Next in our Summer Series - Interviews from the 2025 Pelvic Pain Foundation of Australia Annual Practitioner Seminar.

*we'll be back with our long form eps in late Jan*

What does a physio educator wish you knew about pain?

In this episode of Endo Untangled, Alecia and Cherie sit down with Emma, a physiotherapist and pelvic pain educator, to break down the complexities of pain, especially pelvic pain. Discover the different types of pain, why pain isn’t always a sign of damage, and how understanding your body can help you manage discomfort. Emma shares practical tips, movement strategies, and resources to empower young people and anyone living with ongoing pain.

Emma Kirkaldy is an educator with PPEP Talk, the Periods, Pain and Endometriosis Program run by the Pelvic Pain Foundation of Australia.

PPEP Talk: https://www.pelvicpain.org.au/ppep-talk-schools-program

Easy Stretches to Relax the Pelvis; an excellent resource from the Pelvic Pain Foundation of Australia: https://www.pelvicpain.org.au/wp-content/uploads/dlm_uploads/2024/07/Easy-Stretches-to-Relax-the-Pelvis-5_5_2023.pdf

Thrive Endo Clinic's endo yoga series, presented by Endo Untangled's Cherie Noble: https://thriveendoclinic.com.au/endo-yoga

In this Fast and Curious episode from the Pelvic Pain Foundation annual seminar, Michelle Nielsen talks about PPEP Talk, the Periods, Pain and Endometriosis Program.

PPEP Talk is an engaging, medically accurate education session for secondary students that helps young people understand what normal period pain looks like, when pain is concerning, what endometriosis is, and practical strategies to manage pain and seek help. It has been delivered to more than 65,000 students across Australia, with data showing that before PPEP Talk many students did not know what endometriosis was but that knowledge rises dramatically after the session, empowering young people with new understanding.

A high proportion of students report severe period pain and many miss school or work because of it, and there are marked differences in impact between regional, rural and metropolitan students.

Michelle discusses what schools and clinicians find valuable about the program, how it supports students in sport and study, and why early education like this matters for long term health and wellbeing.

Find out more about the PPEP talk program:

https://www.pelvicpain.org.au/ppep-talk-schools-program/

PPEP talk Menstrual Education Video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EF2K7luhGPk

QENDO app:

https://www.qendo.org.au/the-app

PIPPA tool:

https://www.canberrahealthservices.act.gov.au/services-and-clinics/services/canberra-endometriosis-centre/period-impact-and-pain-assessment-pippa/period-impact-and-pain-assessment-pippa-online-screening-tool

TW: Fertility is discussed here, and we know this can be a painful subject for those with endo and pelvic pain. If this raises concerns for you, give yourself permission to skip this episode.

In this episode, we talk with Professor Louise Hull, a reproductive medicine specialist and world-leading researcher in endometriosis. Louise shares her story, from IVF training at Cambridge to leading national research and policy here in Australia. She gives one of the clearest explanations of how endo causes pain, inflammation and damage, and how this links to fertility.

We explore:

• Prof Louise's take on how endo actually causes pain

• The link between endo and infertility, and what patients should know early
• When surgery helps fertility, and when it might reduce ovarian reserve
• Egg and embryo freezing, and how to make that decision
• Impact of hormone treatments on long term fertility
• What GPs and other health professionals often get wrong about fertility and endo
• The myths, the gaps, and what Louise wishes every patient understood

This is a grounded and compassionate conversation that will be useful for patients, GPs, and anyone supporting someone with endo.

Louise is also the lead investigator behind EndoZone, a national digital platform that gives patients and clinicians access to evidence-based, user-friendly information about endometriosis. Check out this excellent resource at www.endozone.com.au

In the second episode of our endometriosis imaging arc, we sit down with world class excision surgeon and leading pelvic sonologist Dr Matthew Leonardi to explore how high quality pelvic ultrasound transforms the way we understand endometriosis. Matthew explains how advanced ultrasound maps disease in three dimensions, reveals deep lesions that laparoscopy can miss, and helps patients build a clearer, more accurate story of what is happening in their pelvis.

We break down the full spectrum of ovarian cysts, from follicular and haemorrhagic cysts to dermoids and endometrioma, and unpack why the term “complex cyst” causes unnecessary fear and needs to disappear. Matthew also shares how recognising an endometrioma is often just the start, and how detailed ultrasound guides safer, more precise surgical planning.

