Episode #62: How do I know if I'm getting better if I still have pain/symptoms?
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Rhonda’s clients come to her with symptoms like leaking, heaviness, low back pain, hip pain and more (including frustration). In today’s episode, Rhonda shares 5 strategies and markers she walks her clients through to help them see the big picture and recognize the road of their own healing journey.
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LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN EPISODE
Listen to Episode #46: 7 reasons your pelvic floor symptoms may have changed recently
Listen to Episode #24 - 6 ways to relax the pelvic floor
Check out Rhonda’s Strong at Home VIP (One-on-One)
Check out Rhonda’s Strong at Home Membership
PODCAST LINKS & RESOURCES
Check out Rhonda’s FREE Resource Library
Pelvic Health and Fitness Podcast
Book with Dayna (Rebirth Wellness)
SHOW NOTES:
(0:51) - Strong at Home Membership with Rhonda - Discount Offer
(3:59) - What I’m talking about today!
(5:03) - How healing works
(6:52) - #1 Strategy: Noticing your symptoms less often throughout the day
(8:45) - #2 Strategy: Notice symptoms that are less intense, overall
(10:12) - #3 Strategy: Look at what you are able to do functionally in your workouts, and day, without symptoms
(13:32) - #4 Strategy - Notice when you are feeling stronger with your workouts and within your day
(14:52) - #5 Strategy - Notice if/when you are feeling more confident and having more trust in your body
(16:28) - Episode overview and wrap up!
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Episode #62: How do I know if I'm getting better if I still have pain/symptoms?
We're excited to have you join us for this episode of Pelvic Health and Fitness. I'm Dayna Morellato, Mom, Orthopedic and Pelvic Health Physiotherapist. And I'm Rhonda Chamberlain, Mom, Orthopedic Physiotherapist and Pre Postnatal Fitness Coach. On this show, we have open and honest conversations about all phases of motherhood, including fertility, pregnancy, birth, postpartum, menopause, and everything in between.
We also provide helpful education and information on fitness, the pelvic floor, and many aspects of women's health, including physical, mental, and emotional wellness. Please remember as you listen to this podcast that this is not meant to treat or diagnose any medical conditions. Please contact your medical provider if you have specific questions or concerns.
Thanks so much for joining us. Grab a cup of coffee. Or wine. And enjoy!
Hey Strong at Home friends, Rhonda here. Before we get into today's episode, I have a little announcement to make if you have been listening to the podcast for a while or following me on Instagram, you might know about my strong at home membership.
This is a membership that I started when I was early postpartum and feeling confused about what to do to get back into exercise. So strong at home is an easy to follow. Strength training program for busy moms who want to get strong and fit without leaving their house And my goal is ultimately for you to ditch the damaging All or nothing mindset around exercise and feel strong AF with only three workouts per week.
So the exciting offer I have right now, doors opened on Thursday, September 21st and they close this Friday on September, Friday, September 29th. And this is for a 50 percent off one month. trial. Really awesome way and no strings attached way affordable way for you to try out the strong at home membership and see if it's for you or if you're a practitioner that's listening that might have clients interested.
I would love, love, love for you to pass along this information. So another super cool thing, this is a brand new offer I am doing with this launch as well. If you choose the Full support tier of my membership. So I have two tiers One is the solo tier, which is just the workouts the full support tier Also provides a lot of support and encouragement from me.
I'm in there in true coach with you Encouraging you giving you modifications if needed every friday Um giving providing extra physiotherapy Support and exercises. If needed. If you choose that full support option. This is brand new. I've never done this before. I'm going to email you a 50 Amazon gift card.
So I would love for you to use this gift card for building your at home gym. So with that 50, you can put that towards a set of dumbbells. So 10s, 15s, even 20s, which should cover that. A yoga mat, if that's something you need. A foam roller, if you're in need of that. So I will put the details, I will put the link to the Strong at Home membership in the show notes.
And just a reminder that you just have the rest of this week to sign up. So doors do close Friday, September 29th. You can go to RhondaChamberlainPT. com Forward slash strong at home membership to check that out. I would love for you to join. Also one more thing. I forgot to mention if you do decide to sign up for the half off one month trial that discount is applied at checkout.
So you don't need a discount code or anything that discount will automatically go through when you check out. All right, let's get into today's episode. Hey everyone and welcome back to another episode of the Pelvic Health and Fitness Podcast. Rhonda here doing my second solo episode in a row, batching them today, getting used to these solo episodes of talking into the void without Dana.
Miss you, Dana. Um, today's topic I'm going to be talking about is how do I know if I'm getting better if I'm still dealing with pain and symptoms? This is a question I get often working with clients who come to me. with symptoms, say like leaking, heaviness, low back pain, hip pain, that type of thing, where they are frustrated, understandably so, that we've been working together for a little bit, we've been, you know, doing all the things, they've been seeing a pelvic floor physio, and symptoms are still there.
So this can be very challenging because our brain is hardwired for safety. So it's hardwired to pay attention to pain and it's not as great at noticing the times when we're not symptomatic. So this is what I help clients do, is I kind of talk through these five things we're talking about today to help them see that big picture, to help them realize that even if symptoms are still there.
