I was introduced to Brooke through another physical therapist at i’Move who I really respected. Brooke quickly became someone I was very impressed with and very sad I moved away from because I wish I could be utilizing her knowledge and talent.
I asked Brooke to chat with us because many women and men (yes!) could benefit from working with a pelvic floor physical therapist and I wanted to shed light on what she does.
Tell my readers a little about you!
I finished my bachelor’s in science as well as my doctorate at GVSU. I have since completed a fellowship in Applied Functional Science and countless courses for pelvic health including women’s health, men’s health, and visceral mobilization.
Aside from my work life, my spouse, Taylor, and I have two kids (4 and almost 6) and one dog. I enjoy running with my kids and dog, weight lifting, and reading. I also have a major sweet tooth, which is why there is almost always candy somewhere in my office. (Same, girl, same!)
Tell us about what you do as a pelvic floor specialist/physical therapist and how you got started.
I am currently the director of pelvic health at i’Move Physical Therapy and Sports Performance treating people with male or female anatomy. I treat a range of conditions involving the pelvic floor or core including incontinence, pregnancy and postpartum conditions, pelvic pain, prolapse, etc.
I’m not exactly sure what initially triggered my interest in pelvic health, but even when I was in graduate school I wanted to work in pelvic health. I’ve always been one of those people who tends to hear everyone’s TMI stories, and it continued as I started working in physical therapy. People would tell me about issues with incontinence or pain with intercourse and ask for advice, which made me want to keep learning everything I could to help them improve. At this point, I have heard pretty much everything (and I mean EVERYTHING), so very few things can actually take me by surprise. It’s an area that so many people feel uncomfortable bringing up or having open conversations about, so my goal has been to normalize the conversations and remove the stigma surrounding pelvic health so everyone can live their best lives.
Who do you tend to work with?
I have a pretty wide variety of people I work with. The pelvic health population can vary from recovering from surgery (i.e., hysterectomy, cesarean, or prostatectomy), to incontinence, pelvic pain, and more. I also work with general orthopedic patients. With my background, I treat a lot of dancers (I was a nationally competing dancer growing up) and runners, but I still love working with post-op patients or other orthopedic injuries. Because I’m a bit eccentric, I also tend to get a lot of patients that are a bit quirky themselves, which keeps things lively and fun for me!
What are some of the most common questions and/or issues you hear and see?
Between pelvic health and orthopedics, I really do have a huge variety of cases I see in a day. I guess I often have people ask if there is hope they’ll actually see improvements with therapy, especially if it has been a problem for a long time. There are times when patients have been dealing with various ailments for decades and can finally start to heal, which is super rewarding!
What are a few of the tried-and-true tips or tricks you share with clients?
A really easy place to start for many conditions is focusing on breathing (belly breathing, side breathing, back breathing, and breathing into the pelvic floor). Starting there can help open up our posture as well as decrease our sympathetic nervous system responses (fight/flight/freeze) to reduce pain and anxiety.
Similarly, breathing coordination can help with stress incontinence or back/disc issues. Holding your breath during activities can increase strain on your pelvic floor and build up pressure in your abdomen, putting strain on your back/discs. To avoid this increase in pressure, take a deep breath in BEFORE coughing/sneezing/lifting and exhale on exertion.
For people dealing with urge incontinence: freeze, squeeze, breathe. When you feel a strong urge and worry you might leak: stop what you are doing (freeze), do a Kegel (squeeze), and take a deep breath (breathe) before making your way to the bathroom.
What are your favorite self-care habits and/or splurges?
If you ask my spouse, I have a bit of a problem with running shoes. I usually have 4-5 pairs at a time and have run in most brands at this point. I have a very low arch and run some distance events, so I need to take care of my feet. Plus, my thinking is: how can I give someone advice on running shoes if I haven’t run in them myself?! Just thinking about it makes me want to buy another pair.
In terms of self-care: I love soaking in a bath. I have my own bathtub that no one else is allowed to use that has face masks, bath bombs, and a bath pillow. I’ll usually bring whatever I’m reading and lock myself away for a little bit.
What’s one (or two) products you swear by? (For anything! Fitness, nutrition, skincare, clothing…)
Warby Parker glasses. I love them so much. My spouse and I both have pretty bad eyesight, and these glasses are super easy to order, durable, cute, and very affordable. Lush bath bombs. Their company, values, and products are fantastic!
What are you reading or listening to right now?
My reading trends vary from time to time. I read two or three books a week on average and have read anywhere from romance to fantasy to literary classics. Lately, I’ve been reading more light-hearted rom-coms, but that could change at any point.
Who do you love to follow on social media?
I’m not the most exciting person on social media, so I follow a few pelvic health providers (Expecting and Empowered, Sarah Duvall, APTA pelvic health) and I’m a part of a few groups where other providers will post about new courses, case studies, or difficult cases which can be really helpful when you have a tricky case as there are thousands of providers in these groups able to give feedback and advice.
On a non-professional side, I also follow dogs and cats of Instagram for obvious reasons and parenting pages like Scary Mommy and Spicy Disaster Mama.
Okay… You have a day off… Completely to yourself… What do you do!?
I honestly cannot tell you the last time I had a day to myself (it has seriously been years)! I would probably spend the day being as boring as possible by running, drinking coffee, and just reading all day. (Sounds like my perfect day, too, Brooke!)
