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Bikinis After Babies is the one and only podcast where real moms talk about their bodybuilding contest experiences. We are sharing the inside scoop, the nitty-gritty, the hardships and the victories as we navigate the rigors of competition prep while juggling family and careers. We’ll be joined by IFBB bikini pros who share their incredible stories of managing many responsibilities as athletes while defying stereotypes as women who compete in bikinis after babies!
Whether you’re a new mom thinking about stepping on stage for the first time, or a mom looking for inspo and insight on how to manage contest prep as a busy mom, this podcast offers helpful tips and inspiring stories for moms with big goals!!
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Mandy (00:00)
Hello everyone and welcome to Bikinis After Babies. Thank you so much for joining us today on our 20th episode. I am of course one of your hosts, Mandy Rochon and as always joining me is your beautiful other stunning host. Ha ha ha. I'm always coming up with new words now. Now it's like fun.
Gillian (00:16)
Thanks, Mandy, you're so sweet.
I know you are, you're so descriptive. I appreciate it. Well, thank you everybody for tuning in. I'm so excited about today's episode. You probably saw in the title, we have a very special guest with us today. Today's guest is Tina Patty. She is a doctor of physical therapy. She is a mother herself who obtained her bachelor's of science in sports medicine and athletic training in 2000. Her master's of science and administration in sports training in 2002, and graduated with her doctorate
therapy in 2009. Tina currently specializes in pelvic floor therapy helping her patients with a variety of pelvic floor issues from diastasis recti, urinary incontinence, pelvic pain and sexual dysfunction. We are so excited to have this wonderful expert on our show today. Welcome to Bikini's After Babies, Tina Patty.
Mandy (01:09)
Welcome.
Tina Patti (01:10)
I know, thank you guys so much.
Mandy (01:13)
Thank you for joining us.
Gillian (01:13)
Yeah, we're really excited to have an expert and somebody who specializes in a women's health issue and something that we as coaches actually talk to our clients about quite a bit. And we found out about you through one of our fabulous clients. So why don't you tell us a little bit about your background and maybe how your passion for this side of physical therapy started.
Tina Patti (01:15)
without a doubt.
Yes.
So my background started and it was funny as you like read through all the education. I'm like, wow, it's been a lot of time in school.
Gillian (01:48)
Yeah, that's what I thought too when I was writing it out. I'm like, this is a lot. No, that's impressive. That's amazing.
Tina Patti (01:50)
like, Holy cow, I'm sorry you had to say all of that. Um, but I got my start when even like in high school, I had that ACL injury that required surgery and had to go through PT, all that fun stuff. And I fell in love with athletic training. So the athletic training, it is physical therapy, but for a very specific population. So I was an athletic trainer for about eight years and then went back and went, okay.
I love athletic training. I love that higher level of function, utilizing the core, helping people get to that next level, but it doesn't really pay the bill so much and really long hours. So I went back to PT school, went on with sports medicine. I was one of my former companies throwing specialists. And in the Midwest, it was really hard breaking into that sports realm because I'm a girl.
And they think boys are the only ones that can teach you how to throw. And it wasn't worth the argument. And then when I had my daughter, I had a lot of pelvic floor dysfunction. And no one helped me. All my other physical therapists were like, oh, that pain will go away after you have a kid. Okay, well what until then? So that's where my journey kind of started is I had a really hard time my third trimester.
Mandy (03:10)
Yeah.
Tina Patti (03:17)
And then that infamous fourth trimester, I was stuck into pins for two weeks. Like, no, not the life. No one will help me. So I finally went to my OB and like, there has to be something. And she was like, all right, well, let's just try some pelvic floor physical therapy. Let's see how that works. I was so embarrassed. I would not go to the company that I worked for, even though I had pelvic floor therapist. So like, I didn't want anyone to know. And it took me three sessions.
Mandy (03:24)
And you had nobody to help you either.
Gillian (03:45)
Yeah.
Tina Patti (03:48)
And that was.
Gillian (03:49)
Wow.
Mandy (03:51)
That's crazy.
Tina Patti (03:51)
So I then went to my former company and I went, all right, let's sign me up for these classes. Let's get it going. I get it. And now let's get other people. So I completely re-changed my practice. So I credit my daughter to one changing life because I could do. And then because of her, I completely changed my career. And it's so cool.
Gillian (03:58)
Yeah.
That's awesome. So take me, how long ago was that? Oh, sorry, go ahead. No, so when did, so take me back, like when that started, like what year did that kind of begin that you had the issue and.
Mandy (04:19)
and I can imagine how many people you help now.
Tina Patti (04:23)
What was that question again? I'm sorry.
That was 2013, 2004. And so I got all my.
Gillian (04:34)
Okay, so like, so 10 years and you've been really specialized in that area. That's awesome. So maybe like let's back up a little bit because you know, pelvic floor dysfunction, like it is a big area. There's a lot of different things. So like maybe some of our listeners are not sure if it's something that they're struggling. Maybe they know that they are but what would you typically see in somebody who is struggling with issues with their pelvic floor?
Tina Patti (04:39)
Yeah. And
A lot of the patients that we see, or the ones that are more prone to get to us, have a lot of urinary issues. So it's the, oh, I can kind of get to the bathroom, but not quite there, and I might have a dribble or two. Or I'm okay most of the time, but when I go into the gym and I try some jumping jacks, it always fails. Legs open, pee out. And the running. And it's a lot of those lower impacts that just cause the dribble.
We see a lot of that also have several patients right now, that round ligament pain on that lower right side when they're pregnant and then they quit working out because this hurts too much, I can't do it. So a lot of pregnancy, a lot of postpartum and luckily enough right now we have a lot of young ladies that are coming in because it's getting to become a little bit more common and they saw something on TikTok and they're like, okay, my mom complains about this, my older sister complains about this.
I don't want to complain about any of that, so what do I need to do for that? Starting to get a couple.
Gillian (06:09)
Yeah, that's interesting. Just I think more awareness around it. And I think when we spoke on the phone, like you said, like, it's not normal to like, to pee on yourself. Why do we think it's okay? Like, and I remember like saying, no, I'm not gonna jump on the trampoline with you guys. Like we go to Skyzone. Like, I'm good. I'm just gonna pee on myself. So I'm not going to like, I don't have to pee on myself. Like there's things that you can do, right? So, yeah.
Tina Patti (06:19)
No.
Mandy (06:21)
Right.
Tina Patti (06:33)
There totally are. And I think the reason we think, oh, that's okay, is because that's what our moms told us. It's a normal part of aging, because that's what their moms told them, because back when our grandmas were around, there really wasn't anything. The pelvic floor therapy has been in the US in 60s, but everything starts at those bigger coasts and then it slowly strangles its way in. And there's never enough therapists in whatever city you live in. There's not enough for the population.
Mandy (06:36)
Mm-hmm.
Yes.
Mm-hmm.
Gillian (06:48)
Right.
Yeah, that's really interesting. Yeah, and so I think like more awareness about it, but like kind of thinking back to when we had our functional health specialists to come on and just talk about women's issues, like really women learning to advocate for themselves and be able to like solve these issues that they, they can be more optimal, they can have better, pelvic floor engagement, they don't have to leak and, oh, I can't do squats because I might pee.
Mandy (07:17)
Mm-hmm.
Gillian (07:36)
Do you typically see that quick of a recovery? Like you mentioned that it was like three sessions and you were doing a lot better with those issues or are there some things that are more complex that take longer to heal?
Tina Patti (07:49)
Sometimes it is more complex. I think I was really lucky because I got in so close to that labor-related. So my injury hadn't been there a while, hadn't adjusted. Most of the times, it usually takes between six and 12 visits. We typically see a patient one time a week. Between a half an hour or an hour, it just depends on kind of what organization you go to, really depends on it being a half an hour.
Most of my ladies, I'm lucky enough where I can see for a full hour. And it's usually six, uh, 12 weeks. And I know that's a huge range, but it really depends on what are we trying to get. So to reduce that I'm leaking on the way to the bathroom. That's usually done in like three weeks. And then they get a taste for it. They're like, okay, so you fixed that. Can you fix this hip? And when I do jumping jack, can you help out with that? And then we just great person globally.
