How Tracking Your Cycle Can Improve Pelvic Health - Episode 39
In this episode of the Marrón Pelvic Health Podcast, Dr. Kari Roberts delves into the importance of understanding the menstrual cycle as a vital sign for women's health. She emphasizes the role of hormones in influencing things like pelvic pain, bladder control, and energy levels. By tracking their menstrual cycles, women can gain valuable insights into their overall health and make more informed decisions about their wellbeing. Dr. Roberts also discusses the concept of cycle syncing, highlighting its limitations in practical scenarios, and suggests using digital tools like the Clue and Flo apps for effective tracking.
Book a call with Dr. Kari Roberts today.
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Dr. Kari: Have you ever heard that your menstrual cycle is considered your fifth vital sign?
Well, today I'm going to show you how tracking it gives you insight on how your pelvic floor is functioning and why that matters more than you think.
Welcome to the Maroon Pelvic Health Podcast. Hi, I'm your host, Dr. Carrie Roberts. On this show, we will be discussing a variety of things regarding your pelvic health.
These conversations will be a mix of education,
personal experiences, and a blend of tips you can apply to have a healthier pelvis. The goal of this show is to normalize conversations around pelvic health and help women stop suffering in silence.
So I just wanted to talk today about your menstrual cycle and why it's important and why it gives us information that we might actually be overlooking.
And it's something that's unique because most women between a certain age do have their cycle. They're either starting their cycle, they have a regular cycle, they have an irregular cycle, or they are going through perimenopause and that cycle is changing.
But either way, it's so important because it gives us lots of information and lots of insight on how our body is working.
So we first have to understand what exactly is your menstrual cycle? And in a nutshell, it is your.
You have a fluctuation of hormones that happen over a period of time.
And the cycle is, let's say generally is 25, excuse me, 28 days. Some people's cycle can be as low as 24 days. Some people's cycle can be as large as about 35, 38 days.
And all of that is considered within a normal window. And if you were expecting me to say four, five or even six or seven, and I'm saying,
you know, double digit numbers, you're like, what is Carrie talking about?
What I'm talking about is your actual menstrual cycle.
And a lot of times we just, in casual conversations say our cycle. And what we're referring to when we say our cycle is that part of our menstrual cycle where we are shedding our uterus, our uterus lining,
and you have blood. And you usually are. That's when we say you're on your cycle or you are menstruating.
And that usually happens in between like three and a half, four up to about seven days. That's considered normal.
So that shedding of the blood or that menstruation is just a part of the full menstrual cycle, which is on average, well, we're going to say 28 days, just to keep it simple.
It's not just when you're menstruating. It is the whole thing.
So our hormones shift up and down.
There's a period of time when your, your ovaries are creating an egg. That egg gets released into your fallopian tubes. It travels down into the fallopian tubes and hangs out in the uterus.
And if it's not fertilized within a period of time, it goes away. And that uterus that has built up this lining, this epithelial lining, in case the egg is connected with the sperm and conception occurs,
if that doesn't occur, then that lining sheds. And that lining sheds is what we call our menstruation or cycle for short.
So the development of your egg that is happens by men or by hormones, the building up of that lining of the uterus, that happens by hormones. And then when nothing happens and those hormones drop and you have your menstruation, that also happens because the hormones shift.
So there's lots of up and down with fluctuations of our hormones.
And that fluctuation of hormones could have an impact on you digest things.
Sometimes people say they've got period poops because your, your digestion might be revved up a little bit on or around your cycle or your period or your menstruation, the cycle of bleeding.
Sometimes people may even feel like tender ******* or backache or belly ache before your menstruation. That all of those things that happen during menstruation are all part of hormonal changes.
Also, when we're thinking about the pelvic floor, the pelvic floor is so intricate because, or interesting, I should say, because you've got a combination of ligaments and muscles and tendons and bones and structures.
And all of these little things have to work together so that our pelvic floor can function properly.
So just as we're having fluctuations in our hormones that may make your egg produce or the uterine lining thicker or the uterine lining shed, the. Those hormones can have some changes or some impacts on how you feel down in your pelvis with as regards to pain,
those hormonal shifts can impact your ligaments. So sometimes you might feel a little tighter, sometimes you might feel a little looser.
