Femme Physiotherapy and Wellness

Femme Physiotherapy and Wellness Helping Women & Dancers reach their full potential, regardless of Injury, life stage and circumstance

19/08/2026

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Isabelle's story starts with what felt like a UTI. A burning sensation so severe she could barely move during a three-day drive from Melbourne to the Gold Coast. The UTI cleared. The pain never did.

What followed was years of procedures: a laparoscopy, a cystoscopy, a hydrodistention, Botox, a bilateral pudendal block, steroid injections. A diagnosis of endometriosis and then interstitial cystitis. Relief for two months, and then the symptoms returning. And throughout all of it, a woman who just wanted to be able to move, be present with her three boys, and feel like herself again.

This Tuesday on Her Body Her Story, Isabelle shares her full story. The pain, the dismissal, the procedures, what finally helped, and where she is now. It is one of the most honest conversations I have had on this podcast.

Episode drops Tuesday. Link in bio when it is live.

18/08/2026

From UTI to Interstitial Cystitis, Endometriosis & Building Strength: Isabelle's Story is live on Her Body Her Story today.

Isabelle is a wife, mum of three teenage boys, founder of Prayer and Grace — a Christian devotional business — and someone who spent years navigating one of the most complex and painful chronic pelvic health journeys I have heard. What started as a UTI during a move from Melbourne to the Gold Coast became years of persistent bladder pain, endometriosis, multiple procedures, and a nervous system so sensitised that even the lightest touch was enough to trigger pain.

She saw multiple specialists. She had the laparoscopy, the cystoscopy, the hydrodistention, the Botox, the nerve blocks. She had periods of relief and then watched the symptoms return. She kept going. And throughout all of it she was also raising three kids, navigating a marriage, building a business, and trying to hold it all together without telling anyone how much she was struggling.

In this episode we talk about how pain actually works — and why you can still be in significant pain after every procedure has been done and every test has come back clear. We talk about the role of the nervous system, the pelvic floor, and the relationship between stress, emotion, and physical symptoms. We talk about what it took to finally get on top of it — the knowledge, the exercises, the conversations she had to have with her husband, the tools that helped her return to comfortable intimacy. And we talk about faith, vulnerability, asking for help, and what she would say to women who are still searching for answers.

Isabelle closes with three words of advice for her younger self: be brave. Know your own anatomy. Get more knowledge — and find the right help.

This one is worth your time. Listen now via the link in bio.

16/08/2026

You tested negative for a UTI. But you still have the burning. The frequency. The feeling that something is just not right.

This is more common than you think — and it is not in your head.
What often happens is this: a UTI triggers an initial flare of symptoms. By the time you get to the doctor and run the test, the infection itself may have cleared. But the symptoms have not, because the infection has already done its job of irritating the bladder wall, ramping up the nervous system, and increasing tension through the pelvic floor. The test comes back negative, but your body is still responding as though the threat is there.

This is where women get told there is nothing wrong. And that is one of the most frustrating places to be — because you know your body, and something is clearly still happening. The symptoms are real. The negative test just means the infection is gone. It does not mean the problem is resolved.
If you are stuck in a cycle of recurrent UTI symptoms, ongoing bladder pain, urgency, or burning with no clear cause on testing — this is exactly what we work through in a 1:1 women's health physiotherapy session. Understanding what is driving your symptoms is the first step to actually getting on top of them.

The next podcast drop on the 18th of July — a conversation with Isabelle, who navigated this exact journey. It is one worth listening to.

Book a 1:1 — in person on the Gold Coast or via telehealth anywhere. Link in bio.

14/08/2026

The ACSM — American College of Sports Medicine recommends thirty minutes of aerobic exercise, five times per week, at a level where you are getting breathless. And the way I explain breathless to my patients is simple: you should find it hard to sing, but you can still hold a conversation.

Too easy you can belt out a full song. Too hard: you cannot get a sentence out. The sweet spot is somewhere in the middle. Breathless but conversational. That is the zone.

What I love about this guideline is how accessible it is. It does not require a heart rate monitor, a smart watch, or a specific piece of equipment. It just requires you to pay attention to how your body is actually responding to the effort. And the type of activity that gets you there is completely up to you: swimming, riding, walking at a good pace, a Zumba class, anything you genuinely enjoy that pushes you to that level of intensity. The best exercise is the one you will actually do consistently.

If you have been wondering whether what you are doing counts, this is your benchmark. Thirty minutes, five times per week, breathless but still able to talk.
Start there.

37% of women have stopped exercising because of their pelvic floor symptoms.That is not a small number. That is more tha...
12/08/2026

37% of women have stopped exercising because of their pelvic floor symptoms.
That is not a small number. That is more than one in three women quietly stepping back from something that is fundamental to their long-term health because nobody told them there was another option.