But the dribbling to the bathroom usually about two, maybe three weeks, working on that breath, it really just depends on what is your body awareness, how much do we have.
Mandy (08:57)
That's incredible that it happens so fast. Like I think that is so fast because if you really think about it, people will deal with that for years and years and decades. You know, that's just a part of, like we said, it's a part of aging, it's a part of childbirth. It's you chalk it up to, oh, I gave birth so I can't jump on a trampoline, I can't do HIIT training, I can't jump around because I'll leak or something happens. But if you go to somebody and say, oh, well you can fix that dribblage or that issue and...
Tina Patti (09:18)
Right?
Mandy (09:26)
three weeks, six weeks, that's so fast. And instead of dealing with it for so many years, you can address these issues and it is not normal. It is not normal to do that. And the fact that you can do that is fascinating. I didn't know you could do it that fast. I just assumed it'd be like six months.
Tina Patti (09:31)
Okay.
It really can. Nope. And that's a really cool part is once you can tell a person, try this, not that. And the biggest part, and I think the one thing that is a common denominator through most of our patients, it's not, have you had kids? Have you not had kids? Um, I had one patient come to me a couple of months ago. She was like, I broke her. I've used her entirely too much. She's broken. I did her in like, no, it doesn't work like that either.
Gillian (10:10)
Like she broke her vagina, is that what she said?
Tina Patti (10:12)
She thought she did. She's like, I've just been very active my whole entire life. I've always had multiple partners and she just broke. Like, no, that's not it.
Mandy (10:19)
Oh my gosh. I love how some women, how we all just describe our body part, just how we describe our body sometimes is fantastic.
Gillian (10:19)
Oh my gosh.
Tina Patti (10:26)
It is. And then I've had another woman, I've strangely enough treated several nuns and they've come in and going, I never used her. So she just retired early, didn't she? Like, no, that's not the case either.
Gillian (10:28)
That's so funny.
Mandy (10:42)
She retired early.
Gillian (10:42)
Oh my gosh, that's so funny.
Tina Patti (10:44)
So like the number one factor is when we are stressed, where do you hide your tension? We either get TMJ, we get migraines or tension headaches, or you get incontinence because you're bound to hide your stress somewhere. So we have to tether that out. When you feel stressed, instead of clenching and letting everything in, how about you meditate? How about you work on some diaphragmatic breathing?
and move instead of sit down and do things that aren't great for our health. It's a personality profile strangely enough.
Mandy (11:19)
Mm-hmm.
Gillian (11:20)
Yeah, that's so interesting. Yeah.
Well, yeah, I think we're just sort of like as women and moms, like taking care of everybody else, we're just sort of like, we need a quick fix to just get better so we can hurry up and take care of everybody else. Or we brush things off. Like if our kids have a sniffle, like we're right on it. But if it's our, you know, issue and it could be something that's really bothering us or like really impacting our lifestyle, but we sort of just, you know, put everybody else first. And then these things carry on. Do you see where like somebody is maybe dealing with this dysfunction for a long period of time and it takes a while to.
Tina Patti (11:34)
Yeah.
Gillian (11:55)
to kind of get things back to a more optimal range.
Tina Patti (12:00)
It can. And even with when people have dealt with for a while and always putting people first, I actually see a lot of teachers and a lot of health care professionals because of what you just said. Someone else is always more important and we always are the last to care for ourselves. And I know it sounds really psychological, but I think of that as lots of generational training. And it's educating women to say, you don't have to do that and to put in the work. And it's a lot of
Just remembering to do the exercise. Cause let's be real when you're working on your pelvic floor, you don't necessarily need any extra equipment. You can do it sitting down. You can do it right now as we're doing it. And no one's going to know you're doing anything, but it's actually just doing for the people who are more inclined to make that positive change. They get better faster. And the ones who just kind of resist and like, I don't have time. I've got this person take care of this person.
but we all get in the car, we all drop the kids off or we're all running the Uber for our parents or our grandparents. Like anytime you come into a red light, do a series of the exercise. When you're waiting in the drive-through for the food that you probably shouldn't be eating, do your exercises. You just fit them in. And then those are the ones that are way more.
Gillian (13:15)
Yeah. So you're talking about like kegels then, or is there something, okay. But I think you said people are doing kegels wrong, right? Okay, so tell me about that.
Tina Patti (13:24)
Yes. So, so when most people do Kegels, unfortunately, because no one ever told us what to do, they just said, do your Kegels. And we're like, okay, well, Kegels means squeeze the nether region. Most people are actually stopping gas from passing and they're not stopping urine from passing. For some reason, we understand our rectum, but we don't get the vagina and the urethra. So you have to give a couple of cues, depending on that person to help find.
Mandy (13:26)
Ah.
Gillian (13:33)
Yeah.
Oh, wrong end. Yeah.
Tina Patti (13:54)
what do those front muscles feel like? So the analogy that I use that makes a lot of people laugh, if it's too much, please let me know. But I tell my women like, so I tell my women, yeah, like nothing's gonna be off here. I'm like, think of the very front part of your labia, think of them as elevator doors. Why? Because an elevator door is gentle.
Mandy (14:05)
I doubt it, I highly doubt it.
Gillian (14:08)
Probably not for this show.
Yeah.
Tina Patti (14:21)
If an elevator door can't close, it doesn't force itself closed and it just kind of kicks back. So imagine the front part of your labia as gentle elevator doors, and imagine pulling your labia towards themselves, and then let them go. And if you do that, it feels way different in the back.
Gillian (14:34)
Not me like doing it right now. Yeah, that's so different. I feel like everybody just tells you to, like a key goal is just hold your pee. Like imagine you're just holding your pee. But I think that can be like uncomfortable too. Like I always felt I was doing it wrong. So I just kind of stopped trying because I'm like, well, that does not feel right. But that's a really interesting way of explaining it. I think that's more doable, definitely.
Tina Patti (14:44)
Mm-hmm.
Mandy (14:50)
Mm-hmm.
Tina Patti (14:50)
Yeah.
And it is, and it gives your brain a target because the urethra is such a tiny tube. Your brain doesn't know where that is. The back openings get way more action than the front one, unfortunately. So we all just kind of kick back to the back muscles. And a lot of it also even has to do with posture. If you're slouched, you're gonna hit that cox deus and the coccyx way more than if you're sitting up front finding the front muscles. So sometimes it's our posture that really kind of drives.
Gillian (15:26)
Yeah, that's so interesting. So then what about like vagina weights? Like are those still a thing? And do women use those to do better kegels? What do you think about those? You forgot? Ha ha ha.
Mandy (15:29)
Yeah.
Tina Patti (15:34)
They are still a thing. Oh yeah.
Mandy (15:37)
I totally forgot about this. Like as soon as you said it, I was like, oh my gosh.
Tina Patti (15:43)
I have like this little arsenal of samples that can make a lot of people blush, but it's fun because in both my offices, I have like dilators.
Sorry. Well, but no, I actually have a set of pectoral weights in the office for people to see. And it's like, yes, pectoral weights can work, but the problem with a lot of pelvic floors is the muscles are really tight and kind of weak. So we have to restore that range of motion. Can the muscle fully relax before it can fully squeeze? If your muscles can relax for the best of their ability,
and you're still having some incontinence while you're working, then yeah, I actually do recommend some of the Kegel weights to my patients with stress incontinence. And it's because sometimes we're lifting weights. And when I am spotting with a decent, well, my version of a decent rack, sometimes there can be. So yes, I will use some Kegel weights. I use some dilators. There's different strips of the tray that we use. But if you're gonna do Kegel weights, I would really recommend.
Gillian (16:32)
Yeah.
Tina Patti (16:53)
go into a pelvic floor physio. Make sure you have that relaxation first. And then yeah, go for it. These things make me have good motion. Yeah, they're fun.
Gillian (17:02)
Yeah, because those muscles, that's interesting that the muscles can be, um, tight, but like weak at the same time. That's really interesting. I think that that's like probably in any, any muscle in the body as well.
Tina Patti (17:14)
It is, and they are really similar to the hamstrings. The hamstrings will often splint because the glute max and TA aren't doing their job. And so something has to work a little bit better. And it's the same thing with the pelvic floor. It's gonna get tight because it's weak and it's just trying to shorten itself up because the brain thinks that does better for some very strange reason.