Sometimes people's energy is also impacted. I've even had some clients that say when they're getting close to their cycle, their bowels are a little more regular.
Some folks say when they're getting close to their cycle or when they're on their Menstruation that they might have changes in their bladder control.
And all of those things,
be it feeling tight,
feeling more relaxed, feeling fatigued,
feeling energized, having changes in how often you're having a bowel movement or how well you can control your bladder, all of those things are normal.
Okay, let's just normalize that. All of those fluctuations are normal because you've got different.
You have different hormones that are kind of moving in stereo. Some are going up and some are going down. And those fluctuations, those normal fluctuations can cause normal changes in how you feel in your body.
And like I said, all those symptoms or all those feelings are normal.
So what are some benefits of what you can gather when you're tracking your cycle?
Well, the cool thing is you can track patterns.
A lot of times, women will track their pattern, and they know about how many days they have in between their cycle, you know, menstrual cycle, or how long their flow is.
How many days is your menstrual cycle. They will. I shouldn't say menstrual. That's like the layman's terms. But I think you think. I think you understand what I'm getting at.
People will track that. And people sometimes know, oh, when I have tender *******, I know that my period is coming. Or, oh, when I have a little bit more of a thin, slick discharge, I'm probably ovulating.
So there are usual things that occur that some women take note of. But if we think about it in terms of the pelvic floor,
having these fluctuations can have an impact on how well you have your bladder control and also can have an impact on how well you're leaking or not. How well, if you're leaking more or not also can have an impact on your pain.
If you've got some abnormal things going on, like maybe cyst, ovarian cyst, or uterine fibroids or endometriosis. You might notice an influx in pain or while you're getting close to that menstruation or around that time.
So tracking your cycle and how you feel,
your menstruation and how you feel can give you insight on what's going on in your body. Another interesting thing is since the pelvic floor muscles are closely related to those hormones, it can have some impact on how those hormones can have impact on how those muscles can work.
And sometimes you don't realize there's a connection until you start tracking. So that's why it's really important.
I think every woman should track their cycle. And I think you should track everything because sometimes you don't know if this is a sign of telling you something else until you start tracking it and you know what you're dealing with.
If you are trying to put on weight, maybe for fitness competition or lose weight,
because you're trying to just shed some pounds, you don't really know what needs to be adjusted until you start tracking your food. And then once you start tracking your food, you can see the areas that you need to change so that you can get the desired benefit.
And the same is true with that menstrual cycle. If you're dealing with bladder control issues,
bowel habit concerns, pelvic pain,
and really just changes in your energy that might affect your pelvic health or even affect your low back area, your hip area,
start tracking your, your period or your menstruation because you're probably going to see lots of things that can be very insightful.
Now, while we're here, I do want to talk about cycle syncing a little bit.
Cycle syncing.
There's two different terms of cycle syncing. One of them. I'm not going to talk about one of them. I am.
There is a belief that when you are around other women long enough or frequently enough, your cycles will sink and you all will menstruate at the same time. That is not what I'm talking about.
That is up for discussion because some people believe in it and some people don't and I'm not. I don't feel like that right now.
But when I'm talking about cycle sinking is. There was a movement that I came across, especially during the pandemic, you might have come across it as well, where people talk about cycle sinking.
And the belief is, if we're looking at that 14, excuse me, that 28 day cycle, those first day one starts when you have your cycle. Okay. When you menstruate, when the first day of spotting or blood is considered day one.
So you might, let's say you bleed, shed blood for five days and you have a 28 day cycle. That means we have 23 days left.
So from when that cycle is done till you ovulate, which generally is day 14.
So if we're just going to keep this simple from day six to day 14,
that should be the time when you are the most active, the most productive.
Try to have new ideas, try to do good planning because everything your engines are go with the way your hormones are set up, it's the perfect time. Then you have your ovulation and your energy will drop A little bit and then by about 20, day 22, 23,
until the last day before your next menstrual cycle. So that would be day 28. You go through this really lull time and this is the time that you should really conserve your energy.
Make sure you're drinking more water, staying hydrated. You don't want to make any rest decisions. You don't want to overdo it at the gym. You don't want to do too much because your body is prepping for day one, which is when you're going to shed that lining.
You're going to lose blood and you're going to be tired and weak and fatigued.
