The Explore the Floor Podcast

The Explore the Floor Podcast

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The Explore the Floor Podcast episodes

  • Menopause & Breast Cancer
    Why are so many women told to “just live with” menopause symptoms? Christine Stewart, PT, CMPT, explains how fear of breast cancer shapes menopause care, what the research really says about hormones, and why PTs and OTs are the right people to start the conversation.
     
    “We’re not gonna put you on estrogen, because that causes cancer.” That’s what Christine’s doctor told her when the night sweats, heart palpitations, and sleepless nights started during COVID. Her next physician wasn’t sure a hormone patch was even made in this country. It is. If she was going through this, she figured, so was everyone else. So she wrote a course to give providers the information she couldn’t find.
     
    This episode is made for clinicians: PTs, OTs, and anyone who treats pelvic floor dysfunction. It’s for you if your patients ask about hormones and you don’t know what to say, or if you’ve never brought up menopause at all.
    In Episode 2 of Explore the Floor, host Allison Ariail, PT, DPT, CLT-LANA, BCB-PMD, PRPC, talks with Christine Stewart, PT, CMPT, to mark Breast Cancer Awareness Month. We already ask patients about bowel, bladder, and sexual health, Christine says, so “let’s just add this to the list.” She points out that half of a woman’s life can be spent in menopause, and many providers still get little training on it.
    In this episode:
     
    How the Women’s Health Initiative created decades of fear about hormones and breast cancer
     
    Absolute vs. relative risk, and why the headlines sound scarier than the real numbers
     
    The earliest signs of perimenopause, and why “I’m only 42” doesn’t rule it out
     
    How genitourinary syndrome of menopause hides behind leakage, urgency, and painful sex
     
    What hormone therapy does well, and what it doesn’t do
     
    Why “menopause is not eating your brain”
     
    Sleep, stress, and the self-care conversation
     
    Why strength training doesn’t mean lifting heavy: “You have to lift enough that the last two reps are hard.”
     
    Want to learn more? Christine teaches Menopause Transitions and Pelvic Rehab with Herman & Wallace. https://hermanwallace.com/continuing-education-courses/menopause-transitions-and-pelvic-rehab-remote-course
     
    You can read more about Christine and her work here: https://hermanwallace.com/faculty/christine-stewart
     
    New to pelvic health? This guide walks through how to become a pelvic floor therapist, step by step: https://hermanwallace.com/how-to-become-a-pelvic-floor-therapist
     
    This content is not a substitute for medical care. Views expressed are not necessarily those of Herman & Wallace.
    1 hr 6 min
  • Children Are Not Small Adults: Pediatric Constipation and the Pelvic Floor

    Want to become a pediatric pelvic floor specialist? Dawn Sandalcidi, PT, has treated kids with constipation, bedwetting, and leaks for 30+ years. She shares how she got started, what to look for, and why PTs and OTs are built for this work.

     

    "Children are not small adults." Dawn Sandalcidi learned that in 1993, when a urologist sent her an eight-year-old and said, "Get this kid out of my office." There were no pediatric pelvic health courses then. She built the field one patient at a time.

    This episode is made for clinicians: PTs, OTs, and anyone who treats pelvic floor dysfunction. It's for you if you're wondering how to become a pelvic floor therapist, or if you treat adults and are curious about treating peds.

    In Episode 1 of Explore the Floor, host Allison Ariail, PT, DPT, CLT-LANA, BCB-PMD, PRPC, talks with Dawn Sandalcidi, PT, RCMT, BCB-PMD. Her message to therapists is simple: "These kids, these families need you." Dawn says nearly a third of children deal with constipation. Many families never mention it, and many doctors never ask. Pelvic health therapists are often the first to connect the dots.

    In this episode:

    • Why Dawn says "You're constipated till proven innocent"
    • How a full bowel drives daytime wetting and bedwetting
    • Why kids with chronic constipation "live in the third trimester" (rib position, breathing, and the pelvic floor)
    • How to teach a child "muscle on, muscle off" with balloons, biofeedback, and a cocktail straw
    • Toilet training tips for neurodivergent kids
    • Why "leak" works better than "accident"
    • What to say if you treat adults and feel nervous about kids

      • Want to learn more? Dawn teaches Pediatrics Level 1, Treatment of Bowel and Bladder Disorders, with Herman & Wallace. https://hermanwallace.com/continuing-education-courses/pediatrics-level-1-treatment-of-bowel-and-bladder-disorders

      You can read more about Dawn and her work here: https://hermanwallace.com/faculty/dawn-sandalcidi

      New to pelvic health? This guide walks through how to become a pelvic floor therapist, step by step: https://hermanwallace.com/how-to-become-a-pelvic-floor-therapist

      This content is not a substitute for medical care. Views expressed are not necessarily those of Herman & Wallace.

      1 hr 5 min

    About The Explore the Floor Podcast

    From the publisher's feed

    Explore the Floor is a podcast from Herman & Wallace Pelvic Rehabilitation Institute exploring the ideas, expertise, and experiences shaping pelvic rehabilitation today.