November 11, 2025 • 47 mins
Urinary (and yes, bowel) leakage isn’t “just part of getting older”—it’s a signal from your core and pelvic floor. In this straight-talk episode, physical therapist Christina Walsh, co-founder of Tighten Your Tinkler, joins me to dismantle the shame around pelvic health and lay out a functional path forward that goes far beyond “just do more Kegels.”
We cover what’s really driving leaks, pressure, prolapse, urgency, and painful sex in midlife; how breath, posture, fascia, and daily toileting habits influence symptoms; when conservative care is enough—and when devices, pessaries, or surgery may be appropriate. Christina also shares practical first steps you can start today (hello, decompression and diaphragmatic breathing), plus how to talk with your partner without pushing through pain.
What you’ll learn
- Why leaking is common—but not normal—and what it’s trying to tell you
- The limits of isolated Kegels and what a functional approach looks like
- How breathing, posture, sitting, and constipation ramp up pelvic pressure
- Staging prolapse (1–4), what’s realistic to “functionally heal,” and red-flags
- Painful sex in midlife: estrogen, lubrication, tone, and boundaries that help
- Fascia’s surprising role (yes, your bladder “talks” to your neck)
Links & resources
https://www.tightenyourtinkler.com/ (listener code Michele for $50 off)
https://www.instagram.com/tighten.your.tinkler/
Tighten Your Tinkler free quiz https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/tinklerquiz
If this helped, share it with a friend, rate the show, and hop on my weekly newsletter for midlife health, fitness, and no-BS motivation.
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If you’re doing “all the right things” and still feel stuck, it may be time to look deeper. I’ve partnered with EllieMD, a trusted telehealth platform offering modern solutions for women in midlife—including micro-dosed GLP-1 peptide therapy—to support metabolic health and longevity.
https://elliemd.com/michelefolan - Create a free account to view all products.
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🎤 In addition to coaching, I speak to women’s groups, moderate health panel discussions, and bring experts together for real, evidence-based conversations about midlife health.
Transcripts are created with AI and may not be perfectly accurate.
Disclaimer: This podcast is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute the practice of medicine, nursing, or other professional healthcare services. It is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your qualified healthcare provider with any questions regarding a medical condition.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Michele Folan (00:00):
Let's talk peptides.
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And for good reason.
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(00:21):
Basically, all the things thatstart to shift in midlife,
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If you've been curious aboutpeptide therapy and want to
learn more, check out the shownotes for my preferred
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Because midlife isn't the timeto slow down, it's the time to
(00:43):
optimize.
Health, wellness, fitness, andeverything in between.
We're removing the taboo fromwhat really matters in midlife.
I'm your host, Michele Folan,and this is Asking for a Friend.
Today we're talking aboutsomething most women don't bring
(01:07):
up at brunch that millions aresilently struggling with:
urinary and bowel incontinence.
Research shows that nearly onein three women over 50 deals
with some level of urinaryleakage, and bowel leakage is
far more common than anyoneadmits.
Yet too often we've been toldit's just part of getting older
or what happens after kids.
(01:29):
Let's be clear.
Leaking is not normal.
It's common, yes, but it's asign that your pelvic floor and
core are crying out for help.
Think about it.
Maybe you crush your legs everytime you sneeze.
Maybe you avoid jumping in aworkout class or running with
your grandkids.
Maybe you've said no tointimacy because of pain.
(01:51):
Or you plan your errands aroundwhere the bathrooms are.
Does any of that soundfamiliar?
Causes can range fromchildbirth trauma, hysterectomy,
and hormonal changes inperimenopause and menopause to
chronic constipation, poorposture, or even too much time
sitting.
And yet too many of us havebeen told to just do more kegels
(02:12):
or worse to live with it.
My guest today is ChristinaWalsh, a physical therapist and
co-founder of Tighten YourTinker, who, along with Jenn
Lormand, has made it her missionto dismantle the shame around
pelvic health and give women thetools to take back control
without invasive procedures orendless kegels.
(02:33):
Christina Walsh, welcome toAsking for a Friend.
Christina Walsh (02:37):
Michele, that was the best introduction.
I couldn't have written thatthat well myself.
Like you had you checked allthe boxes.
And so much of what we love todo is really help women connect
those dots.
You know, because so many womenare either they're dismissed at
their doctor, they're ashamed,they're like all those things.
And no one's helping women putthe picture together of all
these different issues that manyare dealing with, and no one's
(02:57):
saying that's all related andthat shares a root cause.
And so, I mean, wait,five-star, five-star nature.
