32
So sort of health, you know, in the still health sphere.
7:35
And then when we moved, I'm in Lancashire currently, and I saw a prospectus
7:41
for a complementary health course, therapies course at the local college.
7:46
I thought that would be a good way to learn new things, broaden my horizons
7:50
a little bit, meet people, et cetera.
7:52
So I got stuck into their degree course,
7:55
which is where I met Gary Benson at that time because he was on
7:59
the teaching stuff or you know he was
8:01
you know in that role tutoring and so forth
8:04
and and then for the final year
8:07
we did soft tissue therapy more remedial work
8:11
etc and so since then I've been
8:15
doing you know soft tissue therapy sports
8:18
massage also I do aromatherapy as
8:20
well and reflexology so i do
8:23
sort of in court we've kind of mix and match a
8:26
little bit and but you know depending what the need is i'm currently also working
8:30
at a chiropractic clinic so quick shout out to bolton sorry i had to advertise
8:35
oh yeah quick shout out to bolton spinal health in bolton for now so i'm one
8:42
of the sports massage team there.
8:45
And so I work closely with the chiropractors and we have a physio there as well.
8:50
So quite multidisciplinary, which is nice. Work together in that sort of environment.
8:55
And then I see my own clients, probably more of the complementary side with
8:59
my own clients, of which many of whom are menopausal women, hence my interest in this. Good segue.
9:08
Good segue. That was good. I'm interested to just briefly go.
9:11
My own personal menopausal journey.
9:14
Yeah so obviously that's why you know so I
9:17
think maybe that's why that's why I tracked that sort
9:20
of demographic because I'm you know I can relate perhaps yeah which is important
9:25
isn't it I'm interested just briefly before we go into that so you're in a multidisciplinary
9:30
clinic which is something we've talked about quite a lot do you get the benefit
9:33
of that do you have chats with your chiropractors your physios are they kind
9:36
of willing to kind of talk about patients or A little,
9:39
although because it's quite a busy clinic and their chiropractic appointments,
9:43
obviously because of the adjustments, it's much shorter appointments.
9:47
So there's not often, unless we're, which is quite often, obviously we share clients.
9:52
So unless there's a specific point that they want to discuss about a shared
9:57
client, then not as often as, you know, perhaps I'd like.
10:02
There you go. I get to speak more to the physio, to be honest,
10:06
since she started, because of the where the appointment schedules run.
10:10
So that tends to work better.
10:13
So sometimes I'll pick her brains and vice versa.
10:17
That's cool. That's useful. Right. So yeah, 240 episodes of the Sports TV Association
10:23
podcast, which you could have chosen from. You've kind of already alluded to why you chose this.
10:28
But yeah, this was an episode recorded with Cheryl Lyons.
10:33
And yeah was it what made you
10:36
particularly choose that episode is it because a lot of your clients are
10:38
with that is it particularly michelle lyons or um well i i hadn't i don't think
10:44
i'd come across her before then or maybe maybe just in passing perhaps i didn't
10:49
know how it worked so well but obviously you know having listened to the podcast
10:52
yeah she's very impressive therapist and educator,
10:58
and I was how she managed to just rattle off all those you know.
11:03
Research perhaps it was quite beyond me but you know and others as well to be
11:08
fair other speakers that we had so that's that,
11:12
that's always very impressive to me but yes a lot of uh what she said sort of
11:17
resonated with me as a you know menopausal woman and also a lot of the clients
11:23
that I see are in that bracket or perimenopausal as well but just some of the
11:27
the statistics that she you know drew them quite,
11:32
dramatic I mean something like I've got my notes here just
11:34
I'm not I haven't got her power of recall no
11:38
many people exactly sometimes i
11:41
remember why i went in the kitchen just things like
11:45
you know like 25 year nearly difference in
11:48
when like the loss in lean muscle mass between men and women for example that's
11:53
quite you know shocking really how you know we we start losing muscle mass from
11:58
in our early 30s whereas with with men it's not until sort of mid 50s and things like that and And also,
12:06
I think, and just the nature of how our hormones change throughout our lives
12:11
as women and how that has an impact.