In a perfect world where all you have to do all day is track your period, I would say, hey,
have at it. But I don't live in that world.
I haven't met anybody else that does.
If you are syncing your monthly or weekly activities on a 28 day cycle,
there are things that you are going to have to do or you might be responsible for in those times. That cycle thinking might say, don't do.
You might have something pop up and you just need to make a big decision and it happens to be the day before your cycle, or you just might have everything.
Your cycle might just come on a Wednesday every 28 days.
And Wednesday happens to be the day that you go to the gym and it's your favorite exercise class and you want to still go to it.
There's nothing wrong with that. I have personally tried to sync my activities with my cycle just to see if it would be beneficial.
And I have to say, on a personal level, it seemed like it was a headache and I didn't feel like I was maximizing any more of my time and energy.
Side note, I think when you feel tired, you should rest. And I think when you feel energized and motivated, you should do more. And I don't think that your rest and activity or doing more should solely be based on your menstrual cycle.
I just don't think so. I think that you'll be setting yourself short if you think about female athletes like we just had the Olympics a couple of weeks ago, or even women that are playing not professionally, but you know, college athletes,
high school athletes, professional athletes, or women that are on schedules that aren't theirs. You know,
women that go to work 9 to 5, women that are CEOs, women that are mothers. You can't just say, you know what, it's the week before my cycle, so I've got to Lay low today.
I just think that cycle seeking in and of itself is just unreasonable. So that's my tidbit about that.
So like I was saying, getting back to why it's important to track this fifth vital sign, it can tell us so much.
Well,
tracking is really important, especially if you're having pelvic pain or if you're. If you know you have endometriosis, if you know you have fibroids,
if you know you have uterine cysts, even if you have bladder sensitivities, pain with intercourse, all of those things can have be impacted by the change of your cycle.
And maybe those things changing can impact your cycle. So it's just good to know what is going on in your body and how would you track.
When I was a kid I used to write it on the calendar, but I used to write everything on the calendar.
I'm not a kid anymore. And things are very digital,
so there are tons of apps and out there you can use a journal, you can use a spreadsheet, you can use an app,
you can use a calendar, you can use all sorts of stuff.
Personally, I like Clue.
I love the Clue app because I think that it is very robust and you can track tons of stuff and if you don't want to track it, you just turn those things off and just only track what you want.
Also, I just love it. I love the interface of it. It's very minimalistic, it's easy to look at.
I love Clue and I have a ton of patients that love Flo, so those are the two ones I would recommend. I've never used FLO directly, but I have tons of people in my life that have and in my practice that have so practical tips.
You want to make sure you're using some sort of app or journal spreadsheet, something so that you can note and make sure you're noting your pelvic symptoms. So are you having pelvic pain?
Are you having change of discharge?
Have your bowel habits changed? Has your mood changed? Is your energy level different and the actual flow itself. Track all of those things because there could be some nuances and it's no big deal, or there could be a beginning of a trend.
And now that you've tracked it, you're able to go to the physician and give really up to date information.
I guess I'm in a talkative mood today.
I had a situation two weeks ago and I made an appointment to see my gynecologist and I was concerned about some things and I was able to definitively say,
a has changed with my cycle the last three months,
b has changed with my cycle the last three months, and C has changed the last three months. So now we are talking data, we are talking factual things. We're not just talking about, oh well, sometimes I think, no,
these things have changed. Now I know I need to seek medical attention. So it's just good to educate yourself and be prepared so that if you do have to seek medical attention,
you are educated and you know what information can be provided so you can better receive the information that you need to make your informed decisions.
Also, tracking your cycle helps you be empowered and informed and really understand how your body works. And I totally didn't even think about it. But tracking your cycle is huge when you are trying to conceive.
So I hope you see the benefits of why tracking your cycle or your menstruation or your menstrual cycle or however you want to say it,
has a direct impact on giving you a peek into the window of your pelvic floor function and you'll learn what's normal in your bodies.
Start noticing those patterns and take those small notes and see if you can make a little difference here or there.
And if you're struggling with pelvic pain, leak discomforts, back pain,
intercourse pain,
then just know that there are people out there like myself that are public physical therapists that are here just waiting to help you.
Thank you. And I will be back next week with another episode.
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