Testosterone- is not just for men ! Thats right, women need testosterone too, and its often one of the first hormones to drop off.  Testosterone  your sense of emotional well-being, muscle mass and strength , helps sagging skin🙌🏻, decreases excess body fat , maintains bone strength , maintain memory , most importantly helps with glucose metabolism which is essentially for maintaining healthy body weight and overall health!

In this solo episode Erin will discuss :
-  Different causes of Testosterone deficiency
-  Benefits of Testosterone on our health
- Insulin resistance
- Ways we can increase testosterone naturally
- Stress and its impact of  testosterone.
- Sleep
- Adaptogens

Testosterone support pack!
https://ishoppurium.com?prods=3554648096840:1,11924982677:1,11925004565:1,11924992021:1,11751433557:1&giftcard=Erinlynnewellness
 

Episode 12 is all about women's health with special guest Brookes Vaughan. This is for ALL women, whatever season of life you are in, its packed with valuable information!

Topics of discussion 

• preconception
• Fertility 
• Important supplements and how to know if it’s a good one
• What’s a normal cycle look like
• Ovulation and understanding your cervical mucus
• Preventing yeast infections 
• Irregular cycles vs Peri/premenopause
• How to support your body and hormones through this phase
• When should you get tested??

Connect with Brookes on Instagram @Brookesbvaughan_np and @thewomenshealthcompany

And check out her podcast WOCO radio 

Women’s health pack - what’s the key to balancing hormones? 

Optimizing nutrition 

• Decreasing inflammation 
• Enhancing Natural sources of B vitamins
• Boosting stress resilience with adaptogens and again healthy sources of B vitamins 
• Optimizing the gut 
• Improving sleep

Here are my favorite supplements to cover it all!

https://ishoppurium.com?prods=3554648096840:1,11924982677:1,11925004565:1,11924992021:1&giftcard=Erinlynnewellness

 If you want more help with addressing specific symptoms please connect with me @erinlynnewellness and check out @dr.allieflowerspt for more specifics on pelvic floor health 

Episode 11 is all about nutrition and plant based living with guest Eliza Gellman. Eliza is a Holistic Nutritionist focusing on sustainable weight loss & digestive health through plant dominant living! 

She is the host of @hotterthanhealthpodcast, interviewing health and wellness professionals to break trends, diets, and all things health wide open!

• What is plant dominance?
• How to make complete sources of protein by plant combinations
• Do we really need that much protein?!
• How to eat intuitively and listen to your body 
• About drinking water with meals
• Eating healthier and plant dominant in a budget 
• Healthy snacks 
• Avoiding unnecessary inflammatory oils 

For one on one coaching connect with Eliza in Instagram @elizag_wellness and check out her podcast @hotterthanhealthpodcast

Shop my favorite healthy protein powders here

MVP sport: Packed with 32 grams of protein from peas, pumpkin and brown rice, MVP Sport supports muscle-building recovery without the calories. Digestive enzymes and probiotics allow for easy digestion and assimilation. This organic blend also includes herbs, such as Turmeric, Maca and Chaga Mushrooms, to target joints for extra recovery support. Its really a great all inclusive protein for those that workout a lot
https://ishoppurium.com?prods=1354573250632:1&giftcard=erinlynnewellness

Power Shake: If you are looking fora greens powder with protein this is a great option. Nourish your body with super greens and healthy fats. Power Shake can help energize and balance alkalinity every day. Great for starting to heal the gut and balance hormones. Has 7g of protein so I add in a healthy fat to mine, but also super filling!
https://ishoppurium.com?prods=11751448277:1&giftcard=erinlynnewellness

Super LOV: Chai flavor
Composed of 30+ pure, premium, natural, whole food ingredients. L.O.V is a Live, Organic, Vegan meal replacement that is also 7 products in 1: Weight Loss Formula + Protein Drink + Fiber Supplement + Essential Fatty Acid Supplement + Super-Antioxidant + Immune Support Supplement + Energy Drink . Has 20 g of protein and adaptogens so great for stress too!
https://ishoppurium.com?prods=1354573152328:1&giftcard=erinlynnewellness

Painful sex is often a topic that gets brushed aside. This is not something that just happens to women after menopause or after childbirth. The ACOG ( American college of Obstetricians and Gynecologists) reports that nearly 3 our of 4 women have pain during intercourse at some point in their lives.  For some its temporary, for others its long term. 

Pain during sex may be a sign of a more serious gynecological issue, but it also may be a sign of a tight pelvic floor and low or imbalanced hormones. 