Yeah.
You checked all the boxes.
And like, I love you alreadybrought up the idea that, you
know, our the symptoms aresignals.
Yeah.
You know, it's not the feelingis so deep with these issues
because you start to feel brokenat your center.
As a woman, it's devastating.
(03:18):
We carry that around like aweight.
And if you've been carryingthis around for a long time, you
probably don't even realize howheavy it is anymore.
But these symptoms often creepup slowly over time.
For some women, it's sudden,but for more of us, it creeps up
slowly over time.
And it feels like our body hasbetrayed us, right?
Very often.
But it's really our body tryingto go, hey girl, I need some
(03:40):
help here.
Yeah.
You know, why don't you, whydon't you give me the support I
need so like we can roll on, youknow, into our later decades in
fine fashion.
Michele Folan (03:49):
Yeah, and it's embarrassing too.
I mean, women don't really wantto talk about this stuff, but
it's there and there's helpthere that, you know, I think
may go underutilized because wearen't asking the questions.
But I want to start real quickthough, because you have a
journey as well as yourco-founder of Tighten Your
(04:12):
Tinkler, which by the way,cutest name ever.
And so catchy.
So it it's it's verytransparent what you do.
But tell me a little bit moreabout the genesis of how you two
connected and what you have incommon.
Christina Walsh (04:29):
You know, like many of us in this space, it was
it's personal.
You know, I we didn't justaccidentally find, well, we did
kind of accidentally findourselves here.
It's the kind of thing youwouldn't wish on anyone.
But once you navigate this pathyourself and you find a
different and better way toapproach these issues, you can't
be, you're, you cannot bestopped anymore from getting,
(04:49):
doing everything you can to getthis message out there.
And yeah, we teach on all thisstuff on all of our, you know,
platforms and everything.
And the comments, you know, onour YouTube teachings on this
very public platform are alwayslike, you know, I thought I was
the only one.
You know, you're you're justhitting the nail on the head of
so many issues.
And they're saying, you know,because it's not the first thing
you want to talk about.
When you get that elusivecoffee date with your mom
(05:11):
friend, that's not the firstthing you want to talk about.
Maybe probably not the lastthing you want to talk about.
But so, yes, it's personal tous.
You know, my story is a littlebit winding of how I got here.
I really think seeds wereplanted in my childhood.
I'm the oldest of four kids,and I watched my mom suffer with
some of this stuff, you know,and I'm a natural helper, I'm a
natural healer, you know, that'sjust my personality.
(05:32):
And so I wanted to help her.
And I didn't know how.
And I all this has come to meso clearly as I've walked this
path, you know.
But I was thrust into a whatfor many is much more of a later
midlife journey uh as a primarycaregiver for my mother.
She suffered a 15-year,absolutely terrible decline.
And I was at her bedside at 34years old saying goodbye.
(05:54):
I mean, I'm gonna getemotional.
So, you know, I was losing heras I was becoming a mom.
And so I I kind of I think Idedicate all this work to her in
my heart now.
Um that's not that's not how Ifound myself here per se, but
it's a part of the story of whyI do what I do now.
You know, I ended up gettingout of traditional PT work
because of a neck injury first.
(06:16):
And this, you know, the systemdidn't have what I needed to get
all the way better enoughbecause it's like an
occupational hazard.
When you work with, you know,ill people and sick people and
injured people, you see wherethat can go.
Oh, yeah.
You know, and I was in my 20swith this injury, going, I don't
want to be having a surgery at45 just so I can keep
functioning.
And so I made, I went on thewar path to find other
(06:39):
treatments for that first, anorthopedic injury.
And I found a manual therapytechnique that I loved.
And I always had this idea inthe back of my head, in my heart
of hearts, that I wanted towork with women and moms in a
women's health space, but Ididn't take that traditional
path that many PTs do to end upin that women's health space.
I ended up meeting Miss JennLormand, who is an exercise
physiologist extraordinary,recovering from traumatic birth
(07:01):
injuries.
She landed on my table formanual therapy, trying to get
better.
And we just had this soulconnection.
It was that moment where sparksfly and you're like, I we have
to do something together.
And she invited me to practiceout of her personal training
gym.
She was already working onrecovering from her own birth
injuries.
She was working with women onpelvic floor issues.
Then I got pregnant and had acouple kids.
(07:22):
So we were working under thesame roof as two separate
businesses.
I'm doing manual therapy, she'sdoing personal training.
And then I had a few childrenand I had what I thought was the
foresight of working with allthese other women with injuries.