They are making so many improvements and that is what healing can look like. So in a perfect world, we would have zero, sorry, pain today and zero pain tomorrow. That's just not realistic. That's not how healing works. Healing is not linear. Healing is more like a rollercoaster. There's going to be ups and downs across our journey.
There's many, many factors involved in that with which we've done an episode before, which I can link to that. possible reasons why your symptoms might have worsened lately. Um, so it's not, it's also not realistic to assume that you're going to be symptom free for the rest of your life. I wish I could tell you that.
I wish I could tell you that if you're dealing with like heaviness from your prolapse, that you're never ever going to deal with prolapse symptoms again. It's just not realistic. That's just not the truth. So red flag, if you see that online, if you see someone saying that they can do that for you, um, we are.
evolving changing human beings. So there's going to be again, many reasons why symptoms are going to come and go. So what I love to do is help empower my clients to learn about their bodies, learn, learn about different strategies, give them different tools in their toolbox. So when symptoms arise, not if, when symptoms arise, when pain arises, they don't need to panic because they know they have things that have worked in the past that will help them, you know, minimize and manage their pain again to get them feeling good and strong and healthy and minimize their pain for hopefully a long time until maybe it comes back again.
And again, they can use these strategies again when it does arise. So let's talk about five different things here. What healing can look like because healing is not simply an absence of symptoms. Okay. So number one, noticing your symptoms less often throughout the day. So in my intake with my clients, I talk to them about their pain experience, about their symptom experience.
And for example, let's use prolapse as that example, they're noticing heaviness. You know, five, 10 times throughout the day, every time they pick up their kiddo, every time they do the dishes, every time they do a squat. Every time they sit on the toilet, they're feeling that heaviness. So, you know, if they kind of sit back and think about it, it's many, many times throughout the day, they're noticing that heaviness.
And that of course can be very frustrating, very scary. So, you know, I validate their concerns and also remind them that there is so much we can do to minimize those symptoms, even if the heaviness remains. So. If number one, if you're noticing symptoms less often, so again, that example, five, 10 times throughout the day, noticing that heaviness, if they have to sort of sit and think about it.
So I'll say, you know, check in with you. When's the last time you notice your symptom? And they have to kind of sit there and think, Hmm, you know what? I actually didn't notice it today or I noticed it the only time I noticed it is when I did a squat. So I'll remind them. So do you remember when you first started to come see me?
Every time you picked up your kid, you had heaviness. Every time you sat on the toilet, there was heaviness. Every time you sat, sat down in general, you felt heaviness. And now the only time you felt it was when you did a squat. So their brain is going to be hardwired to think, well, I still have it. So, you know, I'm not healed.
You are healing. There are, you know, the fact that you're not feeling it as many times throughout the day is a wonderful indication that your body is healing. You're on the right path. We're making progress. Even if there's those ups and downs, we're making progress in the right direction. So that's number one.
Number two, symptoms that are less intense overall. So let's use back pain as an example. So again, when I assess my clients, I talk to them about their pain experience and I get them to rate their pain at a 10. And so, you know, clients will come to me consistently living in like five to six out of 10 pain, which I am here to tell you, you don't have to live that way.
You are, you know, able to move into different positions and change up your strategies to minimize that pain throughout the day. You don't have to live in 10 pain. So when we start working together, we work together for a few weeks, work on different exercises, strategies, pain control, all of that. And then I check on them and ask them, how is your pain experience?
What is your pain out of 10? And they think about it. And again, overall. I probably like a three to four out of 10. So again, our brain is hardwired to still have sort of like alarm bells to that. Like that's still painful. I'm still having pain. Remind them let's rewind. Let's look at that big picture. When you first started with me, your pain was consistently six to seven out of 10.
Now you're telling me it's three to four out of 10. So yes, there is still pain there. That is still very frustrating. However. It is improving. It's less intense. We're on the right path. We're on the right journey to getting you feeling better. Number three, able to do more in your workouts and able, able to do more in your day without symptoms.
So this is a big one in my practice because my, uh, form of physiotherapy is movement, exercise, strength, training based. So I talk to my clients about this all the time and sort of give them that big picture view. of what they could do when they started with me and what they can do now. So, for example, I have clients that, when they first come to me, they, let's use back pain as an example again, because that's an easy one, just simply, you know, doing a squat is painful, or You know, most movements are painful.
So in that first assessment, in that first treatment, we spend a lot of time just working on pain control. So, you know, showing them zed line position, laying on your back, legs up on the couch, pillow under your hips if that feels better, and they feel better. Their pain goes down. That is their movement session.
That is their homework, is pain control, hitting that reset button as many times throughout the day to keep that pain under control. Maybe we'll add in some mobility if that feels good for them that day. Maybe we'll add in just some gentle floor exercises like a glute bridge, side bridge, something like that, bird dog.