12:14
I think other speakers that you've had on have alluded to how you can adapt
12:21
your training to sort of best fit where you are in your menstrual cycle, for example.
12:27
And so, you know, there's times when you suffer fatigue and injury more.
12:32
So obviously then that's when you draw back a little bit and
12:35
then maximize times when you you have got more power
12:38
more energy and so on so from that aspect and then at this the end of the the
12:44
other end of the it um perimenopause menopause just in terms of injury and well
12:50
injury prevention I suppose which
12:52
is where we should be looking at things from and she she picked up on.
12:58
Rotator cuff issues, which I've had a lot of issue with myself,
13:03
obviously it doesn't help being tossed around in a dojo, but just in general,
13:09
women who are struggling, I don't know, playing with their grandkids or doing
13:15
the cooking that they want to do,
13:16
because I had a lady the other day actually, and she said, I can't make chapatis
13:21
because it just really hurts in my shoulder.
13:24
And you know that just the normal
13:27
day-to-day things like that so and
13:30
just realizing the impact that was changing hormone levels estrogen plummets
13:36
and how that impacts on your general health and then and then from you know
13:41
like yourselves running experts like yourselves uh to talk about um tibial tendon
13:45
issues and then saying i think i'm not sure if this was her that said this actually,
13:51
but something else I read where sometimes
13:54
that is misconstrued as plantar fasciitis in this
13:57
group of women and so maybe there's sometimes there's a bit of perhaps mismanagement
14:02
because the focus is on potential plantar fasciitis and she was saying that
14:07
you should be like looking more at strengthening the soleus for example to help
14:12
to you know to counter that.
14:15
So yeah loads loads there i
14:18
mean you've you've given a perfect example of why michelle lyon's podcasts
14:22
are so cool because there's so much that she gets out
14:25
in there i wanted to the first
14:27
thing you mentioned because that was really interesting about the the fact that
14:31
yeah women may well start losing muscle
14:34
the age of 31 before guys yeah it's
14:37
interesting for two reasons one because i think guys start
14:40
complaining about it earlier on they start making these noises getting up
14:43
from chairs and getting up from women as always kind of
14:46
just crack on with it so it always seems that guys are
14:48
kind of suffering earlier than women but it's really interesting
14:52
isn't it because like michelle says in the episode it's tricky
14:55
because even the advice given out and the kind of feeling is that if you're
15:01
going to make this if you're going to make life better for yourself at perimenopause
15:04
menopause and do your cardio get your cardio done get fit and a lot of women
15:07
don't either naturally or sometimes
15:10
they're not led towards strength training really as michelle said.
15:13
That's where the magic bullet she kind of
15:16
says is isn't it getting done have you found that with you
15:18
with clients that they just don't want to do it or have never considered doing
15:22
stress i think maybe more not considered
15:25
it although i mean i'm quite fortunate insofar
15:28
as where i see my own clients at the therapy room is
15:31
at a fitness studio where quick shout out
15:34
again aims of body science and big them up as
15:37
well but uh liam who's um trained.
15:40
By paul check and if you've come across yeah so
15:44
that's the general ethos of the place it's very sort
15:47
of holistically minded but they're all about the strengths and.
15:50
We have a lot of women women come through
15:53
well men and women obviously but talk about women in this.
15:56
Instance that come through and that you know.
15:58
Positively encouraged to to get strong and.
16:02
You know it's because i think with with
16:05
for us women the whole fitness thing as you say it's all
16:08
about cardio it's all about losing the weight and you know
16:11
and i try and educate clients and saying you
16:14
know you're not going to turn into i don't know arnie
16:17
or somebody overnight i can't think of a female but overnight and
16:21
and even if you know if you do build that muscle that's that's
16:24
good because that's what's going to stop you from you
16:27
know breaking your hip later on in life from you know
16:30
not being able to get up off the floor in you know heaven forbid
16:33
you should fall and all those kind of things and
16:36
and and just managing your day-to-day life
16:40
really because we've you know your osteopenia
16:44
and even as early as perimenopause and osteocorosis much
16:48
more prevalent amongst women because of that impact the
16:51
estrogen and so you know
16:53
but the strength the sooner you can guess on
16:56
with a strength training and also that's something else
16:59
I think that michelle highlighted you know this you throw
17:02
out your little tiddly pink ways and um and
17:06
get something a bit more substantial because it's more about um
17:09
heavier weights and lower reps and you
17:11
know really and i think um oh gosh i've forgotten her name now claire um minshaw
17:17
yes thank you yeah she's she's all about that message as well and and i know
17:23
she's worked with older age groups as well isn't she so i think a lot of her
17:27
research into that as well and and.
