Category: Anatomy/Physiology

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That Time I Wrote a Book…

book cover

Dear Readers,

I have extremely exciting news to share with you that will explain my blog’s silence these past few months. Blood, sweat, toil, and tears have been expended. (Nope, that’s overly dramatic Truthfully, I have only been expending toil, effort, energy, and love) into a different literary project that has been beckoning my attention. The project I am referring to is the book that I have been working on for several years, entitled “The Inside Story: The Jewish Woman’s Guide to Lifelong Pelvic Health.” 

That’s right, I have written a book which will be available for purchase within the next few months, with God’s help. My goal in this book is to help ease life cycle transitions for Jewish women. I want to share information about pelvic floor dysfunction and women’s health so that those suffering in silence can seek out appropriate treatment.

I feel so passionately about these topics and have the privilege and pleasure of helping individual women in my professional life. This book will enable me to bring help to an even larger audience. My hope and prayer is that God will help me educate as many women as possible, so that every single woman can have a satisfying and gratifying physical relationship with her spouse and with her own body.

As the title implies, the target audience of this (first) edition of the book is geared towards Jewish women, although the majority of the content is relevant and applicable to all women.

Please don’t get me wrong! I love and respect all women, and I embrace and look forward to the opportunity to share valuable information with EVERYONE in the next edition. That being said, I recognize that there are certain sensitivities that, as a proud, self-identifying Orthodox Jewish woman, I am capable of addressing. I also acknowledge that certain topics that I discuss in the book are considered taboo/uncomfortable, perhaps even more within my community than others. I hope that my affiliation with the Jewish community will help potential readers feel comfortable to read and benefit from my experience. And now that I have expressed in writing that this is only a first edition, you can all hold me accountable to ensure that a follow up version ensues.

So, please stay tuned for further details. I look forward to sharing more information about the book release and how to purchase it in the coming months, and I appreciate your patience with me while I diverted my attention elsewhere.

Yours in educating, enlighting, and helping many women in the coming months and beyond, 

Riva

 

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“Can We Please Pull Over For a Rest Stop?”

Everyone has that friend who, when travelling together, is always asking to pull over for a rest stop, chalking it up to their “small bladder.” You know exactly who I’m talking about. Well, believe it or not, it might not be their fault. It could just be their PIEZO2 gene doing exactly what it was designed to do.

When it comes to the age old question of nature vs. nurture, nature seems to be stealing the spotlight once again. Scientists have discovered that genetics play a major role in previously unidentified territory. 

But first, a bit of background. The kidneys filter and send excess water to the circulatory system while sending waste to the bladder through the ureters in the form of urine. The bladder wall, which contains the detrusor muscle, is lined with smooth muscle which fills like a balloon. The bladder’s stretch receptors send messages to the brain when activated by the full bladder telling you “it’s time to go.” This is a type of interoception, or awareness of what is happening within the body.  

Researchers at the National Institutes of Health led by Dr. Ardem Patapoutian discovered that the PIEZO2 gene is involved with at least two different types of cells associated with bladder filling sensation. It contains instructions which make proteins that are activated when the detrusor muscle cells are stretched. Individuals born with a deficiency in this gene may have difficulty sensing when their bladder is full. In fact, in 2015, researchers realized that many individuals who demonstrated a mutation in this gene reported pediatric toileting issues, frequent urinary tract infections, and other urinary issues of various sorts (ex. three participants reported voiding only 1-2x/day. Normal urinary patterns involve voiding approximately 6x/day).

The implications of this study reinforce what pelvic floor therapists routinely address, including the value in keeping a bladder diary. Tracking fluid intake and urine output is often an enlightening, eye-opening experience for most people. It is normal to void every 2.5-3 hours. Keeping track of how frequently you urinate could reveal urinary frequency, or on the opposite end if the spectrum, urinary retention. Individuals with the mutated gene stand to benefit from forcing themselves to void at scheduled intervals rather than relying on their desensitized receptors.

Anyone who experiences urinary dysfunction (ex. urinary frequency, retention, incontinence, and or urgency) stands to benefit from pelvic floor physical therapy. Aside from addressing food and fluid intake, urination patterns, and avoidance of bladder irritants, pelvic floor physical therapy can address any underlying musculoskeletal dysfunction which may be contributing to urinary dysfunction. If you or someone that you know is nodding their head silently while reading this blog, please contact us at Revitalize Physical Therapy. It would be an honor to help you along your healing journey.