Gillian (17:34)
Right. So I wonder if like some of your patients, like when they might initially like come to you for you know, stress incontinence, but do you often find that there's other things that they're coping with that they didn't realize were related to the similar issue? So what are some of those? Okay.
Mandy (17:36)
That's fascinating.
Tina Patti (17:50)
always the hips, the hips are often the big culprit. So if the hips are weak, the pelvic floor sits in the middle going, I got you guys, don't worry about it. And it's often that posterior hip. So the external rotators of the hip are a big piece of that. Glute weakness is also a big piece of that. Lower abdominals, the transverse abdominals, especially if a woman has a DRA, that separation of the abs.
one of their canister muscles is insufficient, so another muscle has to substitute to help out. So it's kind of our job to find out that domino effect. If the pelvic floor isn't working, why? Is it because your little stretch bucket and you hide your muscles there? Or is it because other muscles aren't working as efficient as they should be, so it's just substituting and trying to do the best that we can to help out a team. So we always have to assess the team. Are your hips moving correctly? When you're running,
That's five times of your body weight going through each side. Well, as you're doing that, if you can't do 30 single leg squat, then your pelvic floor is substituting in your gut. So it's always coming back and saying you are a whole entire person. Where is this weakness?
Gillian (19:06)
really interesting.
Mandy (19:07)
That is. I never thought of, I just never thought of it like that.
Tina Patti (19:09)
It's really fun.
Gillian (19:11)
I bet it would be, you know, like just because everybody's so different. And then I think like we're all just sort of like, oh, you just have a baby. And then, you know, your job is just to lose the weight afterwards. But you think about everything that goes on in your body and just how your entire anatomy shifts. Like, of course, things are going to come back together and they're not going to be exactly the same as they were before. But I can see how if you are, you know, ignoring things like, you know, your posture or like, you know,
but the reason why your belly is pooching out is because of a series of other things going on. So I think that one of the big reasons why I wanted to have you on today is because I wanted to raise awareness about some of these issues. Again, for us, we see women that are coming in for weight loss, but we uncover all sorts of other issues that are going on, and they might think that there's an issue with their metabolism, but then we're seeing, well, let's back the train up. There's all these other things that are really just not optimal. So imagine it's the same in your line of work,
Mandy (20:01)
Mm-hmm.
Tina Patti (20:01)
Ah.
Gillian (20:11)
like this one big thing but then there's like all these little things that we can improve so that the entire thing is better.
Tina Patti (20:19)
And it's how I love the same, the stuff that you guys see is when they'll come in, she's like, I've really been working my abs and I understand why my pelvic floor is mad, but what have you been doing? Oh, you do 300 sit ups a day. Not really great for the core. So every time you sit up and you're going, who you're pressing down into your pelvic floor, all of that pressure. Yeah, there's a lot of issues there. So some of my women, we actually can get back into doing like a regular setup.
Mandy (20:26)
Mm-hmm.
Tina Patti (20:46)
but we have to teach the transverse of dominance, how to work first and then teach the reckless over the top, how to control better. But it really is kind of on programming the fad diets, the fad workout and saying, no, this is the tried and true method. Here's what science tells us. And not. And it's kind of unprogrammed a lot.
Mandy (21:08)
Right.
I feel like so many of, not just not our clients necessarily, just like so many of like, so many women, it's just you go so extreme. You don't think about these minor little things. You don't think about your posture. You don't think about how long you're sitting. You don't think about your stride when you're stepping and how you're holding yourself. And you don't think about that maybe for a few weeks, but like, oh, this is over a course of years and decades. And like you said, how, how sitting for so long and the strides and everything that we're doing, how it just wears and tears.
Gillian (21:10)
and
Tina Patti (21:21)
Yeah.
Mandy (21:39)
and wears and tears. And it's like that dribble becomes worse and worse and worse. And it becomes harder and harder. And we just put ourselves on the back burner for so long. We don't think about how this is such a form of self care. And it really should be talked about. And we really should think about our posture. And we really should think about these things because they are important and that we are important and we should put ourselves first so we can take care of ourselves. So we can, you know, be the great mom and have the great energy and like have all of, you know, the buoyancy for, you know, when we're
Tina Patti (21:57)
very.
Mandy (22:09)
and wanting to jump on trampolines.
Tina Patti (22:12)
It is. And it's so strange. I'm not sure if it's the Midwest. I don't know if it's America, but if a woman is taking care of herself and she's got kids, some people actually really just consider that being selfish. Well, you should be spending that time with your kids. And it's really hard to unprogram women to say, no, you're actually taking care of yourself. And if you're eating correctly and you're working out correctly and have a good lifestyle, your children see that. And that's the role model that you're projecting.
Mandy (22:26)
Mm-hmm.
They see that positivity.
Gillian (22:40)
Yeah.
Yeah, 100%. We talk about that all the time, just like how that narrative just like needs to go away. Because we always say like when you're taking good care of yourself, like you're free of that worry of like, oh, there's something I should be doing because we all know like, okay, I really shouldn't be eating this. Like I know this isn't the best choice. I know I'm going to feel if I like, you know, eat birthday cake for breakfast, right? And like that feeling and that guilt like we can eliminate that from being in our lives by taking care of ourselves. So but I think it's just like we're sort of like it. And I again, I agree with you.
Canada, it's a little bit different there and at certain parts of the country there's just different mindsets about self-care and what that looks like but definitely, you know women still sort of battle with that of like, you know, I being selfish by like taking time out of the morning to get my workout in well no, I mean taking care of you is taking care of your family because you know everybody needs your support and you to be strong and healthy so doing that for yourself is definitely not selfish and I don't even think that anybody really thinks that we are just putting that on ourselves
and feeling like that is why I should put my priority somewhere else. But I think, you know, you can just see probably women that they come to you and they've been battling with something for way too long. Like we talked a little bit earlier about like sexual dysfunction and pelvic pain. And like that causes a lot of stress on relationships and what that could be like. But, you know, are you, you know, doing something about it because you're heading into a divorce because now, you know, you've disconnected with your partner. But all of that thinking about just like, well, I didn't put myself first and deal with this.
you know, this issue that can be treated.
Tina Patti (24:18)
And that is another thing that we do see a lot. And I think the women that we see with more sexual dysfunction, at least in the very small sample population that I have, is the more conservative a person was raised, often the more sexual function that they'd have. And I'm not blaming parents, I'm not blaming religion, but how we make that association. So some of my patients are like, no, I waited till this was important, this is my belief structure, but now I can't.
And it's because we were taught, don't look at it, don't touch it, don't think about it. And luckily enough with each generation, we're just getting more educated. And yeah, you can think about it. Yes, you can touch it when appropriate. And telling women that no, you can do these things. And then giving them tools. And literally sometimes it's tools like dilators to help the vaginal walls kind of relax a little bit and allow you to work up from a size smaller than a tampon.
to the size of a part and teaching those muscles, it is okay to allow something to end.
Mandy (25:22)
Mm-hmm.
Gillian (25:23)
that's interesting. I think that might be something that some people just have a hard time kind of talking about and maybe there's a lot of shame around it too. And, you know, after having if you have, you know, a difficult childbirth and things are just not the way that they used to be and, you know, don't feel the way that they used to sometimes that could be like a hard conversation. So, you know, and I can just tell from your energy that you're like very easy to talk to. I'm sure like patients feel like completely comfortable opening up to you.
could help them with their issue that's really hard to talk about.
Tina Patti (25:56)
Yes. And I do encourage anyone, there are different sites you can go on to, at least in the U S you can go onto a site called Herman and Wallace, and you can actually find these public floor physical therapists in your area. So I always encourage anyone to go onto that site, see who's in your area. Talk with people throughout on Facebook. Hey, who did you guys see? And start there and find someone that meshes with you. And just because your first public floor therapist didn't jive with you. Okay.
I'll acknowledge that sometimes I don't get my patients as well as I want them to, but then I at least know a person that I think I could match them up with. So I can say, I don't think our toolbox are working, but I want you to go see this person. We think that person might be able to help you out a little bit more. And it's kind of same thing with a counselor or with your doctor. You're not happy with your PCP. Why are you staying with them? Find someone that helps you. And it's constantly pivoting to make sure you advocate and find the people.