When it comes to hormones we know they need to be in balance . The two main hormones we discuss here in relation to painful sex are estrogen and Testosterone .Estrogen needs to be plentiful as well as testosterone. 

When estrogen is low we may have symptoms  including but not limited to ;

• vaginal dryness
• decreased lubrication during sexual activity,
• post-coital bleeding
• discomfort even pain during sexual activity,
• decreased arousal, orgasm, and desire for sex,
• irritation, burning or itching of the vulva or vagina, dysuria, urinary frequency, incontinence and urgency.

Testosterone has many  functions in the body. One of the big factors it controls is our libido. One thing women don't realize is testosterone is actually a very important hormone in women and one if the first things to drop off as hormones do, especially when menopause starts. It also is deficient in women on birth control regardless of the form they are on due to the cessation of LH and FSH, When testosterone it can great affect our sexual desire and satisfaction as seen in the symptoms below:

• Reduced sexual drive
• Decreased sexual satisfaction 
• Vaginal dryness

Today’s guest is Dr Angela Derosa. Dr. Angela DeRosa, DO, MBA, CPE, is a dynamic professional on a mission to change the face of Women’s Health and Wellness. As a respected, internationally recognized authority on women’s hormonal health, Dr. DeRosa understands the range of health issues women face leading up to and during menopause. 

Dr. DeRosa has more than 20 years’ experience in the medical field, both on the pharmaceutical side and in clinical practice.  

Topics of discussion:

•  What are bio identical hormones?
• The safety and benefits of hormones?
• The difference between menopause and premenopause?
• Women going into menopause earlier?
• What is PCOS?
• When to get tested?

Dr. DeRosa’s enthusiasm for educating patients and physicians on the realities of menopause and the risk factors of hormonal imbalances is the driving force behind her first book, How Your Doctor Is Slowly Killing You: A Woman’s Health Survival Guide. She lives in Scottsdale, Arizona and is now the founder of the Hormone Health Institute where she helps educate other physicians and providers on hormone health .

Connect with her:

Medical professionals:
https://hormonalhealthinstitute.thinkific.com/


All to learn about hormones
https://drhotflash.com/

Struggling with hormone imbalance symptoms? Start with the basics of proper detoxification of hormones utilizing healthy nutrients. Link below!
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Todays special guest is Cortney Ostrosky. Cortney is a human design reader, self discovery coach and international yoga instructor. 

In this episode we talk all about Human design which is an incredible tool you can use to access your body's consciousness as a decision making tool, and ultimately, how to live as your true self.

This is so important when talking about the 5th R of gut healing which is Rebalance.  the process of evaluating your life and seeing what is working and what isn't as a way to minimize stress and well .....Rebalance. 

When you can understand your human design you can better understand how to practice self care in a way that will best suite you. Remember healing starts on the inside and that starts with making time to figure out what YOU need and what works for YOU.

To find you human design you will need your birth certificate handy go to www.mybodygraph.com or www.myhumandesign.com

Cortney is a great resource for helping you make sense of your human design chart! You can connect with her on instagram @cortney108

With each day that passes we learn more about the importance of our gut health in relation to our overall health and well being.  Our GI system is directly correlated to many systems in our body. When this is off it throws everything off leading to hormone disturbances, anxiety, depression, brain fog, skin conditions, food allergies and obviously lots of GI upset. Our gut has influence on nearly every system in our body to the list of symptoms goes on and on. In Functional medicine we use the 5 R system to heal and repair the gut. Remove, Replace , Reinoculate, Repair and Rebalance. 

Remove :

Includes removing foods and medications that may be irritating to the GI tract. The biggest culprits I see for intestinal inflammation are gluten, dairy and sugar . Other irritants include caffeine , alcohol, NSAIDS, antibiotics, antifungals, and Anti acids just to name a few. Start with eliminating these foods for several weeks, when you add them back watch for symptoms!

Pathogens: If you are thinking you may have a bacterial or yeast overgrowth get tested, don’t just try to treat it if you don’t know what you are dealing with. 

Replace:

Add back in the essential nutrients needed for proper break down and absorption of food such as digestive enzymes, hydrochloric acid and bile acids. Ill talk about ways you can do this naturally and when to use supplementation. 