17:30
Introducing power as well as strength.
17:34
Yeah. It's tough though, isn't it? It's a good example of a difficult conversation
17:38
that I think, I think massage therapists, hand-on therapists,
17:42
therapists, soft tissue therapists, anybody who has that kind of hands-on contact,
17:47
it's a, I think it's such an advantage for them to be able to help kind of.
17:53
Somebody take on strength training and actually start it and get that behavior
17:57
change, which is quite a change in your mind and dynamics.
17:59
And if you go, who else is going to tell you, you're not going to do it because
18:03
you pick up a bodybuilding magazine or you're not going to go to a gym.
18:05
But when somebody who's already got that therapeutic alliance says,
18:09
you know what, you need to get you some heavier weights.
18:12
The conversation can happen, can't it? Which is, I think, where so much power
18:15
comes from you being in the clinic.
18:18
You know, the physio might say it, the chiropractor might say it,
18:20
and they might go, yeah, yeah, fine, just kick my back again.
18:22
Oh yeah do that but if you say it yeah they've
18:25
got that relationship they go really can i do that yeah which
18:28
is why we need those skills in communicating yeah how
18:33
have you picked up those skills along the way is it something that you've maybe learned
18:36
along with jiu-jitsu or other things in your life where
18:38
you're sorry do you mean in terms of the like communicating
18:42
no i mean just just just helping people make
18:45
behavior changes i think well i just
18:48
suppose throughout life i mean in the you know from the
18:51
dental side of it I mean you know
18:54
obviously the whole educated people in oral health and and also how oral health
18:58
relates to systemic health there's a lot more of that to do with say heart issues
19:03
diabetes and things like that and you know that's why we're flossing not so
19:06
we can have Simon Carroll teeth or what have you you know it's there is a there is a more,
19:12
realistic and more serious issue surrounding that and think and similarly with
19:18
the you know from the exercise point of view for us as therapists is that it's
19:24
the long-term health benefits as I was saying about you know.
19:29
Trying to slow that loss of muscle tissue
19:32
and slow the you know the bone
19:35
loss because obviously the you
19:38
know muscles getting stronger that that helps to
19:41
impact on your bones putting on the bones and encouraging bone
19:45
growth you know obviously there's going to be a decline but you want to kind
19:48
of slow things down I don't know and the other thing sorry I'm backtracking
19:52
slightly the other thing that Michelle was saying and other people as well in
19:56
that around that area I've talked about HRT and because I think there's been a lot of fear,
20:02
not fear-mongering perhaps, but maybe there's more research perhaps now and
20:08
good research saying that about the benefits and not saying,
20:13
oh, you know, HRT, I can't do that because of cancer.
20:15
But then it's like, well, and I'm not, I don't want to detract from those who
20:19
have, you know, been through cancer.
20:22
Maybe it's that as a cause, not at all. and obviously
20:25
it's a personal choice and you've got to find the balance
20:28
that's right for yourself but I think
20:31
maybe people are a bit wary of well
20:34
women are wary of having HRT using that to help balance the amount you know
20:40
the estrogen depletion so again that's another something that in our in the
20:46
context of as you say therapeutic alliance that it's a safe space and people
20:51
they don't feel so rushed and they can talk,
20:53
you know, what do you think? Make a little bit of a discussion.
20:57
I, again, I was talking about signposting earlier.
21:01
I signposted this site called Menopause Checker, I think it is.
