A FEW MOMENTS WITH Alyssa Tait

What is your current position?

Physiotherapist and Owner of Equilibria Physiotherapy & Nutrition

What led you into women's health physio?

An obsession with my bladder as a child. A desire to help women who are dealing with the most awkward, icky, embarrassing problems. A desire to be the clinician that I would have wanted to see.
I started my private practice because I wanted to be free to work in all the areas that fascinate me, from pelvic floor to chronic pain to fertility to gut health and beyond.

What do you enjoy the most about it?

Seeing the worried look disappear as the session progresses. The privilege of being entrusted with such private and personal stories. The smiles on the faces of the women (and their partners) when they tell me excitedly about how they were able to have sex. Solving the puzzle of IBS when the patient has been at their wit’s end. The wonderful variety: a child with recurrent urinary tract infection, a teenager with vaginismus, a young woman with polycystic ovarian syndrome, a couple struggling to have a baby, all in the space of a couple of hours.

Do you have a specific area of specialty or interest within women's health?

Painful sex. Recurrent urinary tract infections. Persistent thrush. Irritable bowel syndrome. All types of persistent pelvic pain, especially vulvodynia, vaginismus and pudendal neuralgia. Fertility. Too many!

Describe an average 'day at the office'

Rewarding! Half an hour of reflection on and preparation for my patients for the day, then with patients all day. At lunchtime, researching, reading articles, listening to webinars, devouring information! Writing for my website, an information hub on pelvic issues, when I can. You can read my blog here.

Name an area of research you would like to see done in women's/men's/pelvic floor health?

 The contribution of nutritional problems to vulvodynia. The use of herbs in chronic urinary tract infection. The effect of meditation on “shy bladder”.

What is one thing you would like to say to someone who is considering taking that step and making an appointment with their local women's health physiotherapist?

I know how hard it can be to have the guts to share such personal information but rest easy – we women’s health physios really care and really want to help you. I love to see how women walk out of the clinic doors standing a little taller and looking like a load has been lightened. As one of my very nervous patients said after her first appointment, “You’re not scary at all!”

 

A FEW FUN QUESTIONS SO WE CAN GET TO KNOW YOU BETTER

Cats or Dogs? Dogs!

Beach or Bush? Beach! And a smooth path to rollerblade.

Coffee or Tea? Herbal tea.

Full cream or skim? Dairy free. I do coconut cream.

Fruit or veg? Still aspiring to 5 cups of veggies a day.

Home cooked or Restaurant? Home cooked…just not by me!

Camping or 5 star? Oh dear…5 star, I’m afraid. At an eco-friendly resort.

 

Your name and qualifications Alyssa Tait  Bachelor of Physiotherapy

Postgraduate Certificate in Physiotherapy (Continence and Pelvic Floor Rehabilitation)

Advanced Diploma of Naturopathy

Advanced Diploma of Nutritional Medicine

Advanced Diploma of Western Herbal Medicine

Graduate Diploma in Health Science (Nutrition Medicine)

Accredited Teacher of the Billings Ovulation Method

You can drop by and say hi to Alyssa at her website , on Twitter and Facebook

Equilibria Physiotherapy & Nutrition, Salisbury, Queensland.

www.equilibriahealth.com.au

www.twitter.com/alyssatait1

Facebook – Equilibria