And I was going, I'm gonna dothis differently.
I'm gonna have a doula, I'mgonna have a midwife, I'm gonna
have an unintervened upon birthbecause I know that that will
lower my risk of injury.
But guess what?
(07:42):
We don't get to control all ofthat.
Okay, so I had that birth.
I had no medical intervention,but I had a sunny side-up
delivery.
You can't control that.
And I had to push for two and ahalf hours, and that is a risk
factor for developing prolapse,which is where those organs
shift and fall and lose theirhome in your pelvis, and it
results in lots of symptoms.
(08:03):
It's kind of like theprogression of pelvic floor
dysfunction, you might say, isprolapse when the organs really
shift.
But so I didn't know even thenthat pushing for greater than
two and a half hours, two hourswas going to set me up to be at
risk for prolapse, and I havedealt with it.
Yeah.
You know, and but so then Jennand I became insanely united in
our cause to find help for theseissues.
And Jenn had tried Kegels andthey didn't work.
(08:24):
She'd been referred to herurogynecologist who looked her
straight in the face at 36 yearsold and said, it's not if
you're gonna have surgery, it'swhen.
You have stage two prolapse ofall three of these compartments,
you're gonna have surgery.
And as she tells the story, sheleft that office sobbing,
crying, and with an insane newdetermination that that was not
gonna be her story.
(08:45):
Because he looked at her and hewas like, and the really sad
thing about this is that thesesurgeries really have to be
redone every 10 years.
So if you have it done now, youknow, that's that's just your
path.
And she was like, no.
And so I'm recovering from, youknow, birth injuries, you could
say, from a non-traumaticbirth.
She's recovering from moresevere injuries.
And we were like, we have tofind a different way.
(09:06):
You know, what's been proposed?
We either don't want to do itor we've tried it and it's not
working.
So we went on the war path, youcould say, um, with fire in our
heart to help ourselves andthen every other woman dealing
with these issues.
And we did find a differentway.
We found a functional approachand we've embraced that, we've
ran with it, and we did threeyears of university research
study to validate it because weare nerds like that.
(09:27):
And we were like, testimonialsaren't gonna get this out into
the world.
You know, we were published ina peer-reviewed medical journal
with the protocol we found anddialed in for ourselves first.
And we thought that was gonnabe the way we helped women was
getting that research out there.
But it kind of fell flatbecause it was too, it was too
zoomed out for most of theWestern medical system to accept
(09:48):
that all these things wereconnected and that functional
approach could get it allbetter.
And so we here we are withTighten Your Tinkler online now
because the women in our studywere like, please make us a
video.
I need this for my friend ofVirginia.
My sister-in-law needs this,she doesn't live here.
And so it was at the, you know,at the urging of the women in
(10:08):
our research that is why TightenTinkler exists and why we've
been shouting it from therooftops ever since and trying
to teach and educate, pull backthe veil of shame.
Uh, just encourage women to gethelp now because this stuff
doesn't get better on its own.
Michele Folan (10:22):
Well, no, it doesn't.
And and that's the thing.
And we've all been, you know,told if you've if you've been in
this situation where you haveany kind of prolapse that
surgery is going to be your bestoption.
But on your website, you alsosay please stop kegling.
And I I think that's alwaysbeen the default is is kegels.
(10:44):
And I told you before westarted recording, my dad was a
urologist, and he always told usto do our kegels.
Why would that possibly worsenor mask the underlying
dysfunction?
unknown (10:58):
Yeah.
Christina Walsh (10:58):
Well, and first of all, let's not, we're not
throwing anybody under the bushere for recommending that.
Like, much like your a recentguest that um the dentist you
spoke with recently talked abouthow, like, you know, everybody
was doing the best that theyknew at that time when they're
recommending that.
And the same thing applieshere.
Nobody gets into a healingprofession because they they
they get into it because theywant to help people.
And so Kegels were the bestanybody had thought of or knew
(11:21):
to do for a very long time.
And that also applies to thosedevices.
Anything that you insert intoyour body and just isolatedly
squeeze around is the same thingas just doing a Kegel.
And the problem is, there'slots of problems with the
approach, it's not functional.
So if you strengthen a musclejust in one place in one range
of motion and you just squeezeand relax, you're not gonna gain
(11:42):
strength that carries with youthrough the full motions of that
muscle.
And like we need that muscle tobe able to subconsciously turn
on for us when we're in a deepsquat picking up a laundry
hamper and we sneeze.
We don't need it to work for usjust when we're lying on our
back in that one position.
And furthermore, it shouldn'thave to be a conscious thing,
right?