21:07
Don't quote me on that. I'll see if I can find it. But that's quite a good resource.
21:10
But, you know, it again gives even more resources and evidence-based research
21:15
about HRT and about other ways of managing menopausal symptoms.
21:22
And perimenopause as well.
21:24
No, that's great. Great resources. And if there's any resources like this,
21:27
even if listeners have got some good resources, people in the live lounge,
21:32
if you've got any resources, then put them in the comments. We'll make sure
21:34
they go into the show notes.
21:36
Yeah michelle makes a point of saying that
21:39
doesn't she that as therapists we need to we do need to
21:41
stay up to date with the research because things do change a lot and
21:45
and thankfully so with regards to female health things change pretty quickly
21:51
because finally now we have got female researchers working excuse me with a
21:55
female population so there's a lot more being discovered now the last five years
21:59
and has been in the last 50 years which is good but it means we do have to stay down the ball.
22:03
I did write something down, which I, what did she mention?
22:07
I think she mentioned osteoarthritis. Yeah. She mentioned that women are more
22:11
prone to osteoarthritis in their hips and knees than men.
22:14
But now she said, thanks to like newer research, there's evidence now that dietary
22:20
strategies and strength training strategies can actually get some really good outcomes with that.
22:25
So there's a lot we can do by education of our patients and clients.
22:30
And I think she, sorry to interrupt, she talked about the holistic approach
22:35
and looking at nutrition and at least you mentioned strengths training.
22:41
And also, I mean, we talk about the psychosocial model, but that sort of psychosocial
22:46
aspect of it as well, because the whole thing with brain fog and,
22:51
and I'm not sure, I don't think this is, I think this is another speaker that I,
22:55
or somebody else I've read or listened to in a podcast, saying about,
23:00
women, I'm including myself in this, who was a.
23:04
It was late. I was pregnant in my 40s. So I probably went transition straight
23:09
from pregnancy into perimenopause without even sort of really acknowledging
23:14
that that sort of transitional period.
23:16
I'm sure there's other women like me, yes, I think.
23:19
And I think there's more women having children later on in life, I would say.
23:25
So that was something else you touched on where, you know, you're still in that
23:29
sort of postpartum phase and you're just coming up for air from that.
23:33
And then it's like, oh, no, you haven't finished for the year.
23:35
There's this going on now. Now you're into this next stage.
23:38
So that's something else to deal with or to manage.
23:42
So, yeah, that was something else to consider.
23:47
Lots of things to look out for. What are some of the things which either you
23:51
discovered from Michelle or you've discovered by other means that questions
23:56
you need to ask patients or things to look out for?
23:59
What sort of things have you noticed that maybe you'd be able to advise our listeners on? Oh, gosh.
24:06
With regards to working, when you're working with, I mean, first of all,
24:10
I guess they haven't got to be an older generation.
24:12
They haven't got to be kind of 50 to 60. That's one thing. But let's imagine that they are 50 to 60.
24:17
Right. Right. What are some of the things which, yeah, you've found that can
24:21
help them that they do know about,
24:22
apart from the strength training we've mentioned? Is there anything else?
24:26
Oh, magnesium supplements. That's something that comes to mind,
24:30
I suppose, because I think that's particularly because sleep can be an issue
24:35
during that time, even, you know, perimenopause, menopause,
24:39
and, yeah, poor sleep quality.
24:44
And magnesium, I think, I'm not sure, don't quote me on this,
24:48
but I'm not sure if magnesium levels drop more then or maybe we don't absorb
24:52
it as well. Maybe it's more the latter.
24:55
And obviously that has an impact on a lot of physiological processes.
24:59
And so if they're not working as well, I think perhaps it is an absorption thing, yeah.
25:06
So then that interferes with our sleep and people complain like restless legs
25:11
or tingling feet, burning feet.
