OPTimize Physical Therapy and Wellness

Do your shoulders creep up in to your ears when you are stressed? Without you even noticing?

Try check ins during stressful times, like setting a timer on your phone for every hour to reconnect with you neck and shoulders! And make sure you can relax them enough to drop them away from your ears.

BUT

You know where else tension is commonly held and goes unnoticed until dysfunction?!

Your pelvic floor!

There are a lot of factors leading to this including your breathing, posture, activity level, and so on…

But your pelvic floor tends to be not as easy as your shoulders to connect to!

So what can you do to try to connect?

Try belly breathing with your focus on your pelvic floor moving down when you breathe in and up when you breathe out!

Still not feeling any movement?

Try reaching out to a pelvic PT!

Getting connected now can prevent pelvic floor dysfunction in the future and is the first step to treating dysfunction if you have some currently!

Tonight’s the night! Log in to learn more about your lymphatic system and how you can show it some love!

What does lipedema of the legs look like?
It looks like…
All-over cellulite
Rippling appearance to skin
Marble like deposits under skin
Fat pockets above and on the inside of the knee
Fat pockets around the ankles
Loss of normal bony contours
Significant disproportion of thighs/hips to lower leg OR columnar legs (like this picture when calves are involved)
Disproportionate waist to hip ratio
Easy to bruise
Initial sparing of feet (will progress to swelling due to lymphatic involvement! This picture has some venous foot involvement)

What does it feel like?
Pain
Dullness
Heaviness
Aching
Numbness/tingling
Coolness of the skin to touch

What is it associated with?
Hypermobility of joints/connective tissue disorder
Venous issues
Hormonal shifts

What it should NOT be associated with?
Laziness.

Making this post to let all of the lipedema ladies out there know that you are not alone! If you have been searching for answers for your symptoms and your legs look like this, reach out to your local CLT! We can start conservative treatment and refer to the physicians in the area trained to treat lipedema!

June is Lipedema Awareness Month, With a condition as misdiagnosed as this one, it is VITAL to increase awareness in as many avenues as possible; so please share this! Approximately 11% of women have lipedema. Most of us know of at least one person dealing with this condition.

Lipedema is often misdiagnosed for obesity, which can be frustrating and cause of loss of hope in the medical system and feelings of not having support.
Lipedema’s main symptoms include
• Pain
• Heaviness
• Fullness
• Abnormal fat buildups in specific areas
• Fatty texture of marbles under the skin
• Easy bruising
• Cooler skin temperature
• Swelling
• Tenderness to touch
• Fatigue
As Lipedema progresses, we often see difficulty in mobility due to changed shape and joint pain.

What can you do about it?
1. Share this post and get the word out!
2. Find your local CLT (certified lymphedema therapist). They know the providers in the area that understand lipedema.
• They will evaluate you and start treatment! I use MLD, compression, exercise, KT taping, dietary education, lifestyle modification often with my folks! I will sometimes refer for a pump company if you have lipo-lymphedema or swelling as a symptom!
3. Start a stability program. One study found that up to 70% of women with lipedema had hypermobility. Prevent joint pain with stability!
• Between 40-60% of women with lipedema also have pelvic floor disorders which is linked with hypermobility as well.
4. Be diligent in your skin care program that your CLT gives you.
5. Find your community! There is support for you, it is all about awareness to find support groups. I am a part of many Facebook support groups and love the tips and tricks everyone shares.

Have any questions/comments/concerns or just want to talk about lipedema? Please reach out. I am passionate about treating and advocating for lipedema. More posts on how to identify lipedema to come!

Pelvic floor and lymphatics are personal topics that aren’t often shared on Google reviews. However, sometimes the results are so good that they have to be shared! Thank you for the review and so happy to be getting you back on track!

Looking for a trustworthy, quality provider?
Ditch searching up symptoms on Google, waiting weeks to see a provider you aren’t sure that you trust, and being frustrated with the authorization process and check this out!

DB2 Regeneration Clinics DB2 Prioritizes your well-being over insurance interests, nurturing patient-provider relationships

MLD sessions are beneficial for many people- including post-op!
Fullness, tightness, and heaviness are common post-op sensations that are normal during your healing process. These symptoms are expected to decline within the first two weeks of surgery and should be gone most of the time by 4 weeks, and fully gone by 6 weeks.
However, some of us have a tendency to hold on to inflammation due to comorbidities, stress, diet, and lifestyle (those desk jobs can make your rehab feel like an uphill, losing battle!).
If you are dealing with stubborn swelling OR if you want to get ahead of your swelling to decrease rehab time, reach out to us! This patient had an immediate relief in symptoms with no feelings of pressure the next day; as well as a reduction of 1 cm in each measurement point.

Exciting news!
The Optimize family will be gaining a little one!
After spending much of her practice working with the pregnancy and postpartum population, Sam has entered this journey herself and will be having her baby later this summer.
In preparation for her maternity leave, Sam will no longer be taking new pelvic patients.
If you are a new pelvic patient that was planning to schedule, reach out to us or stay posted for some more exciting news coming next week! (Hint. Optimize will still be offering pelvic floor services!)