Gillian McCabe Physiotherapy for Women

💦 Summer Leak-Free Program 💦

For those of you ladies with pesky bladder leaks, we have created a 12-week physiotherapy-led rehabilitation programme to help you to get dry in 3 months.

If you join in June, you can aim to be dry by September. How amazing would that be!

*Week 1 - Assessment (1hr)*
Your physiotherapist will take some time to discuss your symptoms and medical history. You will also receive a thorough assessment of your posture, breathing, core, hips and pelvic floor. Please note that an internal vaginal assessment is on offer for you during this session. After your assessment, you will receive a home program to work on via email.

*Week 2 - Improving connection*
Your physiotherapist will review your progress from the work you've completed at home and answer any questions you have. Another pelvic exam will be ideal to gauge how to progress your program for the coming weeks.

*Week 4 - Becoming Stronger*
As your connection and technique improves, you will be asked to progress your exercises to new positions, working against gravity and even loading up with weights or resistance.

*Week 6-8 -Functional Integration*
During this session, your physiotherapist will help you to add movement - stepping, clockface lunges, other specific movements that may have caused you to leak. You will continue with these exercises at home until your next review.

*Week 8-12 Symptom Improvement *
The majority of our clients that are invested in their program find that by this time, their leaks are minimal or even absent. During this session, your physiotherapist will discuss where you are and any shortfalls in reaching your goals. You will receive an ongoing programme/maintenance plan. And you will have the option of more treatment or a 3 month review to check progress.

If you can give 10-15 minutes a day and take on the challenges of the program consistently, you could be dry and pad-free by September! Our physiotherapists will be here to guide and support you along your way.

You can start the program by booking an initial pelvic health assessment today. You will then receive a confirmation email which includes a number of forms to fill out. See our link in bio.

Appointments Available on Thursday 4th June for Musculoskeletal Services with Sophie .and.ease

If you are experiencing pain in your back, shoulder, knee, hip or any part of your body and would like an expert to assess the area and provide a programme of treatment and exercise to help you in your recovery, Sophie can fit you in on Thursday.

If you feel the need to release tensions and pulls throughout your body or if you feel the need to loosen tight muscles after a period of working out or training for an event, Sophie can offer specialist soft tissue therapy treatments on Thursday.

You can easily book an appointment via our website or the link in our bio.

Any questions, message us here or via our email address.

"You've changed my life!"

We hear this a lot from our clients that have persevered through their rehabilitation journey.

It's always great to hear.

Our physiotherapists provide expert care, but more than that, they provide care with compassion. They give you time to tell your story, what's really bothering you, how symptoms really make you feel.

"I feel so listen to!"

This is another comment we get regularly. We used to say, well it's the luxury of private practice, we can give you the time to say what you need to say. But should we only expect this as a luxury option? Our feeling is, no, being heard and taken seriously should be standard.

When, as health professionals, we take the time to hear our patients, we are more likely to look at the real issues, we are more likely to investigate and treat the right things at the right time. And when we get the start right, the rest will follow, maybe not easily, but we will be tuned into the path our patients should be travelling on.

We don't aim to get you hooked on physio, but we aim to reconnect you with your bodies, to know when there is a problem, and to teach you how to use the tools in your toolbox to regain control and move on with life confidently.

If this sounds like a rehab path you want to travel on, book an initial assessment via our link in bio.

We have some availability this week. Take a look at our online calendar to see if a slot suits you.

Tuesday - Fully Booked
Wednesday - Pelvic Health Assessment & treatment slots
Thursday - Musculoskeletal Physiotherapy and Soft Tissue Massage Slots
Friday - Pelvic Health Assessment and Treatment Slots

You can book via the link in our bio.

🖋️ Your Pelvic Health Story🖋️

It's not easy to pluck up the courage to book in and see a pelvic health physiotherapist. Either, you don't know what to expect and that makes you nervous, or you know what to expect and you're afraid of being told, "you'll just have to live with this"

Hearing about another woman's journey to better pelvic health can be a very encouraging read, especially if they are reading about someone whose experience was similar to theirs.