25:13
Obviously you know people the whole hot flushes thing that's quite well publicised
25:18
isn't it although that's probably the bottom end of the scale I don't know depending
25:22
on everyone's different and so on so I have recommended that,
25:28
people take magnesium supplements obviously with guidance and you know looking at dietary,
25:35
alternatives and so on and there's a we have a local nutritionist who sort of works alongside at the,
25:43
studio fitness studio where I work and so I quite often signpost people to her
25:48
obviously people you know everyone people listening and someone will have their
25:51
own local person I'm sure that they will know,
25:54
Or sometimes I, the British Dietetic Association, they have some good fact sheets,
26:01
patient fact sheets, which have information on how you can get magnesium from
26:07
your food, which is obviously the ideal, but sometimes you need a bit of an
26:10
extra boost, certain things in your life, certain times in your life, sorry.
26:14
It's interesting isn't it because i think michelle mentioned this the
26:17
problem is michelle mentioned this really well
26:20
but there's a narrative isn't there that women when they reach this age they they're
26:23
told by a lot of people even professionals you know what it's your
26:27
age deal with it this is what it's going to be like now and that's
26:29
where i think part of the problem is yeah i'm just listening to you
26:32
now look at your nutrition look at your sleep hygiene there's so
26:35
much you can do to help with this chapter i'm
26:38
having a sneaky look at my nose because i think i put that down
26:40
somewhere as well and that's something we can
26:43
do as therapists i mean it's not out of our scope of
26:46
practice all we're doing is just helping these people realize
26:49
that yeah no it's not just the case of accept it like it or lump it because
26:53
there is a lot you can do isn't there when you're working in this population
26:57
yeah definitely oh another another thing that i scribbled down as well was which
27:02
i did i think i might have mentioned earlier siobhan donovan the booby physio yes Because again,
27:09
I'm thinking of women in sport and I think it was, I'm forgetting who said what now,
27:16
but somebody quoted that an athlete is anyone who chooses to do sport.
27:22
I think that might have been it. That's nice. Yeah.
27:25
So I think we tend to think athlete and like professionals, obviously they're
27:29
in a league of their own, obviously, but some of the same advice applies to athletes.
27:36
Anyone who does sporting activities so so
27:40
but yeah looking at the bigger picture oh sorry and why
27:44
I've kind of I've gone off track a little bit there but so
27:47
for women in sports like the younger population that
27:50
they can be put off doing sport at the
27:53
younger end of the the spectrum so for
27:56
things like I don't know just like I
27:59
think you mentioned about say women changing their
28:02
color of their kit so they have darker shorts for example oh
28:06
that was no that was michelle she was pointing out it was
28:09
the irish who was it was the irish oh the
28:11
tomogi as a camogie yeah yeah
28:15
yeah but they they having to wear uh skorts
28:18
and instead of which impeded the movement instead of
28:21
weighing shorts like the like the men and so on so forth so and they've sort
28:25
of campaigned for that and i think it was a football team was it who was saying
28:28
about wearing the darker colors yeah only like a year prior allowed to change
28:34
from white to blue which is okay really but it gets um but also i think.
28:39
That's why i've come back to the point i was trying to make was in
28:42
later life then things like pelvic health pelvic
28:46
health where urinary urgency things like
28:49
that and women having trouble with
28:51
the pelvic floor and that can be off-putting in terms of doing sports
28:55
because i think oh you know i don't have an accident
28:58
i embarrass myself you know if i go for a run or
29:00
do something that's explosive movements and things
29:03
like that so from that side of things and sort of being compassionate to that
29:08
or highlighting I think she mentioned Gronja Donnelly who's pelvic health physio
29:14
and and a lot more to pelvic floor exercises and just your kegels and it's not necessarily about.
29:23
Your pelvic floor muscles being weak is that they might be too
29:26
like too hypotense and then it could
29:29
be causing an issue and so doing more
29:32
exercise and and just more awareness into that and
29:35
and that side of things and into sporting
29:38
because that might be a barrier for women you know
29:41
if you're saying well you know if you do the exercises you
29:44
need to get stronger and then women thinking well i don't want to do that
29:47
because then i might you know have an accident i might embarrass themselves
29:50
etc so putting things into
29:53
place that are that make women feel comfortable and
29:56
so they they can do the exercises itifies that's
30:00
amazing there's so much in that last eight minutes of things that you've mentioned
30:04
ways that you can help somebody and again it's the perfect setting it might
30:09
be during a massage when when you've got that alliance and and you're talking
30:12
about things and they're peeling off the layers and this is where you can drip
30:15
in these bits of information.
