What is your current position?
Senior Women’s Health & Continence Physiotherapist for Lifecare, Perth
Clinical Pilates Instructor at Lifecare
Director and Instructor for FitRight
What led you into women's health physio?
I started my physiotherapy career with Lifecare eight years ago, as a new graduate at Southcare, St John of God Murdoch. A large part of my role in the first year turned out to be working on the maternity ward there, St Mary’s, and I absolutely fell in love with working with women at such a beautiful time in their lives. I was so convinced that this was the area of physiotherapy that I wanted to work in, that I signed up to start my Masters training the following year.
What do you enjoy the most about it?
Women’s and Men’s health issues can often be very embarrassing and can significantly lower quality of life. It is so rewarding to be able to talk openly with patients and then to help them manage and very often cure their problems.
I also really enjoy the fact that I can take my clients from the assessment room into a pilates or hydrotherapy class and help them to manage their health in a holistic way.
Do you have a specific area of specialty or interest within women's health?
Yes, I am particularly interested in pelvic floor friendly exercise options for women through the lifespan. Unfortunately I see a lot of women who have inadvertently given themselves problems by doing inappropriate exercise at bootcamps and gyms. This is why I chose ‘stress urinary incontinence in women who attend gyms’ as my masters research project, and why I have started the business FitRight. FitRight offers exercise classes, education classes and an exercise DVD for women in pregnancy and after having a baby. I hope that by educating this population of women as to what constitutes ‘pelvic floor friendly’ exercise, we can create a generation of women who have fewer issues later in life!
Describe an average 'day at the office'
I work mainly in the afternoons and evenings, so I will often get up early and go for a run, get myself a coffee and sit down to my emails – there are often FitRight queries and bookings to attend to! Then in the late morning, I will usually take a FitRight Postnatal exercise class, including baby massage and then a postnatal pilates class while some lovely volunteers look after the babies. I spend the afternoons working for Lifecare, treating clients or running clinical pilates classes, and finish my day at about 7:30pm, occasionally with a FitRight Pregnancy exercise class.
Name an area of research you would like to see done in women's/men's/pelvic floor health?
There has been some great research recently into conservative management of stress urinary incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse, which has shown that in many cases Women’s Health and Continence Physiotherapists can help to adequately manage these issues without needing surgery. I would love to see more and more research done into this area so that the word gets out there to medical professionals – refer these patients to us early before their issues are severe, and they have a very good chance of avoiding surgery later in life!
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 would say that I completely understand that it may be a confronting and embarrassing issue to admit to, but I promise that making the first appointment will be the hardest part! After that you will be in the capable hands of someone who will listen with compassion and teach you how to manage your issues so that you can get on with living your life to the fullest.
What is an aspect of women's/men's health that gives you job satisfaction
When a patient comes back to me and tells me that an issue that they’ve been dealing with for years, that they thought was an inevitable part of ageing, has been resolved! Especially if it means that the patient can now do something or partake in something that they previously had to avoid. That is very satisfying!
A FEW FUN QUESTIONS SO WE CAN GET TO KNOW YOU BETTER
Cats or Dogs? Dogs!
Beach or Bush? Both – Swanbourne Beach in the morning and a Kings Park bush walk in the afternoon!
Coffee or Tea? Coffee
Full cream or skim? HiLo ..a compromise between the two
Fruit or veg? I love both
Home cooked or Restaurant? I love home cooking most of the time, but there’s nothing like getting dressed up and spoiling yourself at a nice restaurant.
Camping or 5 star? I’m a bit precious I think – I prefer 5 star!
Your name and qualifications
Taryn Watson Bachelor of Science (Physiotherapy) Masters of Clinical Physiotherapy (Continence & Women’s Health)
You can drop by and say hi to Taryn on her websites and Facebook pages
FitRight website FitRght Facebook
Lifecare Physiotherapy Lifecare Facebook