Mandy (26:42)
Mm-hmm.
Yeah, we talk about that quite a bit with coaching, like, you know,
Tina Patti (26:56)
Mm-hmm.
Mandy (26:57)
Like we have a team of coaches, you know, Mom's Show Method Fitness, and there's gonna be some clients that jive really well with me and my personality and the way I coach, and there's gonna be some that don't. And they just, and, but at the same time, we have other coaches, it's like, okay, well this coach might fit you better or work with you better, or, you know, your lifestyle, whatever it may be. But exactly, it's what is gonna help you. And I feel like it's that communication. It's talking, it's, hey, this is how I feel,
level, this is my discomfort, and figuring out what works best for, you know, the patient or the client and being able to get them, like, the best help for their goals or whatever they need. So that way we can, like, help them. But definitely, definitely find what works best for, you know, them.
Tina Patti (27:46)
And it's also even with what you guys do and what I do, there has to be a serious level of stress there because my patients tell me a lot of stuff. And so I'm like, I, I need to blog or like blog on some of the stuff I hear, like the life and times and pelvic floor therapists and stuff, because I talk about pee, poop and sex all day long. And it's interesting that then there are times where I have to like, kind of. See, where does this patient sit on that? Like.
Mandy (28:02)
Hahaha
Gillian (28:02)
I bet, yeah.
I'm sorry.
Tina Patti (28:15)
level and where do they jive and how reserved are they? So I actually have to reflect what my patients do a lot, but it is helping people feel comfortable because no one wants, except for me, no one wants to talk about being moving sex all day long. But those are things.
Mandy (28:28)
Right? And it's funny though...
Yeah, because once you break that down and people talk to your patients talk to you about it Just like our clients. I'm sure they it's like this whole world opens up, right? And all of this like just stuff comes out and it's funny You mentioned that because I try to talk about that in my household. Like I'll talk about poop all the time I'll be like talk about digestion and I swear my boys are like do people really like you talk about this a lot I'm like, it's so important. It's so important. You guys don't understand
Tina Patti (28:40)
Mm-hmm.
Gillian (28:48)
Hahaha
Hahaha
Tina Patti (28:57)
It is!
Gillian (29:00)
Yeah.
Tina Patti (29:01)
And it's also one of those things, I was raised very rural, it was very conservative. You didn't talk about pee, you didn't talk about poop, and you definitely didn't talk about sex. So now that I do what I do, my mama looks at me sometimes and goes, where did you come from? Like, I don't know, sorry guys. And I laugh, my daughter is nine. She turned to nine just before Christmas. And sure enough, on her ninth birthday.
Mandy (29:06)
Mm-hmm.
Gillian (29:17)
Hahaha
Mandy (29:20)
Right?
Tina Patti (29:28)
We're sitting in Chipotle because that's what she wanted for her dinner and hey, why not? And she's eating her little chocolate and she's like, mom, what's your period and why? Poor lady at the cast wrap like dropped something and I look over and she's like, ooh, how are we gonna talk about this? Right in the middle of Chipotle. And I busted out my best version of it. So you just be candid and be honest and it works with our own family and with patients and clients.
Gillian (29:38)
Hahaha
Mandy (29:40)
Ha ha.
Right?
Mm-hmm.
Gillian (29:57)
It's our body. Like, I feel like if my daughters can't come to me and talk about things that are happening with their body, like, I don't want them to just keep it in. But I will say, we're probably similar in age. And when my daughter started her cycle, I remember asking my mom, like, what was it like? Like, when I started mine, was it like this? Or just sort of trying to compare, like, is this the experience I had? And my mom goes, I don't know. We didn't talk about that. I'm like.
Mandy (30:08)
Mm-hmm.
Tina Patti (30:26)
Hmm.
Gillian (30:27)
We didn't like Brooklyn and I talk about this all the time. We talk about, you know, just everything she's experiencing in a very open way. And I think a lot of it is to do because I'm in women's health and you know, I'm a nurse as well. So, but it's just, I think even just in that shift, I mean, I grew up in the eighties and even then we weren't really talking about that. I mean, it was just, you know, very like, you know, it was a secret. I remember like hiding my pad wrappers. So my brother didn't know I had my period, like stuff like that. And I think, you know,
Tina Patti (30:46)
Mm-mm.
Gillian (30:57)
have any class if you can talk about your body but for some reason I think some people still really battle with that of just being like oh this is TMI but like I haven't gone to the bathroom in five days. I'm like TMI? Like that's we need to do something you know so I think just being yeah like and that's another reason why I think it's important to have you on because I think like this is all a huge piece of fitness too is like you know the normal function of the body and the way things should be and no it isn't normal to experience you know five days
Tina Patti (31:08)
No, that's the problem with that. That is the problem there.
Mandy (31:09)
Right?
Mm-hmm.
Tina Patti (31:24)
No.
Gillian (31:27)
when you do lunges, you know?
Tina Patti (31:29)
You know, with one of the classes I took, when we really got into the bowel and rectal stuff, it was so funny because our instructor gets up, I think there were like 30 or 40 of us in this class, and she's like, all right, everyone put up their hand when you poop daily. And seriously, like 80% of the class put their hand up. And I'm going around going, what's wrong with these people? And she's like, who poops every other day? And I'm still the one going, I see them pooping so much. And she looks at me, she's like, you.
How often do you poop? And I went, I don't know, like every three to five days. She's like, what's wrong with you? And I went, I don't know. Come to find out, I had celiac, but we didn't know it. I'm Italian. I eat pasta. I eat bread. But I had no idea that was so toxic in my system. And I had been doing this my whole entire life. To stir enough for me, I cleaned gluten out of the diet.
Gillian (31:59)
Yeah
Hehehehe
Mandy (32:16)
Oh my gosh.
Mm-hmm.
Tina Patti (32:27)
I clean a lot of stugs out of the diet. And what do you know? You can poop regularly. So you don't necessarily have to poop every day, but you gotta go every other day.
Mandy (32:33)
And I bet you felt fantastic.
Gillian (32:39)
That's a very big sign of health. You know, when we ask our clients about digestion and they're just like, oh, just like for my whole life I've kind of been like in every three days. I'm like, what? Like, and we know on our side of things, like just, you know, estrogen collects in stool. Like you have to move your bowels every day. Like it isn't good to, you know, to keep that in there for three, four days. But some people just are like, they've never talked about it. Nobody told them that it was abnormal. I mean, probably even just like you see women that deal with bloat
kind of thinking about when we talked earlier about holding stress. Do you find that a lot of women hold a lot of their tension and stress in their bellies and then subsequently will like develop issues with you know either bowel issues or bloat?
Tina Patti (33:17)
Yeah
It can be. And I think because when we're younger, um, once again, I was raised very country, very kind of Southern where I was taught you suck in that belly, tuck that belly in, no one wants to see that. So I was taught to split and I've also gotten bussed. So it's hard to hide my bus and split my gut. So I was taught to be like this funny little C shape. What that doesn't really bode well for digestion. You actually need to have a diaphragmatic breath. You need to.
expand the gut and contract the gut and use that diaphragmatic breath to really help that parastel cyst. And when you clamp on your gut and clamp on your pelvic floor, you just took out the shuttle system and you just closed the door. So a lot of it is on people. You have to find whatever your relax is, get on head space, get on calm, find what brings you down. And I even have a lot of women with vagus nerve retraining.
down regulation, our vagus nerve is a fight and flight nerve. And if it's constantly being attacked, you have to help bring it down. And there are some exercises that help out with that. But you have to understand and recognize what is your personality type, where are you hiding? And after a while of being bloated and not going to the bathroom, then we open up the door on, do you have SIBO? Do you have other bloating issues because you've left the poop?
in your gut for too long, and now we have to help it work its way out.
It's a system. Get really intriguing.
Gillian (35:00)
Yeah, there's that mind, like that gut brain sort of communication that's really important as well too. And just, I mean, I can feel myself get bloated when I go into that fight or flight. I'm super stressed and then, you know, I'm trying to wolf down my food and my heart rate's elevated and, you know, I'm not like breathing and I can't just, you know, and I know exactly when I get on the other side of an avalachic, I'm like, well, I mean, you worried yourself into this state. Yeah, for sure.
