Guest Blog: A day in the Life with Lisa Few, Woman’s Health Physiotherapist
Wow how exciting and where do I start? A quick introduction, I’m Lisa and I have 2 very jobs which I love.
First is being a mum to my crazy, beautiful 8 year old son and my second amazing job is a women’s health physiotherapist. What is that I hear a lot of you say?
Well we are very specialist physiotherapists (currently only about 700 of us in the UK) who treat pelvic floor problems such as urinary incontinence, pelvic organ prolapse, diastasis recto (tummy gaps).
Did you know that 1:3 women will have some form of pelvic floor problem in their lives? So it affects so many of us and can have a massive impact on lifestyles and quality of life. I absolutely love my job and so lucky I get to work with some amazing women getting them back to what they want to be doing ie running after having a baby.
So about my day, it generally starts with an early morning wake up call from my favourite little person whispering in my ear “is it 6 yet Mummy!!” The next 45 minutes generally are spent running around breakfast, teeth, packing school bags and asking 100 times for school shoes to be put on. I’m sure you can all relate to this part of the day! Once school drop off is done my 2nd job starts.
I generally see my first patient at 9 and work through until school pick up. My day is varied in that all my patients are different: different problems, different lifestyles, different personalities. I love it not 1 hour is the same.
I can see pregnant women who have PGP (pelvic girdle pain) or back pain and are often struggling with simple activities such as walking or getting out of bed. Physio treatment usually works well and it is so good to see them walking out of clinic without hobbling or wincing.
I also do lots of #mummyMOT’s which I love because I quite often get a cuddle from a baby. As mums we juggle lots and sometimes I can treat whilst holding a baby!! A MummyMoT is great for new mums it checks posture, movement, tummy gaps and pelvic floor muscles. It give me all the information I need to help mums get back to exercising safely post natally.
I also see patients who struggle with urinary incontinence. Treatment can be quite varied but the primary treatment is making sure that the pelvic floor muscle is moving correctly. Did you know that 65% of women do not contract their pelvic floor correctly? We all know if a muscle is not working correctly it is not going to do a very good job. The pelvic floor muscle is no different.
Within my day I also generally teach at least 1 Pilates class. I love Pilates it is great for strengthening, for stretching, for breathing and even a little relaxation.
Once my work day is over it’s time to go back to my 1st job.... being a Mum. School pick up, homework, after school activities and then the usual panic when I look in the fridge and wonder what we are going to eat that includes at least 2 of our 5 a day!!
Then bath time routine and bedtime for a snuggle with my boy. We always have a discussion about the best parts of the day and the not so good part of the day. A little tradition that we started when he could talk and I love it. It gives me a little more insight into his day. Then if I can drag myself away from a sleepy snuggle I catch up on some admin, have a conversation with my husband or to bed! To start it all over again tomorrow but I wouldn’t have it any other way. I love my jobs!!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
I am a women’s health physiotherapist and have been qualified for 15 years (yikes that makes me feel old!). I work in Surrey at 3 different clinics in Claygate, Stoneleigh and Walton.
Instagram: @lisafewphysiotherapy
Website: www.lisafewphysiotherapy.co.uk