Reinoculate:

Restore beneficial bacteria by taking in prebiotic and probiotic foods or supplements that contain “good” bacteria. Prebiotic's feed good bacteria and can be supplemented by consuming high soluble fiber foods like oats, dandelion root, chicory, banana, onions and garlic. Ill discuss probiotics and how to get them from foods and when to supplements

Repair- 

When the GI tract is in a diseased state it lacks key nutrients that help repair its lining . By supplying these nutrients we can help the lining repair itself . My favorite supplement for this is L-Glutamine.  Aloe,DGL and marshmallow root can all help soothe the mucosal lining for individuals with a lot of irritation . Vitamins A,C and E and zinc all help repair the intestinal lining. Lastly collagen which is rich in amino acids can help further seal the intestines, repair damage, and build new tissue.

Rebalance:

This one is such a big topic that i didn't not even get into it in this episode. This includes paying attention to your lifestyle habits. Stress, sleep , and excessive exercise can all negatively impact your GI tract. Stay tuned for future episodes where we will get into self care ,stress and how you can evaluate the things in your life that may be adding unwanted stressors to your system 

Here are the products I love to start on your healing journey! Please message me @erininjects or on the FB group and I can help customize a plan for you , but this is where I would start!

https://ishoppurium.com?prods=4493756923976:1&giftcard=erinlynnewellness

Another favorite to support my microbiome http://beekeepersnaturals.com use code erinlynnewellness at checkout for discount and free shipping.

Heres a study on benefits of bee pollen on dysbiosis https://lipidworld.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12944-019-1150-0

Is it normal to pee your pants?

You actually are not suppose to leak urine when you couch, sneeze, run, jump and laugh. This is a form of urinary incontinence which brings us to today’s topic. We are going to dive into urinary incontinence, what causes it and more importantly what you can do to fix it for good. I bet you guessed it has something to do with the pelvic floor? Well you guess correctly!

We will cover a brief anatomy overview and go over normal bladder function. 

So what does this mean for us and how should you urinate? 

- sit on toilet

- relax pelvic floor

- bladder switches on to contract

- bladder empties

- bladder relaxes and pelvic floor muscles resume normal resting tone

Bad bladder habits

1. Powering peeing. 
2. Squatting. 
3. The just in case pee
4. Doing kegels while peeing. 
5. Dehydration. Holding in pee too long, i.e. at work 

Here is a quick list of bladder irritants I advise to stay away from or cut back on if you are have bladder issues. 

- alcohol

- caffeine

- citrus fruits

- sweets

- milk

- artificial sweeteners

- spicy foods

- tomatoes

Let’s talk next about what is normal for daily bladder function. 

- 5-8 voids in a day

- every 2-4 hours

- 0-1 pee after bedtime

A great technique for managing urge incontinence ( when the strong urge comes on) is to think “freeze, breath then squeeze.”

- Sit down when the urge comes on

- Breathe nice slow deep breaths

- Then contract your pelvic floor. Think squeeze and lift!

Healthy bladder tips

1. Go every 2-4 hours ( 5-8 in 24 hours). Keep in mind if you are drinking plenty of fluids you may go more often than this! 
2. No more “just in case” pee
3. Sit on toilet, don’t squat
4. No “power peeing” 
5. Avoid constipation: eat plenty of fiber
6. Drink ½ your body weight in ounces of water every day
7. Avoid bladder irritants we discussed above
8. Pee before and after sex
9. Orgasm. Yes you read that right! Orgasms strengthen the pelvic floor. You’re welcome. 
10. Work on your pelvic floor

Pelvic floor tips: 

• Work on kegels in isolation first not with other muscle groups or exercises. 
• Try to hold your contraction for 10 seconds
• Start with 30 reps and work your way to 80 a day!
• You want to try this for 6-8 weeks. 
• Once you can isolate you can make the exercise more functional. 
• Try the “knack.” If you tend to pee a little when you sneeze or cough try this technique. When you are about to cough or sneeze, do a kegel. This contract your pelvic floor and relaxes the bladder. You can train yourself to leak less!! 
• Progress your pelvic floor exercises once holding for 10 seconds in isolation for 30-80 reps a day becomes easy. You can try hold for an extra 2-3 seconds. You can work in other muscles groups. 
• Once you are feeling better, try to maintain with 10 kegels a day minimum. 
• If you are having trouble with kegels and feel you cannot get a good contraction please feel free to reach out to me for help or go see a local pelvic floor PT in your area! 

I hope you all find this information helpful! Follow Dr. allieflowersPT for more tips on instagram! 

Hormones...Am I right??  Hormones are chemical messengers in our body that send signals to gland to perform specific functions. Hormones like to be perfectly in balance, kind of like a xmas light...if one goes out they all go out!!