Tina Patti (35:13)
Yeah!
that was provoked. And it's also, I think, at least here, and I always kind of say at least here, because all I know is like what the St. Louis area is doing. I know some of what Phoenix does, mostly from here. Our physicians don't tell us, oh, you actually need to find out what are your food symptoms. Because if you have a lot of constipation, you will also have bladder issues. And we see that actually more in kids, the more constipated you are. The...
Mandy (35:26)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Tina Patti (35:54)
bowels that are full of poop, press on your ureters, and then always put traction on the bladder. So when we have patients that are constipated, I ask them a lot of pee questions. They're like, why are you asking about my pee? Because all that's elevated too, it's all so closely related. And we have to dispel myths and tell people that yes, you should only pee every two to three hours, and you should poop every day to every other day. It is not normal to pee every hour.
Even if you drink a gallon of water, you still should not be every hour. And that's always really interesting. People will say, oh, well, I drink a lot of water. That's why I see a lot. Well, how much do you drink? Oh, about 40 to 60 ounces. Really? Not really.
Mandy (36:42)
I feel like that's very common. Like a lot of people, men and women will say, oh I drink plenty of water. It's like, how much is plenty of water? Oh I don't know, a couple water bottles. I drink this container three times. Like, but do you, and how much is that really? Oh I don't know, it's a lot. Like, really?
Gillian (36:42)
Yeah.
Tina Patti (37:01)
Yes.
Gillian (37:01)
Oh yeah.
I remember working as a nurse and working 12 hour shifts and I would work with people that just wouldn't drink water because they didn't want to have to take a pee break. And they'd be like, oh, it's been seven hours. I haven't had a drop of water. And I'm like, oh my God. You know, I mean, I was still with this bodybuilding at the time. So I mean, it was like, I don't really care. I mean, I've got to get my water in. I will find time to pee. It doesn't even take that long to pee, really like 30 seconds, you know. But again, that's women taking care of everybody else except for themselves. So, and that is actually
Mandy (37:11)
Yeah.
Tina Patti (37:16)
Why would you do that?
Gillian (37:32)
why I left that profession because I felt like that was there was so much of that and I'm being very general obviously but that was you know definitely just I wanted to take care of people and I wanted to be able to take care of myself and I was like I don't know how to do both but I know fitness is definitely a way that I can I can do that and you know so and here I am but um
Mandy (37:53)
Yeah.
Gillian (37:53)
But yeah, I wanted to also talk about, you call it a DRA. So, and I think I say it wrong. I've always said diastasis recti. Am I saying it wrong? It's a hard word. Oh, is it okay? Yeah, niche, niche. I always get those wrong too.
Mandy (38:01)
I always botch it.
Tina Patti (38:04)
It's a potato potato. It's like potato, privacy, just how do you wanna roll with it?
Yep. But that's when two things can cause it. The most common thing that causes it is a pregnancy, because a human grows and causes expansion. And then the six-pack splits. The other thing that we often see, strangely enough, is in older, more obese men. They actually get the same thing just because of that visceral fat that then pushes out at the six-pack muscle. So a person can have too much visceral fat.
and it will cause the six pack muscles to split or more common pregnancy. And it's just because the six pack is attached to the transverse abdominis and that transverse abdominis opens and opens and opens. And now all of a sudden those muscles just can't touch anymore because the baby's too big. And when that happens, your six pack splits. It is very common and even normal to get up to a one inch, which is that finger width.
diastasis post pregnancy, but it should go right back down. Within the first six weeks, it should close all the way back up. And if it's not, then we have to tell these muscles, how am I supposed to do this? Um, the craziest one I've seen, it was a full four finger. They just did not meet. And then when I kind of dug into the abdominal cavity, I kind of laughed like, Oh my God, I'm fishing all the way down to your spine. Oh, I think I just found it.
which meant the transverse abdominals were weak, that six pack had split, and we had a lot of work to do with them. The biggest way to start kickstarting that is a really exaggerated diaphragmatic breath. So when you inhale, you're trying to tell that transverse abdominals, inhale means expand, and then reverse, exhale, pull the transverse abdominals in and not do that set up. So it's just a lot of retraining.
Like you could have a brand new baby, work on breastfeeding, bottle feeding, whatever it is that works for your family, and just sit there, enjoy the cuddles, and inhale, bend belly, exhale, pull the belly in while you're maintaining that posture. Inhale, expand, exhale, draw in, and that gets that transverse abdominis working again. Going to...
Gillian (40:29)
because that's that very deep, deep layer of abs. And I think that what happens is that a lot of people will do like traditional core exercises or even weighted ab movements, because they can feel it or like side bends and things like that. And they're completely neglecting that, like the girdle of your core really that big muscle. Because we'll often see women that are like lean, like there is no body fat, but they have a belly. And it's because their TVA is just really, really weak.
Tina Patti (40:40)
Yes.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Gillian (40:59)
So we do a lot of like stomach vacuum training in the bikini space like that's a lot of something a lot of competitors do But would you say there's like certain exercises that would be like a no-no for somebody if they had the diastasis
Mandy (41:05)
Mm-hmm.
Tina Patti (41:15)
anything that folds your body up is the no-no. And what I have gotten from women who are very competitive and who are very athletic, I've helped them get back into crunches as long as the diastasis doesn't open when they're doing it. So if there's no doming, you're good to go. You can train that diastasis with different planks, with different dead bugs and bird dogs and different sorts of push-ups to help get that to be more solid. And then if the transverse abdominus is solid,
Gillian (41:19)
Yeah.
Tina Patti (41:44)
The superficial six pack muscles, maybe they don't come all the way together, but they don't gap open. And it takes a lot of training and a lot of nice training. And I know you guys have a lot of that same education. We have that education in pelvic floor therapy, but it's respecting what the transverse abdominal does and educating a person on the six pack muscle versus the TA.
Gillian (42:07)
Yeah.
Tina Patti (42:09)
and with the trans...
Mandy (42:09)
Well, I think it's smart, like what you said, how you can just do it so easily, you know? I know I have a lot of clients that if they can't make it to the gym or like the gym is the workout and once you're done at the gym, like your workout is done. But what we find a lot of times is that they're missing a workout or they're missing a session or they're missing this because they get busy, something happens. It's like, well, the gym doesn't have to be the only place you work out. You can do abs at home, you can do stretches at home, you can go walk and run outside,
and weather prevailing, but just like you said, like this is something you can easily work on at home. You know, you put a little reminder in to like do these a few times a day, or a few times a week, whatever the case by case scenario may be. It doesn't have to be this daunting, difficult task and you can work on something and it's a form of self care and you can be at home with your baby or watching a movie or something and just work on it. You don't have to have like this crazy, marked out time away from your family.
Tina Patti (42:54)
Mm-mm.
Thank you very much.
Gillian (43:10)
Yeah, that core strength is so key for like preventing lower back injuries as well and like other issues in the body. I always tell people like, you know, the core work is not just so that you have a flat stomach. Like it's important to like get those muscles engaged properly to support you when you're doing other like heavier movements like squats and lunges and things like that. But do you often see that, you know, there's like other injuries that come from like a weak core and somebody that may be neglected to, you know,
get their core back in strength after having a baby.
Tina Patti (43:44)
a lot of it can be that lower back pain. And we find a lot of it is from ergonomics. So you've got this little person now, or if you have a little person and another small person, we bend over and we hinge at the hip to pick. And often as you're bending over to pick something up, you're doing that, whoo, it's called a Valsalva. So every time you bend over, you're pressing down into your platter, you're pressing into your abdominal walls. And a lot of it is just reteaching people, if there's a,
do on the floor, please don't bend over and grab it, lunge down and grab it. Sumo squat and grab it. Do what's called a golfer's pickup and grab it. Stop bending over because that just further makes the hips mad. If your core is weak, actually stepping back. For the core itself, a lot of people don't even realize what that is. The core itself is a little more complex when you realize it. So your core is the top part of your diaphragm.