Again, if symptoms are feeling okay for them. Keeping it very minimal, right? And then ideally in that session, the goal is to not exacerbate their pain. So they leave that session. I, you know, say, give yourself a pat on the back, celebrate that win. That was your workout today. Even if it was just laying on the ground, because that is getting you towards your goal of feeling better.
And so, you know, we work together every week and over time, ideally we're adding a little more each week, say, you know, six weeks, eight weeks Bye. We are doing more. We're adding dumbbells to their session. We're adding load to their session. And for example, they are able to do a workout with like, you know, squats, a push, press a step up that kind of thing.
And they think, Oh my goodness, this is so challenging for me, Rhonda. Like I'm feeling good. My pain is good, but this is so hard. And so that's the, you know, a chance I take to say, let's rewind. Let's look at when he first came to see me on your first day. We, we laid on the ground, we did zed lying, and that was your workout.
The next week we added some glute bridges. We added some side bridges. We added some bird dogs. You felt good with that. And then just show them that big picture. So if this is you, if you're dealing with back pain, you've been working with somebody or you've been on your own, just trying to ease back into exercise.
Let yourself sort of see that big picture. Let yourself rewind back and remember how far you've come. If you keep like a log of your training, that's a great way to actually visibly see that progress that you're making. That is a great sign that you're making progress. That is a great sign that you're healing.
You're able to do more in your workouts. This can carry over into day to day life too. If you're able to reach to the top shelf with less shoulder pain than you could before. Great sign of progress, right? So look at that big picture. Look at what you're able to do functionally. And that will tell you that things are improving.
Number four, feeling stronger with your workouts and in your day. So this is sort of like in relation to number three, but just that feeling, that feeling of like, Wow, like I couldn't do, you know, an incline push up on the stairs before that was symptomatic that made that heaviness worse. And now I feel strong.
I feel like I can do that without symptoms. I feel like I can do that with more ease. You know, if incline push ups is the example. We start on like a countertop. So I get often clients to start on a countertop level, see how that feels, you know, often that can be challenging to start. And then eight, 10 weeks go by and we're now doing it on the stairs.
So we're doing at a lower level, able to do it with good form, feeling good, no symptoms. I remind them, do you remember that first session? We did the countertop and that was hard for you. Now you're working on the third step. And this is still challenging, but look how much more difficult that is. And you're doing it really, really well.
So that is a great way to measure progress, even if there's symptoms, even if there's like still some heaviness, when you try some of those harder skills and maybe you have to go to a little bit easier level, you're still making progress because you're still doing more than you were on that first session.
So remind yourself, that's another way to measure progress. And number five, feeling more confident and having more trust in your body. And again, this is can be sort of like a subjective one. Um, but I often talk to my clients about this at the end of our sessions. Like, how are you feeling? How are you feeling in your body?
How are you feeling now compared to when we first started working together? And often this is something people will say is, I just feel more confident. I feel, um, that I can trust my body more. I feel that I'm not as afraid to do movements as much as I was before. That, to me, is so huge. You know, again, like symptoms, yes, we want to get symptoms under control.
We want to start feeling better. But building that trust back in your body, having, again, those tools in your toolbox, and having those strategies that you know you can do to help yourself feel better, that builds so much trust, that builds so much respect for our body, and just that long term management of symptoms is so important.
So I think That this is my favorite one. Just like building that confidence for people. I love to see that. And I love to see people's face light up when they realize how much more they can do and how, how strong their body really is. I think, you know, society does a huge disservice to women where we're sort of taught like strength training.
is for men. And, you know, you don't want to get quote unquote too bulky as a woman with, as a woman with strength training. And I love to sort of just break down those barriers and just show you how important strength training is and how empowering it can feel to feel just really strong and confident in your body.
So those are my five ways to measure. How do I know if I'm getting bad, getting better, even if symptoms remain. So number one, noticing your symptoms less often throughout the day. Number two, symptoms that are just less intense overall. Number three, you're able to do more in your workouts or in your day to day life without symptoms.
Number four, feeling stronger in your workouts and in your day. And number five, feeling more confident and having more trust in your body. So I hope that helps if you're someone dealing with symptoms and you're frustrated by the fact that the symptoms still remain. Tune in and sort of look at that big picture for your body and for yourself to see if some of these things you're checking those boxes off to show you and prove to you that you are in fact improving, even if symptoms are still there.
So if you are interested in working with me one on one, this is a lot of these things I talk about is with my one on one clients. Um, I'm going to put that in the show notes, how you can. Learn more about my strong at home VIP, which is my one on one service, which is billed as physiotherapy for Ontario residents.
Check that out. You can book with me. I still have some spots open for the fall. Um, if you're looking for sort of DIY or do it on your own, uh, workout program that also helps you get back into fitness. Learn to minimize those symptoms, learn to build trust and confidence, check out my strong at home membership.
Thanks as always again for tuning in and listening everybody, and I hope this helps. Thanks for listening to today's podcast. We hope you enjoyed the conversation. If you liked what you heard, we would love if you could share this with a friend, leave us a review, or subscribe to anywhere that you listen to your podcasts.
Thanks for being here.