We include pelvic health stories on our website and we can share them in our newsletter too. We would love to promote what pelvic health physiotherapy can do for your physical and mental wellbeing.

We want to share what feeling listened to and empowered with knowledge of how your body works means to you. What the process of physio is and how you will likely feel during it. What kind of expectations are there of you in the process. What did you find challenging and what did you find surprising?

Scrolling through social media, searching the web or reading a newsletter and finding your life mirrored back at you, all your fears and concerns, but also a way out, a road to recovery and rehabilitation, a solution to the problem. How uplifting!

Have you gone through the pelvic health journey with one of our physiotherapists? Would you like to share your experience with other women who are yet to find their path?

Please contact us via the website, email or DM us here.

🚽 Over Active Bladder Syndrome 🚽

12-15% of adults in the UK have overactive bladder, that's between 7-8 million individuals!

It becomes more common as we age but can affect younger adults too. It can affect both men and women, but women tend to report it more often.

So what is normal bladder function?
* Frequency: about 4–8 times per day
* Night: 0–1 times overnight (more can be normal with age)
* Volume per void: roughly 300–500 ml
* Control: you can delay the urge without leaking
* Sensation: urge builds gradually, not suddenly overwhelming

What is Overactive Bladder?
* Urgency (a sudden, hard-to-delay need to p*e)
* Often with frequency (going too often)
* Sometimes urge incontinence (leakage before getting there)
* +/- nocturia (waking at night to go)

What's the best treatment approach?
1. First-line: Behavioural & lifestyle
* Bladder training
* Gradually increase time between voids
* Teaches the bladder to tolerate filling again
* Fluid management
* Avoid both over- and under-drinking
* Reduce bladder irritants: caffeine, alcohol, fizzy drinks
* Pelvic floor muscle training
* Helps suppress urgency via reflex inhibition
* Especially important if there’s leakage
* Urgency suppression strategies
* Stop, sit/stand still
* Pelvic floor contractions (“quick flicks”)
* Calm breathing until urge settles

2. Second-line: Medications
* Antimuscarinics (e.g. oxybutynin, solifenacin)
* Beta-3 agonists (e.g. mirabegron)

These help relax the bladder but can have side effects (dry mouth, constipation, etc.)

3. Third-line (specialist care)
* Bladder Botox injections
* Nerve stimulation (e.g. tibial nerve stimulation)
* Sacral neuromodulation

OAB is not just a bladder problem—it’s often a nervous system + pelvic floor coordination issue.

In physio practice (especially pelvic health), we often see:
* Overactive pelvic floor muscles
* Poor pressure management (breath/core connection)
* Learned “just in case” voiding habits

Pelvic physiotherapy can help you implement new lifestyle habits, relax and down train your pelvic floor and also down regulate your nervous system.

You can book via our website, see the link in our bio.

🤱🏽Post Natal Myth Busting 🤱🏽

We will definitely hear one of these myths while in clinic with our clients this week.

"I'm bound to leak, I've had a baby"

"It's support to feel heavy and bulging after birth"

"I don't want to return to s*x, I've been told it will be painful"

"I've had a baby now, so my abs will never be the same again"

"I just don't feel like me down there anymore, but I can't feel bad because I have a beautiful baby"

"I want to exercise, I NEED to exercise but it just makes me feel rubbish and so so tired"

"I know I'll never feel my scar again, and I'll always have a shelf and overhang, it's just they way it is after birth"

Is it?

We see so many clients achieving dry exercise, no leakage when sneezing, enjoyable s*x, no pain with exercise, a tummy that looks even better than before and regaining their confidence in their bodies!

It can be done, and these myths shouldn't be settled for.

Why not book an assessment to see what you can do about those things that are niggling you after childbirth?

You can easily book an assessment using our website booking system, see the link in our bio.

👶 Post Natal 6-Week Check 👶

Sometimes, the postnatal checks after you have delivered your baby can feel all about your baby and not really about you.

Here is what should happen:
> Early Post Natal Checks with your midwife (often on days 1, 5, 10), usually at home or via community midwives and should have a focus on your physical recovery, feeding, your baby's wellbeing, safeguarding and your mental health.