The middle part is a transverse abdominus. The bottom part is your pelvic floor. Then along the back, you have multifidi, which kind of branch out a little bit. Your hip external rotators are part of your glutes. All those muscles have to work together and they need to be trained together. So a lot of people think the core and they're like, oh, that's my ass. No, it's a little bit more than just the ass.
Gillian (45:02)
Yeah.
Tina Patti (45:09)
There was a body exhibit that was in Vegas many years ago. And it was really cool that you have the human skeleton and had everything dissected out except the through core muscles. And I remember being an athletic trainer seeing that.
Gillian (45:22)
Yeah.
Yeah, that's really neat.
Tina Patti (45:27)
at the, you know, your gate to school. Because then you see the muscles that you didn't realize that was happening before. And once you get that education that you're supposed to, rotate from the hip to squat. And that actually helps out your core more than bending over and getting something. Love is redirecting an education.
Gillian (45:43)
Right.
Well, and that's so fascinating too, when you like to explain that anatomy, like that was such a good visual, if anybody's watching on YouTube and they can see like how you were describing everything with your hands, like, and then you grow a baby in there, like, and then to like expect everything to just like, go back to normal, like, you know, I feel like, you know, my nerd brain is like on fire right now. I always do this when we have experts on them. I was like, oh, I like going on these like tangents, but I just think about that, like, oh my gosh, like, you know, you grow a human inside of this space
Tina Patti (45:58)
DEATH!
Mandy (46:08)
Mm-hmm
Gillian (46:16)
going on like we need to give it a little bit of attention on the other side to make sure that it's functioning properly so you don't end up with a hip issue or a back issue or you know you know your abs are you know not and not just aesthetically too I think that's the other thing is that you know looking outside of just what the physique looks like what's going on internally I think is really important too and one thing I did also want to ask you about was something we'll often
Tina Patti (46:17)
Ah.
Oh.
Gillian (46:46)
is like not being able to engage those muscles, either they're numb or they don't, they just like a disconnect there. So can you explain kind of what's going on there and then what you can do about it?
Tina Patti (46:53)
Yeah.
Well, I think it's the...
My husband and dog just came down the steps and like, uh, who's here. Um, a lot of it is we really downplay C-sections. They're very, very common in the U S and in the U S we actually have the highest instance rate of the variant. Many different reasons on why people think that is, but we don't always think that it's the skin that's cut and that then scar goes all the way down to the uterus.
Mandy (47:03)
Ha ha.
Gillian (47:04)
I'm sorry.
Tina Patti (47:28)
which is a muscle really, really low in our pubic region. So yes, it's an abdominal incision, but that incision goes to the abdominal cavity and the pelvic cavity. And as then the uterus is kind of retracting and shrinking back down in, then as it's shrinking down back in, that scar tissue is sucking down in with all. So that's why a lot of women who have deceptions like, oh my God, I've got this fat little shelf. It's not a fat little shelf,
questioning your adipose tissue that makes it look fat. But if that incision had some work on it, you'd have a black tummy, but it's scar tissue. And so teaching women how to get that transverse abdominis moving, and even one of my favorite exercises, you start at the counter and it's a pushup with like an open book and a thread needle because we need that area to move. Do dead bugs, lower abdominal exercises.
Gillian (48:02)
Yeah.
Right.
Tina Patti (48:27)
mountain climbers in various positions, not necessarily at the ground, but to tell your lower abs, you guys have to work and break free. And then depending on some of the physios, I'm trained in dry needling. So I can actually needle incisions to help that scar tissue lay down a little bit better. And anytime we have a surgery, we cut through cutaneous nerves. So you are going to lose some of those sensations. And it takes...
Gillian (48:56)
Yeah.
Tina Patti (48:57)
aloof a sponge, q-tips, cotton balls, anything kind of scratched, you have to repeat those nerves. How are they supposed to work?
Gillian (49:07)
That's so fascinating, because it's true. And they just pop you up out of bed the next day, and then you got to take care of a baby, and you've got this big abdominal incision, and it does, like I had two. And I mean, it starts here, and then as your stomach and uterus retract, it goes down in there. And it's wild to think about just expecting everything to work back to normal. But I think that's so cool about the dry needling. I had no idea that was something that would help with that scarring. And does it help with the,
Mandy (49:08)
That is.
Tina Patti (49:12)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Gillian (49:37)
the sensation and the nerves are in that area as well too.
Tina Patti (49:41)
It does. And one thing that people can do at home, when we look up on some social media, is we can see cupping. We know cupping. I think it really came popular, like was it 2002 or 2004 Chinese Olympics, that we saw these giant circular bruises across everyone. And that is traditional Chinese cupping. And it does cause a gnarly bruise. What we can do now is grade that suction, and you can actually put those silicone cups that you can get off of Amazon.
Mandy (49:56)
Yeah.
Gillian (49:57)
Yeah.
Tina Patti (50:10)
right on the incision because it lifts. And I will teach women how to cup on their own. In Western medicine, we use A-STEM, we use Grafton, we use A-I-STEM, but all derived from ancient Chinese Gua Sha, which uses the jade stone. You see it a lot for like for facing and trying to reduce that. You can Gua Sha along your incision. Yes! So...
Gillian (50:32)
TikTok, yeah. I have a Gua Sha. That's so cool.
Tina Patti (50:38)
It's taking that and even when women get mad that there's like that extra now, we're kind of like fluffy skin that's there. What the derma roller that you'd use on your face, you can find a little bit longer of a derma roller and derma lower along your lower abs and that will help tighten up some of that. We can change it a little bit. Just depends on how much work you want to do.
Gillian (51:00)
Yeah, that's true. Wow, that's really neat.
Tina Patti (51:02)
And so I recommend gouache doll and cupping and even derma rolling along not you wouldn't derma roll at your incision but above and below it.
Mandy (51:12)
Mm-hmm.
I never would have thought of that.
Tina Patti (51:17)
And it's just kind of fun stuff. And like the dermal rolling, I never would have thought of. I actually saw it on a TikTok and I went, huh, I wonder if that actually works. So I bought a dermal roller that has some of the longer needles, rolled it across and then used my hyaluronic acid and some of the other skin farming stuff I use on my face. And I went, oh my God, that actually works. So it can work.
Gillian (51:35)
Yeah, that's so cool. That's awesome.
Tina Patti (51:40)
So it's fun stuff. And it's also just empowering women that, because you had a cesarean, you don't, it doesn't have to be the end, but I wish we could do a better job helping women realize that yes, you had a cesarean. Sometimes it was voluntary, sometimes it's not voluntary. And you can get past it, but it requires a little bit of work. And also giving yourself grace and telling other people that yeah, you had serious abdominal surgery. You don't blow it off, you take it seriously.
Mandy (52:02)
Yeah.
Gillian (52:09)
Yeah.
Mandy (52:09)
Mm-hmm.
Gillian (52:10)
Exactly, but that there's hope that like, you know, there's all these things that you might be experiencing like there's little fixes for each one It can feel overwhelming, you know, I think that there's been a lot of great solutions in this episode But I also think it's encouraging to know that like you don't have to accept that like this is what's going on Like you'll always have a gap between your ab muscles or you'll always pee on yourself or you know, you'll have you know issues with You know, whatever it might be. There's all these different solutions and resources
Tina Patti (52:17)
Mm-hmm.
And there are, and no problem. And it's really just nice being able to help teach women that just because you think you're doing your Kegels correctly, there's a really good chance that you're not unfortunate. And get to someone, find someone that can help you. And unfortunate is probably not your grandma. It might not be your mom, unless she's like one of us that knows the field, but plug away and work at it.
Gillian (52:40)
grateful that we had you today.
Tina Patti (53:04)
I get people a lot for a lot and they've gone to other physios and it didn't help out as much as they hoped. And then they can get to me, they're like, oh my God, they didn't teach us this where I was before. Because we all have different school boxes and we can all teach how to work exercise and the adductors and the hip muscles all overflow to the pelvic floor. So if you just have a strong hip, glute adductors, you're setting your pelvic floor up for success. So if they're not strong, then the success of Lone Watch out.
Gillian (53:16)
Yeah.
Mandy (53:36)
That's amazing. Like all the information is just so fascinating. I'm literally just absorbing all of it. Like I had...