30:17
And again, you're not prescribing, you're not saying anything out,
30:19
you're just saying have you considered this or referring people on.
30:22
It's great, really good information and it's also simple as well.
30:26
It's not doing these complex weird exercises and these really kind of,
30:30
and things which are going to take you know, three hours a day three times a
30:34
week. It's just these little tiny adjustments.
30:36
We've got some chat here from the Live Lounge. Let's have a little look.
30:39
Sally Martin, hi Sally, says menopause support.co.uk provide with help from
30:44
a donation booklets to send
30:45
now that you can give your clients i picked up the
30:48
expo in 2024 and got a boxed and sent
30:51
to me later on they're a good resource thank you
30:55
sally cecily has come back with cecily his
30:58
next week's guest said yes and it's totally pants i don't know whether that's
31:01
connected to sally's comment or whether she's answering somebody else um ceci
31:07
you're gonna have to explain your your mention of pants yeah and then sally
31:11
martin's come back also with the female Body Bible is an incredible book.
31:17
We are fortunate. And you can just triple that down with some.
31:19
Yeah, there's some amazing, I mean, we live in our bubble, especially me,
31:23
and I've met some incredible educators within female pelvic health, like you say,
31:27
Gronny Donnelly and Emma Brockwell and Michelle Lyons, and we were talking about
31:32
Jenny Bowell earlier on and Siobhan, and there's just amazing people.
31:35
But to us, it feels like they're everywhere, but for our patients who come in,
31:40
they've never heard of these people and they probably you never will so it's
31:43
up to the therapist like yourself to drop this information in oh yeah it's so
31:47
important right like that makes sense now cecily thanks cecily's come back with
31:52
when she was throwing to his pants that was to do with being too old there you
31:56
go it always makes sense now what do you know about being old cecily you little
32:00
young chicken you it's like that fantastic.
32:03
Brilliant. Yeah, so much about Michelle Lyons that we can learn from,
32:07
and she's been on the show quite a few times.
32:08
I just want to point out as well now, before I forget, Michelle Lyons is going
32:12
to be speaking, Phil to say this for people who don't know,
32:16
are going to be speaking at the STA Southwest Conference, which is happening
32:19
in Exmouth this September the
32:21
20th and 21st in collaboration with the ST School and the Hands-On Hub.
32:26
And true to form, Michelle will be presenting the menstrual
32:30
detective why the fifth vital sign might be
32:33
the missing link in msk health for female
32:37
athletes so very excited to have michelle along she's so supportive and with
32:42
the sta and she really loves what we're doing in terms of getting this information
32:45
out here so she's it's absolutely wonderful that she's taking time out to come
32:49
over from ireland to eczemath literally she's on in the afternoon at 4 35 because
32:55
she won't get in from dublin until
32:57
earlier on in the morning. So it's just amazing she's along.
32:59
It's going to be a great weekend, people, in case you're not aware of it,
33:02
as well as Michelle Lyons there. We're also going to have Claire Minchell,
33:05
Serena Simmons, James Earles, Andy Hosgood.
33:07
I'll be emceeing for a couple of days and also doing presentation.
33:10
And there's other people who you will know presenting there.
33:12
It's going to be wonderful.
33:13
And if you go to thestschool.co.uk, you'll find a link in the education tab
33:19
with all of the details of speakers and who's coming up. There'll be a lot of
33:23
familiar faces if you've been to Therapy Expo.
33:26
And a wonderful quality of presentations and hands-on workshops there.
33:31
Tickets are on sale, like I say, at the ST School at Dakota UK.
33:35
There is a substantial early bird discount, of course, but it does run out at the end of June.
33:40
So watch out because we're already at the 17th of June and literally if you
33:44
want to save yourself 50%, then make sure you do book a ticket before the end of June.