> Handover to your health visitor for ongoing support via the Health Child Wales Programme

> Your GP 6-week postnatal check and a separate check for your baby at the same time - this should cover aspects like your mental health, bleeding, your sense of recovery, pain symptoms and your pelvic health, your c-section and perineal healing, contraception discussions and BP/ weight checks if needed (‼️ did you know that you often have to request and book this as it's not always proactively arranged for you ‼️)

This ideal service varies across Wales and in a recent Welsh Government survey, many families reported poor post natal support and gaps in mental health care.

Our services are not based within the NHS model, they do cost you money but we are here to provide a thorough post natal pelvic health assessment guided by you, your experiences and your needs and goals. We give you time to voice your concerns and we follow that up with a comprehensive physical assessment of your posture, breathing patterns, abdominals, scars (abdominal / perineal), pelvic floor, hips and overall function.

If you are dealing with mental health issues such as anxiety and depression following your delivery, we have access to a network of mental health practitioners which we can refer you to for the support you need.

We also collaborate with female and post natal specific fitness professionals who can guide you further along your rehabilitation journey.

You can book your post natal assessment at any point after your delivery via our online booking system in our link in our bio.

💦 Stress Urinary Incontinence 💦

Around 14 million people in the UK have some degree of urinary incontinence. That's roughly 20-30% of the adult population.

Stress Urinary Incontinence (SUI) is the most common type of incontinence recorded. Approximately 30-40% of women with incontinence have SUI. About 1 in 3 women will experience SUI at some point in life.

‼️ Many women don't seek help for this life-limiting condition, many find it too embarrassing to talk about. This is so sad because there is help that may be more simple than they ever would have thought ‼️

The risk for SUI increases with pregnancy and the number of births, menopause, the ageing process and a higher BMI. But there is a high prevalence in young active women and athletes (30-60% prevalence in some sports).

It's not just a post natal problem, women can leak even if they have never had a pregnancy.

It's common, but not normal.

Our specialist pelvic health physiotherapists can help you to identify the cause of the problem. *SPOILER*: it's not always a 'weak pelvic floor' and you won't always be asked to 'do more kegels'.

We use a thorough assessment process to identify your risk factors, your linking medical histories and your lifestyle factors that may be contributing to your problem. We also spend time identifying the function of every pelvic floor muscle, but also your core, abdominal pressure management, hip function, coordination and timing.

Our programmes are designed to help you reach your specific goal, whether it's a dry school run/walk, or a dry park run 5k, or a dry Hyrox or even a dry hay fever season!

You can book your initial pelvic health assessment today and start your rehabilitation journey now by clicking our link in our bio.

Musculoskeletal Physiotherapy appointments available at Station House Health & Wellbeing in the with strength.and.ease Sophie Bloor.

Sophie is an experienced physiotherapist who is able to help you with injury rehabilitation, pain conditions, hypermobility and general aches that are limiting your daily life.

Sophie also offers soft tissue massage sessions to release those tight muscles and help you move more freely and prevent future injury or pain.

You can easily book via our website, message here, or use our digital assistant (phone number on our website).

Another lovely weekend of digging deeper into pelvic health with my Pelvicademy buddies at our quarterly ‘bring & share’ session.

And then a trip to London to teach our first UK Advanced novuqarepelvichealth MAPLe training day organised by Pioneer Medical Europe and hosted by prolapsestrength.

We refreshed our pelvic neuromuscular anatomy, the pathophysiology of pelvic health conditions, learned how to master MAPLe signal interpretation in assessment, identified muscle recruitment patterns, planned & executed multimodal rehabilitation programmes, dug deeper into electrical stimulation of the pelvic floor and finished with a bit of fun functional pelvic floor training.

Our biggest takeaways?
- treat the pattern first and symptom relief will likely follow
- keep functional anatomy and mechanisms in mind when planning treatment strategies
- prioritise treatment planning carefully
- don’t under treat dysfunction when symptoms are minimal or absent