No idea. Like, I know about the pelvic floor. I know the importance, but the detail and the care and all the stress, everything, it's so fascinating. And I know it's gonna help so many people that are listening. And like we've been talking about this entire time, it's just, it's so common for us to keep everything bottled up inside, to just not talk about things. Or if we do say something and then our mom, our sister, our grandma, our aunts, or somebody
like, oh no, that's just how it's supposed to be. It's like, no, no it's not. It is not. We can fix this, we can find a solution for this, we can work towards this, and you can be like the best version of you for yourself and for your family. It's just absolutely fascinating. It is.
Tina Patti (54:24)
Mm-hmm.
Gillian (54:27)
Yeah, I love it.
Tina Patti (54:28)
And it's also interesting. So one of the muscles in the pelvic floor, there are several in it, but it's grouped together and called the levator anus. And it's like the rotator cuff, like there are four muscles there, but we just call it the rotator cuff. So in part of the levator anus, it very is much like the levator scapula. We put tension in the levator scapula and then you lose your neck. And then they're really like, okay, I need to straighten things back out and relax. If a person notices their shoulders are lifting,
Mandy (54:41)
Mm-hmm.
Tina Patti (54:57)
with their pelvic floor. It's like there's a full imaginary line that puts them together. So if you notice you're shrinking up your shoulders, wiggle them out, and then also try to find your pelvic floor and let it relax.
Gillian (55:00)
Yeah.
Yeah. And then close your elevator doors, right? That's like such a great analogy. I'm gonna be like, hey, Mandy, did you close your elevator doors today? First text you get from me in the morning. Yeah.
Tina Patti (55:10)
It's all about finding that Zen state.
Mandy (55:13)
and close your elephant.
Tina Patti (55:16)
Just like, release the doors.
Yes! Ha ha ha!
Mandy (55:21)
I'm gonna get that text tomorrow. Like, did you close your elevator doors?
Tina Patti (55:25)
And it's so funny with like a lot of how the door is doing today. And it's so.
Mandy (55:32)
We're gonna text you like a week from now and be like, hey, our elevator doors are fantastic.
Tina Patti (55:37)
My door got stuck. And then it's even also teaching people like to think of your pelvic floor, even as like that elevator shaft. You might not always be able to say, is it open or is it closed? But did your elevator like stuck on the 10th floor? Do you feel like thing is just stuck or is it actually all the way down to lobby? Elevator can get down to the lobby. Sometimes we just have to teach it to do so because we've been storing stress there for so long.
Gillian (55:43)
Oh my gosh.
Tina Patti (56:05)
It just doesn't know it's capable of going down.
Um, one of my favorite schools, it's a little thing called the Perry fit. And it is a blue tooth device. It looks very vibrator ish and you insert it and it actually has like games you can play on your phone that actually teaches you how to better. It did use like how to better release your pelvic floor. And, um, I was.
Gillian (56:29)
Stop. Bluetooth for your vagina. I'm in.
Tina Patti (56:37)
kind of using it one night and I'm like, it looks like a Mario Brothers, the one that I was playing. And I couldn't get the Mario cart to jump over the little tube. And my husband's like, give it here. And he grabs my phone and he's like, your phone is broke, it won't go. I'm like, oh baby, you don't have the joystick. I think he's like, I'm sorry, what? I'm like, you don't got the joystick, baby, it's there.
Mandy (56:49)
Oh my gosh.
Gillian (56:57)
What is this called? I like, I'm putting this in my Amazon storefront right now. Oh my gosh.
Tina Patti (57:03)
I was actually looking at your Amazon storefront and I need to get with you to figure out how did you do that? I have so many patients say you have so many recommendations. You need that Amazon storefront. And I'm like, I don't know what that is. I'm old. Oh, we're going to. That'd be awesome.
Gillian (57:11)
Oh yeah, everybody needs one. Yeah, I'll set you up. Yeah, yeah, totally.
Mandy (57:17)
It comes in handy because if there's some people that have questions, you can just be like, here it is, here it is, here it is. It's so helpful.
Tina Patti (57:23)
Yes. I need to find that.
Gillian (57:24)
Well, my whole life exists on trying to help people make things easier. That's my favorite thing to do is I love hacks and tips and tricks, because I live for that stuff. My whole cardio session is just looking for tips and tricks on TikTok. It just passes my time. It's so fun. So I love to do that for other people. So the fact that there is this little device that can help somebody, and also I think it sounds like a little fun activity to do as well. So I'm totally in. Yeah.
Mandy (57:29)
Mm-hmm.
Tina Patti (57:40)
Because it's fun.
It is, and it's so objective. Like it shows where your progress is. And if this is your squeeze, it says, okay, you're strong, but you also need to relax. And then if you're kind of weak, it's like, no, there, there you go. And it just helps you find that out. And it's so objective.
Gillian (57:53)
Yeah.
Well, definitely send me the link so I can put it in the show notes because I'm sure.
Mandy (58:03)
helpful though. That's what I was I was just about to say that. Like that's so that can be so helpful.
Gillian (58:10)
I know what I'm gonna get you for your birthday, Mandy. I'm gonna get you one for your birthday. They come in colors? God, I just have to keep away from the kids. I'm like, I want to play with that. No.
Tina Patti (58:10)
And there are, yeah. And they come in fun colors. You can have one that's pink or one that's green. They do. And it's awesome. Yeah.
Mandy (58:12)
Huh? What? Oh.
Tina Patti (58:27)
My daughter, when she was younger, actually did kind of grab something and I'm like, ooh, honey, not that.
Gillian (58:32)
Hehehehe
Mandy (58:34)
Not that.
Tina Patti (58:35)
Nope. But there is the Perryfit. And I usually gear my patients towards the Perryfit because it's really the most, it's the most inexpensive one on the market. So you can get their last year's model for $120 or the newer model for $140. Elvie is out there. Elvie is really kind of cool, but she costs $200. And she has a great market. I don't know why I call her a she. I think it's because it goes in a she.
Gillian (58:35)
That's mom's vagina video game.
Peri-fit, okay.
It's so fun.
Tina Patti (59:01)
But she's 200. She was actually in the Oscar grab bag, like six years ago, which is really kind of cool. So I think they were hoping to like promote it. But I think a lot of stars did it ago. And then there's another project out there called the Ami. I don't know a lot about that. So LV and Harry said are
Gillian (59:07)
Really?
Mandy (59:09)
That is neat.
Gillian (59:25)
Why don't we get a little sponsorship for bikinis after babies for the Berryfit? Maybe they need an ambassador. I love being a guinea pig. That's awesome. I'm definitely going to try it out. That sounds awesome. And I'm sure there's going to be people that are listening to this that that's exactly what I'm looking for, like something to help me. So, yeah, we'll definitely link it below.
Mandy (59:28)
Alright.
Tina Patti (59:28)
Yeah, y'all.
Mandy (59:42)
That's right. That's why we have to put it in the show notes.
Tina Patti (59:46)
And I actually do recommend allow my patients get them. And yes, depending on what model you get, it's been 120 and $200. But that also means like, as we're working together, you're able to have that objectivity out on your own. And yes, it does cost money. And I know a lot of people are struggling with funds right now. But if you have a $40 copay to come see me and you buy that, you can trim back from the visits that you're gonna have to see with.
Mandy (1:00:00)
Mm-hmm.
Tina Patti (1:00:12)
And then we can sometimes focus on more of that core aspect of where is the core insufficient because you're taking care of some of that public core attention on your own, I can help fill in that. And then it's also fun because I use myself as a guinea pig. So they're like, I was able to do this game, but I couldn't get up there. I'm like, all right, I got you, try this exercise. And then we kind of help figure it out and like, what do we need to do to fill in the gaps?
Gillian (1:00:32)
Do it like this.
Yeah, I feel like that would increase patient compliance though because it gives them an activity to do versus just like, now I want you to do 10 of these or you know, they're probably not going to do it. But if they have some activity or something that they, I mean, it's just like human psychology that would be more enticing than just some paper homework. So
Tina Patti (1:00:45)
Yes.
Mandy (1:00:45)
Mm-hmm.
Well, that and the initial investment. I always say I.
