Podcast Episode 5: Interview with Lindsey Vestal, Occupational Therapist

Lindsey Vestal owns The Functional Pelvis, a private practice specializing in pelvic floor therapy “house calls” for pre and postnatal women. She graduated from NYU with a Master’s of Science in Occupational Therapy. She has dedicated her career to empowering women to find relief from conditions such as bowel and urinary incontinence, constipation, dyspareunia, pelvic pain, prolapse and pre and postnatal complications. She has trained with Herman & Wallace Institute, Marquette University, Diane Lee's Integrated Systems Model, Maitland as well as specialized biofeedback training for the pelvic floor. She is a certified Restore Your Core™ (RYC™) teacher. Lindsey teaches pelvic anatomy and pelvic floor health for the Maha Mama pre- and postnatal yoga teacher training in NYC. She is an ongoing contributor to Well Rounded NY and Motherly. She has published in the NY Times, Family Circle, Romper, NY Mag, Harper’s Bizarre, US News + World Report.

As an OT, she is a passionate promoter of bridging pelvic floor rehabilitation with lifestyle modifications while addressing the psychological impact that pelvic floor issues have on our everyday lives.

Topics covered in this episode:

• What exactly is an Occupational Therapist?
• How she came into this work
• Why focus on the pelvic floor
• The emotional connection to pelvic floor function
• The effects of incontinence on our every day life
• The three main function of the pelvic floor
• What hurdles do you see that clients need to overcome before they walk into the OT office and how can the other health professionals in their lives encourage this vulnerable action step
• Dissecting the how and why of a Kegel
• Hypertonic vs hypotonic pelvic floors and their symptoms (Spoiler- it might not be what you think!)

Lindsey also offers online training courses for occupational therapists interested in pursuing the pelvic health specialty. Her flagship course is titled, “OT Pioneers: Introduction to Pelvic Floor Therapy for Occupational Therapists.” You can find all her information on her website http://www.functionalpelvis.com.

Freebie:

The check list mentioned in the episode can be downloaded here!

Upcoming Event:

Also mentioned in this episode is my Self Care for Birth Workers in person workshop. Happening February 8th, 2020 4-6 PM. All the details can be found here.