Well the WHFS summit is over and done in a flash.

What did I do?

As bronze sponsors for the event I spent a few minutes telling everyone about our company and what we do...

Fiona introducing Pelvic Floor Exercise

Who did I meet?

I had the pleasure of meeting in person, my colleague, the beautiful Heba Shaheed of The Pelvic Expert who did her first ever presentation at a conference as part of The Platform which Mish created specially to allow first time presenters an opportunityto share their knowledge. Heba is a women's health physio in Sydney and spoke about The Tight Hypertonic Pelvic Floor.

Heba and Fiona enjoying a pre-summit dinner and chat

 

Still seems quite surreal that I actually met Elaine Miller, aka Gusset Grippers, with whom I have been Facebook friends for 2 years. All the way from Scotland as keynote speaker, I actually sat with Elaine at dinner (squee!), and drank a long promised Espresso Martini with her and tried to solve the problem of how do we make the topic of continence newsworthy and sexy in order to catch on...a topic she expanded upon in her talk . Yes she is a very funny lady but a very smart one too....

Elaine and Fiona sharing Espresso Martinis and ideas on getting the pelvic floor health message to the world

I actually got to compare heels with Jenny Burrell ( OMG the lady known for her heels admired mine - another moment of 'be still my beating heart' !)

Here  is Jenny with Mr PFE Craig, who is taller than any of us even when we wear heels!

 

I met many peers with whom I have interacted but was yet to meet.  ... and met up with many old friends

What did I  learn?

  • That there are many passionate women and a few men - working in WH
  • That the time has come , the revolution is starting within women's health and fitness
  • We have to work together to get the message out to women that their pelvic health counts, it is a priority and there are people to help
  • That women need to work hard but safe
  • Hard for bone health , muscle strength , hormonal balance
  • Safe for their pelvic floor
  • Smart for their ongoing health and to preserve their sanity - 'me' time is important - Jenny pushed that message
  • If you don't make time for your self then everyone suffers
  • #sharethefloor is the new hashtag suggested
  • In the session on how do we do this, Elaine Miller brilliantly led us through the politics and economics of why pelvic health should be a priority
  • Long term money saving is easy if conservative treatment is optimised across the world
  • We have the evidence
  • We have the means
  • We now need the impetus, the push and the drive to bombard our politicians , our health services and our fellow health professions to normalise the accessing and referral to pelvic health specialists for treatment and for appropriate exercise.
  • Work together , refer together
  • We can help save women from incontinence and prolpse that is preventable by exercising smart and doing individual assessments and programs for their needs, not recipies.

 

Where to from here?

We need to work together - all health professionals - in order to normalise talking openly and freely about pelvic floor conditions, so women are not embarrassed to talk, ask questions and seek help.

Early intervention , treatment and appropriate exercises and activities will save women from debilitating continence and prolapse issues.

Do your part : talk , encourage and support your friends and end the shame associated with pelvic floor conditions and remember...

IT MAY BE COMMON BUT IT IS NOT NORMAL !!