Leaking when you run, jump, or lift. A heaviness or dragging sensation after training. Pain during or after exercise. These symptoms are common. They are not normal, and they are absolutely not a reason to stop moving altogether. Swipe to see what is actually going on and what you can do about it.

Book a 1:1 women's health physio session in person on the Gold Coast or via telehealth anywhere. Link in bio.

11/08/2026

World Breastfeeding Week, and this one is for every mum whose shoulders have crept up to her ears and whose back has been aching since the day she came home from hospital.

The way most women end up feeding is not because it is the most comfortable position; it is because it is the first one that worked. And then it becomes the default. Head dropping forward, shoulders rounding, body curved around the baby, wrist bent at an angle it was never designed to hold for extended periods. Multiply that by eight to twelve feeds a day and your body is doing a lot of sustained, loaded work in a position it was not built to stay in.

The fix is not complicated, but it does require a small reset in how you think about the setup. Bring the baby to your breast, not your breast to the baby. A feeding pillow under the baby takes the weight of their body off your arms and shoulders. Lumbar support behind your lower back keeps your spine upright instead of collapsing forward. A footstool underneath your feet takes the load out of your hips and pelvis. And keeping your phone or screen at eye level instead of looking down protects your neck from the sustained flexion that is one of the biggest contributors to that postpartum neck and upper back pain.

Small adjustments, but they add up across a full day of feeding.
Save this and share it with a breastfeeding mum who needs to hear it.

If you have had the investigations, the procedures, the medications — and you are still in pain this carousel is for you...
10/08/2026

If you have had the investigations, the procedures, the medications — and you are still in pain this carousel is for you.

This week on Her Body Her Story, Isabelle shared her journey through interstitial cystitis and endometriosis. And the clinical thread running through her story is one I see constantly in clinic: the structural problem gets treated, but the pain does not fully resolve. There is a reason for that. And understanding it is the first step to actually getting better.

Swipe through. And if this sounds like where you are right now — book a 1:1 session. In person on the Gold Coast or via telehealth anywhere. Link in bio.

A half marathon and a 6km ocean swim in the same month whilst running a business, seeing patients, and showing up for ev...
09/08/2026

A half marathon and a 6km ocean swim in the same month whilst running a business, seeing patients, and showing up for everything else in between.

Here are the four things that made it possible. Swipe to see them.
Save this one because these lessons apply to any big goal, not just sport.

07/08/2026

Can you strength train while breastfeeding? Yes. And when it comes to which exercises matter most right now, think about what your body is actually being asked to do.

You are holding a baby. For hours. Every single day.

Supporting that baby's head, keeping their body stable, carrying their weight through feeds, transfers, settling all of that is loaded, sustained upper body work. And if the muscles around your shoulder blades and upper back are not strong enough to handle that demand, your body will compensate.

That is where the neck pain, the shoulder ache, the tension across the upper back, and the wrist strain start to come from, not just poor posture, but muscles that are being asked to do more than they are currently capable of.

The exercises I prioritise for breastfeeding mums are the ones that build scapula stability and upper body strength specifically. Seated rows, dumbbell rows, banded rows — to retract and stabilise the shoulder blades and counteract the rounded shoulder position that feeding creates. Lat pull-downs to build the strength through the lats and upper back needed to hold and control that load. Bicep curls, because supporting a baby's head and body for extended periods is a bicep endurance challenge that most women are underprepared for.

These exercises are not glamorous. But they are the ones that will make feeding, carrying, and settling feel less like it is breaking your body down one feed at a time.

Save this and share it with a new mum who needs to hear it.

Happy World Breastfeeding Week, from the physio who wants to talk about the part nobody shows on Instagram.Breastfeeding...
06/08/2026

Happy World Breastfeeding Week, from the physio who wants to talk about the part nobody shows on Instagram.

Breastfeeding is beautiful. It is also being stuck in the same position for the eighth time today, with a shoulder that feels like concrete, a neck that has been craning forward for weeks, and an ache in your mid-back that sits there no matter what you do.

The posture that comes with feeding head forward, shoulders rounding, arms holding a weight for extended periods in one fixed position loads your upper back, neck, and shoulders in a way that most new mums are completely unprepared for. And when you are already running on broken sleep and not a lot else, that tension builds fast.

One of the simplest tools I recommend is a spikey ball. Roll it along the upper traps, between the shoulder blades, and down through the mid-back. It will not fix the posture, but it will release the build-up of tension that is making everything feel tighter and more painful than it needs to. Even two minutes while you are feeding or straight after can make a real difference to how that area feels throughout the day.

If you are breastfeeding right now and your body is feeling it, you are not being dramatic. The load is real. And there is a lot you can do to support yourself through it.

Save this for later, and send it to a new mum who needs to hear it.

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