From menarche to menopause, the two significant milestones in a woman’s life, natural processes cause substantial changes to a woman’s body and mind. Our VivaFem program is a carefully designed wellness program (supplemented with various physiotherapy treatments) specifically aimed at helping the ladies enjoy their bodies in peak physical strength at each stage of life. Listed below are some of the specific issues faced by ladies and how VivaFem program helps.
Menstrual Pains
Getting your periods can be a mess, especially if you’re having painful menstrual cramps during the monthly menstrual cycle. During this time, physical activity is low, but exercise is exactly what you should be doing. There are many myths about exercise during periods, but exercise has proven beneficial to alleviate different symptoms (like cramps, upset stomach, mood swings, fatigue etc) associated with your cycle. Research suggests various physical and hormonal changes in the female’s body cause these symptoms. Proper exercise can balance these physical and hormonal changes and enhance the production of endorphins (feel-good hormones) and reduce irritability, pain, thus improving your mood.
Ante Natal
Weight gain during pregnancy is known as gestational weight gain (GWG). Excessive GWG is associated with a high risk of developing gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), hypertension, having a caesarean delivery and postpartum weight retention. Your posture will change with your growing bump. As your centre of gravity moves forward you can get an increased curve in the lower part of your back (lumbar lordosis), which has been shown to contribute to the prevalence (50%) of low back pain in pregnant women.
Pregnancy can also be a time of major emotional changes. Many women suffer alterations in mood and even prenatal depression. The women who keep fit during pregnancy are more relaxed and cope better with the emotional and physiological strains of pregnancy. This is attributed to a number of positive effects from exercise such as weight management, better body image and self-esteem, improved sleep, and increased energy levels.
Pregnant women who maintain a regular exercise routine may experience less pain, shorter labour and a reduced risk for Caesarean birth.
Post Natal
As your baby grows, the uterus enlarges and your abdominal muscles become stretched and weaker. Your pelvic floor muscles are put under strain as they try to support the enlarged uterus and the baby inside it. Therefore it is important to start exercising as soon as possible after the birth of the baby. This will help restore your strength and give you a better fitness level, helping to regain your figure, lose any extra weight and help with maintaining continence.
Post delivery, you fitness levels and muscle tone would likely have decreased. If you do not workout to regain your pelvic floor, low back and abdominal muscle strength you are at increased risk of developing chronic pains or incontinence in subsequent pregnancies. We will give you advice about posture & back care, pelvic floor exercises, specific abdominal exercises & advice and recommendations on return to exercise.
Menopause
Menopause, is one such phase in women’s life wherein she undergoes changes physically, emotionally as well as physiologically. There are varied symptoms of menopause but then they are not the same for all women and vary from one to another. These symptoms could also be so severe that they could have a direct bearing on the quality of life. Our physiotherapists analyze the effect of these symptoms on your body and advise you the ways of managing them.
Osteoporosis
During menopause bones become brittle and weak with loss of tissue due to the hormonal changes in the body. We guide you about specific exercises such as resistance training & strength training that would help strengthen the bones, in turn, increasing the bone density and help cope with the natural process.
Obesity, Insomnia and Hot Flashes
Therapeutic exercises can play an important role in treating obesity, insomnia and hot flashes. Your weekly program session would include aerobic exercises, stretches and therapeutic yoga to control these symptoms and also improve quality of sleep.
Muscle, Joint Pains and Aches
Physiotherapy offers specific exercises which aim at improving the muscle strength and control around the joints. This results in decreased load on the joints which in turn helps in reducing the pain and dependence on medicines. As a part of the program, our physiotherapists would do a weekly assessment of your pain areas and would prescribe specific exercises aimed at strengthening and muscle relaxation.
Urinary Incontinence
Urinary incontinence also known as overactive bladder is one of the most common effect of menopause (& post delivery) which relates to the inability to control urine flow. This leakage occurs due to the weakening of the pelvic floor muscles. We advise you pelvic floor exercises that aim at strengthening the pelvic muscles to reduce the urinary frequency or urgency.
In this program, you would get a 45 minute session every week with our trained physiotherapists where we would guide you on the correct exercises for your current stage in life & provide you physiotherapy for health issues before they become big problems. There will also be an opportunity to discuss issues that may be of specific concern and we will arrange a Gynecologist consultation if required.
Regular members of this program also receive 20% discount on standard Physiotherapy Treatments. (detailed terms of discount offer)