Think about before you had anyof these issues.
(12:02):
Did you have to think aboutsqueezing the muscle before you
sneezed in order to not leak?
No.
So it's not functional.
For some women, that works.
And by look, if you have doneKegels and it worked for you,
girl, that is awesome.
I'm not talking to you.
I'm talking to the thousands ofwomen who come to us and say,
I've tried that.
It didn't work for me.
It made it made it better for alittle while, then it made it
worse.
(12:22):
Or I've tried the devices.
That also didn't work for me.
I'm talking to you becausethat's why we're so wonderful
that so many options exist now,because our bodies are not all
the same and we need differentapproaches.
So we're just honored to beable to provide one option for
women looking for help for theseissues.
Michele Folan (12:38):
You know, we've normalized leaking.
Yeah.
You know, I mean, sure, therewe've seen the the
pharmaceutical uh companiestalking about, you know, gotta
go, gotta go, gotta go rightnow, you know, those, you know,
giving people um a pill for itor or just wearing some depends
or a pad.
(12:59):
How do we get people to finallywake up and say, okay, I know
this isn't normal.
Christina Walsh (13:06):
I need to go address this.
It really depends.
It's up to every individualwoman to decide she's had
enough.
And it's it's fascinating to mewhat that breaking point is, is
very different for differentwomen.
For some women, they come to usand they're like, the very
first leak, they're like, Ican't live like this.
I'm fixing this now.
I want to get to the rootcause.
This is the right path for me.
(13:27):
They have so much clarity.
For so many other women,though, it's a slow progression
over time of like, well, it, youknow, I had some leaks every
now and then, but it didn'treally bother them me that much.
This is a language we hear allthe time.
My back was tight all the timesince I had my kids, but it
didn't really bother me thatmuch.
For some women, it's okay, butnow sex is painful.
I can't have this interruptingmy marriage.
(13:48):
So now it's a problem I need totake action to fix.
Or now, one woman, it was, Iwas walking on the beach with my
family and I couldn't have apad in because I was in a
swimsuit and I sneezed and Ifelt the pee run down my leg.
I'm done with this.
I want to fix it now.
So I'm not here to convince youthat it's a big enough problem
to fix.
I'm telling you that there's apath to healing.
(14:08):
So when you decide I've hadenough, this is impacting my
life so negatively that I wantto fix it, there are options and
there is hope.
Michele Folan (14:17):
So, for women who leak, say they cough, sneeze,
exercise is a big one, let'ssay, even during sex, how do we
help them identify whether it'slike overactive bladder versus a
pelvic floor dysfunction issue?
Christina Walsh (14:34):
I love that question because overactive
bladder is still a pelvic floordysfunction issue.
And here's why.
So the nervous system is routedinto all of our body, right?
And so for overactive bladder,very often a huge component of
that is over tightness of thepelvic floor, where that
sphincter can no longer clearlyget the messaging and do its
(14:56):
job.
So a lot of times we need, soour approach is functional and
holistic.
So we always recommend womendecompress first.
I love you.
You know, so go back and listento that breathing episode.
The the breathing diaphragm isthe top of the core.
(15:18):
So you've got to loosen thatbreathing diaphragm if you want
to loosen your pelvic floor.
Get our free at-homedecompression technique.
That is a great place to start.
If you suspect that hypertonicor overtight pelvic floor, if
you're dealing with urinaryfrequency or what you think is
overactive bladder, um, startwith decompressing.
Start with stretching.
That is where you want tobegin.
(15:38):
Make sure to get yourself asquatty potty so you're
ergonomically emptying.
Stop pushing out your pee.
Like there's so much you canstart doing now, today, to
really stack things in yourfavor as far as taking care of
your pelvic floor.
You want to be making sureyou're optimizing your bowel
consistency.
So think about how many timesyou pee and poop.
If you're in the ergonomicposition with a squatty potty,
(16:00):
knees higher than your hips, andyour bowel movement consistency
is not too hard and not toosoft, and you're not straining
or pushing, you're breathing,you're relaxing, you're even
swaying on that potty to helpempty completely without
pressure.
That is a gift to your pelvicfloor that you are giving it
like multiple times a day.
So, so much good you can doright now.
Michele Folan (16:21):
Christina, we're gonna take a quick break.
And when we get back, I want totalk more about bowel leakage,
urgency, and how that intersectswith urinary leakage.
I'm really curious, how manyrecipes have you saved over the
last month?
How many random workouts aresitting in your camera roll?
