FFP 101 | Pelvic Pain and Inflammation | Functional Nutrition | Pelvic Floor Physiotherapy | Jessica Drummond

Jessica is the Founder and CEO of the Integrative Women's Health Institute and is passionate about caring for and empowering women who struggle with women’s and pelvic health conditions. She is equally passionate about educating and supporting clinicians in confidently and safely using integrative tools to transform women's pelvic healthcare.

Having over a decade of experience as a women’s and pelvic physical therapist plus owning a private women’s health clinical nutrition and coaching practice gives her a unique perspective on the integrative, conservative options for pelvic pain management.

Jessica was educated at the University of Virginia, Emory University, The Institute of Integrative Nutrition, and Duke Integrative Medicine.  She is currently a doctoral student in clinical nutrition at Maryland University of Integrative Health

In today’s show, we talk about pelvic health, what causes pelvic pain and inflammation and how to address these issues from a functional medicine perspective.

Topics discussed in today's episode

• How does pelvic pain impact the quality of life for women?
• How are the pelvic floor muscles interconnected?
• What factors contribute to pelvic pain in women?
• The structural factors that contribute to pelvic pain (i.e. birth or physical trauma)
• The link between food sensitivities, inflammation, hormone imbalance and pelvic pain
• The importance of connecting with your pelvic area, your vulva, vagina and knowing your basic anatomy and physiology
• The connection between pelvic pain and gut health
• Why it is important to be diagnosed if you think you may have endometriosis
• Differentiating between muscle tension, tightness, weakness and strength
• The psychosocial connection to pelvic pain
• What is pelvic floor physiotherapy?
• Are Kegels the best exercise for strengthening the pelvic floor muscles?
• Is it possible to heal and restore the integrity of the pelvic floor muscles after childbirth?
• What is the best way to engage and strengthen the pelvic floor muscles?

Connect with Jessica

You can connect with Jessica on her Website and on Facebook and Twitter

Resources mentioned

• Integrative Women's Health Institute | Jessica Drummond
• FFP 027 | The Impact of Sexual Abuse on Fertility and Infertility | Part 2 | Dr. Erica Berman
• FFP 009 | Sacred Fertility Foods | The key to having healthy babies and a healthy pregnancy | Sally Fallon-Morell

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Music Credit: Intro/Outro music Produced by J-Gantic

Sponsored By

This episode is sponsored by Circle + Bloom! Click here to receive 20% off Circle + Bloom products! Make sure to use discount code: FertilityFriday at checkout!