You may have heard that chronic stress takes a toll on your body. But did you know how chronic stress affects your sex life?

What is chronic stress?

Chronic psychosocial stress is defined as either a major life event that takes place over a long period of time (ie. death of a family member) or small stressors that are constant and often accumulate (ie. traffic, financial worries, work deadlines).^1,2 A study by Allen Kanner, Ph.D, published in the National Library of Medicine, found that these small stressors can have more of a negative effect on health than the more severe but less common stressors.¹

How does chronic stress inhibit sexual arousal?

Safely Returning to Activity and Sport Postpartum

Postpartum Recovery Part 1

Most women get the clearance after their 6 week check-up for sex and exercise, YAY! But, really? How? What does that mean? There are no guidelines on how to return to activity in a safe, leak-free and pain-free manner.

Between 6 and 31% of postpartum women experience urinary incontinence. In addition, 66% of those who experience urinary incontinence during pregnancy and/or their first 3 months of postpartum continued to experience incontinence even at 12 years after birth! As you can see, it may be common, but it is certainly not normal!

First some facts about pelvic floor dysfunction:

• Nearly one in two women experience painful sex.
• One in three women suffers from urinary incontinence.
• 40% of all women and 50% of childbearing women have pelvic organ prolapse.

Because I’m a fan of scientific data, this isn’t the first time you’ve seen the truth by the numbers in this space.

Rarely, though, do I get to talk about a ‘study of many studies’ like the one published in Sexual Medicine Reviews.

I was hopeful but frankly skeptical when the doctor treating me for Interstitial Cystitis recommended that I go to Heather for physical therapy. Medication and diet helped control my IC symptoms, but I had never heard of physical therapy being used to treat IC. The education and treatment I received from Heather was a revelation. She explained that the pain I experienced with IC had helped create a cycle of muscle guarding which affected the entire pelvic area. I had no idea of the amount of tension being held there. No wonder my husband and I had not been able to have sexual intercourse for years!