We finish with his interdisciplinary Endometriosis 360 model, where imaging, pelvic physio, dietetics and psychology work together to support better long term endo care.

If you’ve been told your ultrasound was normal but your pain isn’t, this episode is for you.

Join us on Endo Untangled as Dr Alecia Macrow and Cherie Noble sit down with Alison Deslandes – clinical academic sonographer, endometriosis researcher and founder of Astute Ultrasound Education – to explore how advanced imaging is reshaping the diagnostic landscape for people living with endometriosis and pelvic pain.

In this episode you’ll hear:

• ​Why a “normal” scan doesn’t always mean everything’s fine – and what to ask if the standard ultrasound isn’t giving you answers
• ​How specialised transvaginal ultrasound protocols and the “sliding sign” technique help detect deep-disease and posterior pouch involvement that many imaging pathways miss.
• ​Who the hell is Douglas and why is he in my pelvis? and other anatomy including where to find the uterosacal ligaments and where exactly is the peritoneum in the pelvis.
• ​The real-world impact of Australia’s new Medicare rebate for endometriosis imaging, and why access still hinges on finding ultrasound services with the right training and expertise.
• ​The emerging role of artificial intelligence in sonographer training – and what that could mean for future scans, reporting and surgical planning. Alison Deslandes

Whether you’re a healthcare practitioner committed to improving care, a patient seeking better diagnostic clarity, or a partner navigating the care journey together – this episode offers practical insight, nuance and hope. Tune in, open your mind and equip yourself with the language and questions to get the ultrasound conversations you deserve.

In this episode of Endo Untangled, Dr Millie Mardon PhD shares how her long trips from Port Augusta to Adelaide as a teenager shaped her work in pain science. She explains how understanding what pain really is can help us change it, slowly but surely.

We talk about where pain discussions go wrong, how what we think, feel and see can shift the way pain shows up, and why personal stories matter in research and recovery.

This one will change how you think about pain.

In Episode 08, we dive deep (no pun intended) with specialist colorectal and pelvic floor surgeon Dr. Chris Gillespie as he lifts the lid on everything your bowels don’t want you to ask. From the anatomy and reflexes behind a good poop, to what’s going on when your colonoscopy is “normal” but symptoms persist, we cover it all. We unravel the role of anorectal manometry, bust common myths (do laxatives really make your bowel “lazy”?), and get his go-to strategies for managing bowel dysfunction in real life. Whether you’re a clinician, patient, or just poop-curious — this one’s for you.

Tune in, flush away the stigma, and get the inside track on what your gut’s been trying to tell you.

Titled Pelvic Health Physios Alycia Scannell and Carolyn Berry explain how overprotective pelvic floor muscles can tighten and guard, leading to stabby pains, bladder urgency, bowel changes, deep pelvic aching, tailbone pain, or painful sex.

They share how treatment goes far beyond exercises. It is about calming the nervous system, teaching the body safety again, and helping people reconnect with their pelvic floor through awareness, breathing, and gentle retraining.

In this episode of Endo Untangled, physiotherapist Sophie Sheppard shares her lived experience of chronic fatigue as a teenager and later discovering she is autistic and ADHD. We unpack the science of persistent pain and how it reverberates through the nervous, endocrine and immune systems (the NEI ensemble), and explore how understanding the whole-system impact changes care. Sophie explains how these insights shape her work as a pain-titled physiotherapist, helping people untangle complex pain and reclaim their lives.

Whether you are living with persistent pain, supporting someone who is, or working as a health professional, this episode offers understanding, compassion, and practical insights.

Welcome to the first of our Endo Untangled mini ep series, Fast and Curious.

We met with A/Prof Susan Evans at the recent Pelvic Pain Foundation of Australia Annual Practitioner Seminar in Brisbane, to pick her brains on:

- the relationship with the uterus, brain, nervous, and immune system

- Dr Evans' work with Alyra Biotech in the development of some novel therapies for endometriosis and pelvic pain, tapping into the neuro-immune activation that underpins the pain and whole-body symptoms that are associated with endometriosis

- How this new therapy came about, on the grounds of Tokyo University

If you're interested in finding out more about Dr Susan's trial, please visit www.alyrabiotech.com.