33:48
And there's also a further STA member discount, which also runs out at the end
33:53
of June, which will get you an extra £20 off. So it is pretty cheap now.
33:58
I don't want to say that because it's all relative, isn't it? But,
34:01
compared to other forms of CBD and the quality of speakers and everything that's
34:05
gone into this conference, then yeah, it's well worth it.
34:08
So yeah, if you've got any questions, as always, ask them on social media or
34:12
contact me, Matt, at the STA.co.uk.
34:15
And you'll find loads of details of the discounts on the STA Facebook members only page.
34:21
There we go. Right then. So, Nifla, thank you so much for reflecting.
34:26
You've managed to bring up so much information in there. I've I've already listened
34:30
back to it and I want to listen back to it again now.
34:33
I ramble on it. You have to sort of, you know. No, hey. It's because I know.
34:39
That's amazing. It's really nice to see how it's affected you.
34:43
Was there anything particular, again, I'm putting you on the spot again here,
34:46
but do you remember if there was one bit of information which did surprise you,
34:49
which were like, I didn't know that?
34:51
Or was it more a case of confirming stuff that you knew or kind of helping you explain stuff you knew?
34:56
Well i think some of the statistics like
34:59
the one as i say about the when the lean
35:02
muscle match i mentioned earlier i thought that that
35:05
was quite shocking to me that was yeah that wasn't
35:08
aware of or you know maybe hadn't thought of it in those sort of comparative
35:12
terms so that in particular oh and sorry i'm just a little aside sorry i'm just
35:20
having a quick look at my notes So you were mentioning about research and about more women in research,
35:27
which is what Michelle was saying.
35:29
And because obviously we're looking at it more from that perspective.
35:33
And also I think research comparing women against women,
35:37
as opposed to, you know, women as small men and trying to compare two different
35:44
physiological individuals, if you like.
35:51
I think that that's something else that's going to be useful going forward where,
35:57
you know, there's that more personal take, more recognition on how we work as women.
36:04
And then something else I was looking on, this FIFA have done some research,
36:08
haven't they, to do with like the ACL injuries, et cetera, which are more women
36:11
against hormones and different physique and so on.
36:15
But they were saying they used the preventative programs which they put in place
36:20
as being able to reduce injury by 90%, which is amazing,
36:26
just coming off the back of that extra research and tailoring,
36:29
not tailoring, but, you know, changing the focus, shall we say.
36:33
Definitely yeah now michelle made a grand point of that she said she says if
36:37
i can't do her action she says if i read another paper saying how women are
36:41
more prone to acl injuries blah blah blah what about solutions she wants to
36:44
know what about solutions we're looking in the wrong places,
36:47
but now finally they are yeah you know and as.
36:50
She says it's probably more to do with the fact that a lot of women
36:53
don't have access to gyms yeah or don't
36:55
have access to the kit like you mentioned like the correct fitting bra which
36:58
is make make feel uncomfortable or they're being forced to wear white shorts
37:01
when you know it's yeah it's more about yeah
37:05
inclusion as opposed to just the fact that physiologically they're
37:08
shaped differently it's like yeah all stuff that can be
37:10
changed as long as we kind of wise up and evolve a little bit
37:13
as a as a society and everything so yeah great
37:16
stuff and also sorry and also in in gyms
37:19
and cells we're going a little touching a little bit back
37:22
on the booby physio stuff and if machines and
37:25
so on are designed for a male form and then if
37:28
you can't perform the exercise correctly because your bust is in the way for
37:31
example then that's going to be off-putting or
37:34
it means you're not going to do the exercise correctly and not get the
37:36
correct benefits from it and and going
37:40
back from to our point of view for rehab exercises and
37:43
so on adapting exercises to
37:46
accommodate that with our female clients or certain
37:49
female clients well i suppose for any adapting to
37:52
any body shape etc really for that matter yeah that's
37:56
true but yeah good point yeah great
37:58
points we're getting better but my week has
38:01
still got a long way to go i think it is getting better there's a lot of
38:04
love in the house for you nicola i'm just looking at these comments here
38:07
uh got jessica janeman oh jessica thank you for joining us jessica um who uh
38:13
was on the show earlier on um she says super useful thank you so much nicola.