Our hormones are constantly fluctuating. For females , our hormones are different at each phase of our cycle throughout the month. Its so important to understand how your cycle works and whats going on in your body.

There are 3 phases:
Follicular phase is days 1-14 . The first day you begin menstruating is the Day 1 of your cycle. Estrogen is dominant during this phase. This is the cool phase so go for cooling foods like salads, cilantro, mint, and cold drinks. If you deal with estrogen dominant symptoms add in more cruciferous vegetables, 2 tbps of flaxseed/day, 3 cups of green tea, and 30 minutes minimum of aerobic activity to help detoxify.

Ovulatory is around days 12-14. Typically occurs on day 14. Look for a thick "egg white" like discharge, this signals you are ovulating.

Days 14-28 are the Luteal phase. Progesterones job in this phase is the prepare the uterus to host a baby. So its the predominant hormone in this phase. This is known as the warm phase so look for warm soups, saute and cooked vegetables and spicy foods. When an egg is not fertilized the uterus sheds its lining and the cycle begins all over again.

Check out this episode for more tips of how you can feel your best throughout the month! Follow @erinlynnewellness for more hormone tips

Clean wine that won’t disrupt your blood sugar! Shop here

Shop non toxic non hormone disrupting skincare!
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For an amazing source of natural B vitamins i use Bee pollen from Beekeepers naturals, I also love their HONEY!  For 10% off and free shipping go to http://beekeepersnaturals.com and use code erinlynnewellness at checkout!

Today we are talking all about the pelvic floor. Did you know there is so much more that goes into pelvic floor physical therapy than simply doing kegels? Did you know you may actually have a tight pelvic floor causing your problems versus a weak one thus perhaps kegels are not the best thing for you?

In this episode we will review pelvic floor anatomy, how the pelvic floor functions, and how it connects to other parts of our body, specifically the diaphragm. We will cover how to actually perform a proper kegel while connecting it to your breath and functional body movements. 

We will cover  signs and symptoms of weak versus tight pelvic floor so you can see what category you might fall into. 

Signs of a hypotonic or weak pelvic floor 

- Leaking with sneezing, coughing or jumping 

- Tampons may fall out

- sex does not feel as it used to

- heavy feeling

- SIJ, hip pain

Signs and symptoms of a tight pelvic floor 

-difficulty starting to pee or second pee ( feeling as if you have to go shortly after you just went)

- constipation

- painful sex

- increased UTI risk due to retention

- leaking with sneezing, coughing, jumping, heaving lifting

- difficulty getting a good contraction

- difficulty getting a full deep breath in

- holding a kegel makes it worse

- SIJ or hip pain

We will then cover treatment strategies for a weak pelvic floor as well as what to do if you have pelvic floor tightness.

Treating a weak pelvic floor:
For a weak pelvic floor, try to work on kegels most days of the week and work on contracting on the exhale as outlined below. 

Let’s go over some tips for a proper kegel.

• Try it sitting comfortably first so you can isolate the pelvic floor
• Work with your breath. Inhale as you relax your pelvic floor and exhale on the contraction
• You rotate forward into and anterior pelvic tilt (arch your back) to make it easier to isolate the front of your pelvic floor ( think stopping flow of urine) 
• You can rotate back into a posterior pelvic tilt ( flatten your back) to make it easier to target the back of your pelvic floor ( think stopping gas)

Once you are able to get a good pelvic floor contraction in isolation you can start to work in other muscle groups. This is important because our pelvic floor contracts quite a bit during activities such as a deep squat, heavy lifting and sex. If you are having trouble getting a good pelvic floor contraction, it is a good idea to see a pelvic PT! 

How do you treat a tight pelvic floor? 

- see a pelvic floor PT for manual release

- work on the inhale. Focus on relaxing

- On the exhale, don’t force a pelvic floor contraction just try to return to normal resting tone

- meditation

- Strengthen the muscle surrounding the pelvic floor: the hips, glutes, core 

- self release techniques 

- work on deep breathing 

- yoga 

- squats: focus on the inhale  on the way down to let go of the pelvic floor

Once you are able to release the pelvic floor and symptoms get better, you can start to reintroduce kegels as outlined above. You want to slowly progress, start by working on a small tighten on your exhale instead of full contraction. Then you build up to a full contraction. 

I hope these tips help you on your pelvic floor journey. Please contact us with any questions. Follow me on instragram for more videos, tips and advice! DrallieflowersPT.