Breathing and Pelvic Floor Dysfunction

Last week I delivered a training module for my teacher trainees on breathing dysfunction as part of the 6 month mentorship support included in the teacher training.

We cover breathing dysfunction in the online theory and practical but there are some breathing patterns that often show up with our clients that don't necessarily fit into those boxes. 

One of these dysfunctions in similar to paradoxical breathing but only shows up when the client focusses on lateral breathing. When their normal breathing pattern is observed they don't present as a paradoxical breather.

This breathing pattern shows up during lateral breathing and looks like this.....

➡️ Client breathes into the ribs and belly draws in on inhale and out on the exhale

➡️ This is the opposite to what we're looking for during lateral breathing

➡️ We want upper abdomen to rise up with the overflow inhale breath and down with the exhale

This can happen because........

❌ The client is trying too hard to get the ribs to expand on the inhale so they actively stretch the ribs apart rather than letting the diaphragm descend on the inhale

❌ The client is breathing into the ribs but is sucking the belly in - abdominal bracing. This creates more pressure not less pressure and can affect pelvic floor tone and movement.

In the additional training we broke down what we see with each presentation- paradoxical, forced lateral breathing and abdominal gripping and how to coach people out of those patterns. 

Apical breathing, belly breathing and paradoxical breathing are easy to spot but could you spot if your client is doing one of the above?

So many teachers aren't picking up on these patterns- I see big names in pelvic health posting videos on instagram where there clients are presenting with this sucking in on the inhale during hypopressives. 

Why does this matter?

➡️ When we do a forced lateral breath and actively stretch the ribs we may not get the full descent of the diaphragm and affecting how much the pelvic floor lengthens and releases. This can compound already tight pelvic floor muscles. Without a full inhale, the exhale and lengthening/ ascent of the diaphragm may be impacted impacting our apnoea. 

➡️ Abdominal bracing reduces volume and increases pressure. As the diaphragm descends we need the abdominals to make more space not less. Bracing can also tension the pelvic floor muscles further preventing descent from taking place. 

These two patterns can be really problematic for your clients- especially those who already suffer from leakage and prolapse. We want to make things better not worse!

Want to learn more? Click here to see the full teacher training programme details.

It's packed full of content and support - you're not just learning about how to teach hypopressives, you're becoming a specialist in pelvic health. Essential for anyone working with women!