38:17
You've got deb's is here as well talking about women who support women we've got Big Deb's here.
38:25
Yeah. Thanks for joining us, Debra. She says, thank you, Nicola,
38:28
Cecily. Cracking episode. Thank you. There you go. The benchmark has been set,
38:31
Cecily, for you next week.
38:33
I was so nervous about coming on here. So thanks. Appreciate all the support.
38:38
Angela Thomason, thank you, Nicola. You were great. Thank you,
38:41
Matt, as well, obviously, for just easing me.
38:45
Oh, look, I'm so pleased that there's a guy in here listening as well.
38:47
Thank you, Sir Glenn Murphy, MBE. Oh, thank you. Wow.
38:49
An eye-opener. Thank you, Nicola. I'm glad. I always get a bit worried when
38:53
there's these podcasts and it seems to be mainly women attending,
38:56
which is not the idea, is it? That's good. Gary, of course.
38:59
There's a few, Brian. Thanks for the male allies in the house.
39:03
The male allies in the house. That's great.
39:04
Okay, thank you so much, people. We have been reflecting, in case you're not
39:09
aware, we've been reflecting on episode 210 of the Sports Therapy Association podcast,
39:14
which is entitled Muscles, Lethal Health and Menopause, recorded August 27th, 2024,
39:18
with special guest Michelle Lyons and my reflecting guest in this episode has
39:22
been nicola smith of chamomile health holistic dot uk if people want to contact
39:28
or follow you nicola there's got the website there you're also active on instagram is it,
39:33
Yeah. Well, she's done. There's some stuff on it. Some days there's some stuff on it.
39:39
Sorry, I've just forgot to say I've given a shout out to everybody else.
39:42
Just want to give a quick mention to my dojo, which is Masters of Martial Arts, Blackburn.
39:48
So, and at Quington. So, just give them a quick mention. Sorry,
39:51
I've got to go. I'm so loyal.
39:53
You should have been wearing the t-shirts or something. Yeah,
39:56
I should have had my logo in the background as well.
40:00
And to our ladies group as well. Hello to our ladies. We'll make sure that links
40:04
for everyone you've mentioned goes into our show notes.
40:06
Yes. Instagram, chamomile health. And then you're on Facebook as well.
40:09
Sometimes chamomile health. So
40:10
people can find you if they want to kind of contact you, which is great.
40:14
We will be back as always next week. Who have we got on next week? Cecily? I'm not sure.
40:19
Cecily's comment. Oh crap. There we go. Next Tuesday. It'd be great.
40:24
Next Tuesday at a clock on June the 24th, my reflecting guest will be none other
40:30
than the one, the only Cecily Hislop of South Phoenix Massage Therapy,
40:36
who's going to be reflecting on episode 118 of the podcast.
40:39
And that was recorded September 2022.
40:43
It was called Massage Manual Therapy, A Modern View.
40:47
My guests back then were Paul Coker and Anna Maria Matsieri.
40:50
So Cecily is going to be here and reflecting on that to share with us what she
40:54
picked up on from that episode. So we're looking forward to that.
40:58
And hopefully if you listen to the podcast, you want to join us live then
41:01
that's all you have to do come along eight o'clock to youtube or facebook and
41:04
you can join our wonderful live people who and thank
41:07
you all as well for joining us making it
41:10
i always say i probably wouldn't do this if it wasn't live so i really appreciate
41:13
you people coming along it makes it very spontaneous and we get good feedback
41:16
right that's it thanks once again nicola really appreciate your time you're
41:19
very welcome and all the best for next week cecily i'll i'll fine tune in that's
41:24
normally my training night on a tuesday but i'll i'll i'll support you as you've supported to me.
41:28
You just put even more pressure on her now. Now she's really going to be stressing out.
41:34
Great. Thanks, people. Hopefully catch up with some of you next Tuesday on the
41:37
Sports Therapy Association podcast. In the meantime, take care of each other.
41:41
Music.