I always like, I really dislike when people for like initial investment are like, oh, I can't afford that. It's like, okay, but listen, if you paid this like little, like it's big, but little amount, like 120, let's say you pay that 120 now and it fixes your problem. Imagine if you don't pay that and you don't get your problem fixed and six months, a year to two years later, that 120 just turned into $10,000 in a hospital bill. Like that's always how I like to explain like, okay, well you don't wanna,
Tina Patti (1:01:15)
It's gonna get bigger.
Gillian (1:01:23)
Yeah.
Mandy (1:01:28)
initial investment in a nutrition plan, but you have money to go out and eat, that's fine. But let's look at your life here in five years when you're pre-diabetic and you're having to pay for medicine. And a nutritionist. Ha ha ha.
Gillian (1:01:38)
true. We always like to say like what's the cost of staying where you're at you know.
Tina Patti (1:01:38)
Yes.
That's exactly it. And I am always kind of intrigued. We were like, I don't have time to do this and I don't have the fun. But they're up on all their binge watching. Like, see, you had time to watch TV. You had time to, like, what is your screen on your phone? You spend two and a half hours on your phone. So go ahead and grab your phone and your Perry Fit and pair them together and you'll be great. Like, there's ways that we can kind of turn that back, but we really have to assess what am I doing and why.
Mandy (1:02:11)
Right, I actually herniated my disc back in 2022, between my L4 and L5, and dry kneeling, and a lot of therapeutic stuff helped me, saved me from having to have surgery. And that was what got me. And to this day, I preach this all the time, but if I have time, because I had to go see a therapist and everything, if I have time to watch a TV show, like not even a movie, but a 45-minute TV show, I can lay in my living room floor
Tina Patti (1:02:24)
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Mandy (1:02:42)
boring, you know, PT, pelvic floor tilt, all this stuff I had to do for my hips, everything. But I can lay there and do that. And so now it's kinda, it's gotten me into now, like that's when I do my ab routine or my vacuums. And you know, if you have time to lay there and watch TV, like all you gotta do is lay on your floor and just do this additional things. Like it's no different and you feel accomplished.
Tina Patti (1:03:05)
Yes.
And it's like for me, I've got a, a swim bike right in front of our TV. Well, it's actually behind the couch. So often when I get up in the morning, I literally drag my butt out of bed, humble down the step and I will start cycling in the morning because the TV's on. I'm going to watch the news, kind of see what's going on, what's the weather. Cause the kids are going to ask first thing she gets up. And it's just a little bit of light movement and it is bad that there's a water holder on it and I will put my coffee.
along with my water. Cycle a little bit, get the blood flow going.
Gillian (1:03:39)
It's great.
Mandy (1:03:40)
I'm laughing because I do the same thing. Like I'm laughing because I literally throw myself out of bed in pajamas, grab my water and go downstairs in the garage and just like watch TV and do like my cardio just to get like, get it done. I'm gonna watch TV in bed anyways. I might as well get some movement. That's why I was laughing. I'm like, I do the same thing.
Gillian (1:03:57)
Right, might as well move my body. Yeah. Yeah, I do too, yep.
Tina Patti (1:03:59)
Gotta move.
And I teach my patients, I call it a functional lunge series, very tight, be like lunge, it's a forward lunge and back lunge aside, like a rotation. I do these like, when do you do these? I'm like either first thing in the morning or the very last thing at night. Because if you do 10 each direction, you're just telling your joints and your blood flow to kind of kill it out. It's movement. Like you don't necessarily do a lot every single day, but you'll at least have
Mandy (1:04:26)
Mm-hmm.
Tina Patti (1:04:32)
And it's alarming how sedentary life is right now for a lot of people.
Gillian (1:04:37)
Yeah, 100%. Yeah. Wow.
Mandy (1:04:38)
Yeah.
Tina Patti (1:04:42)
I left, I was really proud of my cousin, she got a sit to stand desk, and she's got like one of those walkers. So she actually stands at a desk and walks and then types all of her paperwork.
Mandy (1:04:47)
Yeah, walking pads.
Gillian (1:04:47)
Yeah.
I think that's great though, that's more activity, more steps and you know everybody could move a little bit more. I mean especially when we get our cold winters here too and people are just stuck indoors and what not but just walking. I mean we always say that's like the best form of cardio for sure.
Tina Patti (1:04:54)
I don't know that I could do.
Mm-hmm.
Mandy (1:05:04)
Mm-hmm.
Tina Patti (1:05:06)
Mocking.
Um, I lived in Arizona for a long time and I think people were just more fit in Arizona than they are here because it's great, sunny weather all the time. You want to be outside here winter. I'm like, I don't, I don't want to go for a walk today. I need to find that for a five K next month and I haven't done enough for it. So I need to like strap on the sluts and go out there, but yeah.
Gillian (1:05:15)
Yeah.
Mandy (1:05:16)
Mm-hmm.
Gillian (1:05:18)
Yeah.
Mandy (1:05:18)
Yeah.
Tina Patti (1:05:34)
that.
Gillian (1:05:34)
Well, we have hit an hour. That happened really fast. We could have probably talked to you all day, Tina. I really, really appreciate your expertise and so much great information that you shared today. I really, really appreciate it. So how can our listeners find you if they are interested in coming and seeing you for therapy?
Mandy (1:05:38)
Yeah
Tina Patti (1:05:41)
Oh, thank you.
I work at Mercy in St. Louis. I'm at our Crestwood office. And so basically in our Crestwood office is off at Watson and Lemberg here in St. Louis. The phone number there is 314-965-7171. And if anyone ever has any questions, I am on Instagram and it's just sena.pattystl. And send me some Instagram messages. I am on Facebook.
I think it says Tina Patty, but I'm really not sure. I don't activate my Facebook as much.
Gillian (1:06:25)
Well, we'll link it all below for sure, so everybody can just click in the show notes and find you and...
Mandy (1:06:27)
Mm-hmm.
Tina Patti (1:06:30)
Yeah. So yeah, send me an instant message. And if you're not in the St. Louis area, but still very curious and just want to figure out, okay, where can I go in my area? We can help you find that. And it's just making sure that you find the resources, whether it is a pelvic floor physio, if you're still pregnant or just your alignment's off, helping you find a Webster training and just helping you find the people help put you together in the manner that you need. Yeah. So either Tina dot Patty.
for Insta, Tina Patty Facebook, or at the office at 314-965-7171. My front office woman's name is Denisha and she is fabulous. She runs my life and she does some very well.
Gillian (1:07:15)
Awesome. Great.
Mandy (1:07:16)
Yeah, thank you so much for coming on today. All the information is going to help so many people. And like Jillian said, we'll have all the information in the show notes below. And there's, you know, you have access to this, you know, via YouTube, Apple, Spotify, so everybody can listen or watch however is the easiest for them. But thank you so much for joining us today. Yeah.
Gillian (1:07:36)
Yeah, thanks. That was a fun chat. Thank you so much.
Tina Patti (1:07:37)
No, thank you guys. And I have to say, I am now legit in my daughter's eyes because since you guys have a YouTube, mom is on YouTube. I am now a hero. All I had to do was to get on YouTube to get some kid respect.
Gillian (1:07:45)
Mom's on YouTube. Yep, yay. Awesome. Well, thanks again, Tina. Thank you everybody for listening. Yes. All right. You too.
Mandy (1:07:46)
Yes.
There you go.
Tina Patti (1:07:53)
Thank you.
Thank you guys so much.
Mandy (1:07:58)
Yeah, thank you.
Tina Patti (1:07:59)
All right, you guys have a great day. And at least as far as some of my patients when they're asking, where do I go for some more help? I now know where I will actually be reaching out to you because I need some assistance because I've forgotten how to do a lot of things correctly. And I wanna go to that next level. So I am gonna be plugging you guys to my patients. And once again, I'm like the perfect guinea pig and will try about anything. So I hope to reach out to you guys.
Gillian (1:08:25)
We'd love to have you, absolutely. Awesome.
Mandy (1:08:25)
That's awesome. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, thank you so much, Tina, and bye guys, thank you for listening.
Tina Patti (1:08:28)
I'm excited. Thank you.
Gillian (1:08:32)
Yes! Bye!
Tina Patti (1:08:33)
All right, take it easy guys. Thank you.