I recently gave birth to my 1st child and was blown away that no one actually prepared me for the 2nd stage of labor, aka pushing phase, 10 cm dilation to birth. My husband and I went to several classes to prepare us for our newborn. During these classes they discussed the stages of labor, what tools they could use during labor, reasons for a c-section, joys and challenges of pregnancy, and how to breathe during the first stage of labor to make it through contractions. When I actually went through my 2nd stage of labor, I realized no one ever discussed how to push and breathe during this phase.

This article contains sexual content intended for a mature audience. Inserting a tampon is painful. You dread pelvic exams because they hurt. When you have sex it burns and stings. Does this sound familiar? Painful sexual intercourse can be due to a lot of reasons; one of those being vulvodynia.

There can be many reasons why someone has abdominal pain. Internal organs, such as your small intestine, colon, stomach, liver, gallbladder, pancreas, uterus or ovaries, could be causing your symptoms.

Initially Carla came in — and in her past she had been a very active individual, very fit and she wanted to continue this throughout her life. She had been told she would never be able to achieve that again.

You just pulled into your driveway and all of a sudden you have to pee, right now! You make a beeline into the house and to the nearest bathroom. Typically you make it, but sometimes you leak a bit on the way. Does this scenario sound all too familiar?

The health and wellness industry has been receiving the attention and value it deserves over the last few decades. Whether we're talking about the hottest new workout, latest self-care trend, or coolest fitness gadget to add to our gym bag, the topic of health and wellness is on the forefront of everyone's minds. Therefore, it should come to no surprise that, as a physical therapist, I support an active lifestyle for myself and for my clients.

Running is a wonderful activity for a new or seasoned mom to burn off steam, get some aerobic exercise, and have time to yourself. However, there does come a time when running alone isn’t practical and you need to bring your little one with you. So you pull out that jogging stroller, tie up those running shoes, and start running down your block with baby in tow. Then you quickly realize this is a lot harder than you thought!

Exercising with pelvic floor dysfunction can be scary, whether you are a mom who just had a baby, a dad who is recovering from prostate cancer surgery, or a CrossFitter who began leaking urine during certain lifting exercises. Regardless, you want to lead a healthy, active and strong lifestyle, but instead you are fearful of making things worse.

You just had a baby, or maybe your child is grown — and now you have a desire to take up or get back into running. First off, congratulations. Taking any step towards leading an active lifestyle is a wonderful thing. Running can have a positive effect on your mental, physical and emotional well being!

You stretch, you feel better, and then the tightness comes right back. What gives?