(16:42):
And how many times have yousaid, I'll start Monday, or
maybe in the new year?
Here's the truth (16:46):
you don't need more Pinterest boards or
another motivation Monday.
You need a plan that actuallyties it all together: nutrition,
movement, mindset, and in a waythat's doable and sustainable.
That's exactly what I do in mymetabolism reset with Faster
Way.
I'll teach you how to eat,train, and recover like a woman
(17:08):
who's done making excuses andready to feel strong, confident,
and in control again.
Check the show notes to join usbecause this time I've got you.
We are back.
Before we went on break, Iwanted to talk about how does
bowel leakage, urgency, and evenconstipation intersect with
(17:33):
urinary leakage?
What's the interplay betweenthe bladder, the bowel, and
pelvic floor function?
Christina Walsh (17:40):
Perfect.
I love this question.
I had someone else come up withthe catchphrase that you know
the pelvic floor is responsiblefor the three P's, peeing,
pooping, and penetration.
Oh.
So it is.
Yeah.
It's a the pelvic floor.
It's like people think of it aslike this mysterious entity,
the pelvic floor.
What is it?
It's a sling of muscles thatholds our guts in from below.
So, like there's no boneholding your bladder up and in
(18:02):
or your bowel or your uterus.
It's all soft tissuecompartments.
So, you know, that's the pieceof where it's all connected down
there.
And it's all con, and thepelvic floor connects to your
low back.
It connects to the front of thepelvis, it integrates with the
deep abdominal muscles.
So all of that should beworking together when things are
healthy and well.
But pelvic floor issues canpresent, we say towards the
(18:24):
front of the bowl or the back ofthe bowl.
So you can have, depending onthe births you had, depending
on, you know, if you have likewhat you talked about earlier,
if you had that history ofconstipation chronically over a
lifespan, all of that's gonna,you know, sunny side up delivery
puts you more at risk forissues on the back side of the
bowl.
Other things put you more atrisk for issues on the front
side of the bowl.
(18:44):
So it's all pelvic floor in theend.
Now, that being said, that'swhat I mean about, you know,
start with the low-hanging fruitto take care of your pelvic
floor, those things we alreadytalked about, because you're
positively impacting your wholepelvic floor function when you
take those steps we alreadytalked about.
Um, and if you're dealing withbowel leakage or gas leaks or
pressure, pressure and heavinessdown there is a telltale sign
(19:07):
that that things aren't happyand well down there.
That feeling of like, why do Ifeel like I'm in my third
trimester of a pregnancy and I'mnot been pregnant in 20 years?
Michele Folan (19:15):
Or or you feel like you've got a tam, like
you've got a tampon in and it'sfalling, like the tampons
falling out, that kind offeeling.
Christina Walsh (19:22):
Yeah.
Yes, yeah.
Or the bulge.
Many women just say there's abulge.
All of that are telltalesymptoms of prolapse.
I'm not diagnosing you over theinternet, but I've I've done
this long enough and I felt itin my own body to know.
Um, but so yeah, the back ofthe bowl, the front of the bowl,
it's all just different partsof the same muscular sling.
And where you feel it more,what symptoms you have more of,
(19:43):
just speaks to what tissue wasoverstressed most for you over
your lifespan.
Michele Folan (19:48):
And then there's also painful sex.
And I know that's can be taboo.
People don't want to talk aboutthat too much, but you you all
address it very openly.
Yes.
What are the most common causesin terms of the pelvic floor
related to pain during sex inmidlife?
Christina Walsh (20:08):
And how do you approach that?
This is fantastic.
I've done literally an entireepisode on just pain with sex.
So I will try to summarizethis, but it is nuanced and it
does involve, it involvescertainly the pelvic floor tone
and health, but sometimes it'smore than that, especially as we
get to midlife, right?
The estrogen's dropping,collagen's decreasing, we have
(20:28):
less moisture being held in ourtissues.
So sometimes it's you need, youknow, a topical estrogen cream.
Sometimes you need a lubricant.
But if you but there arecertain types of pain with sex
that are directly pelvic floorrelated, also.
And it can be some of both.
It can be some of all of it.
Just like any pelvic floorsymptoms that women are
experiencing look a littledifferent for each woman because
(20:49):
where was that tissue injured?
How was it overstretched orover-tightened?
But it's all the same ball ofwax in the end.
If we address the root causeand strengthen that
undercarriage and remove some ofthat pressure and those kind of
offending issues, then we can,we can really heal a lot.
But so the different types ofpain with sex, one is pain with
penetration.
That's kind of the most clear,direct, like that's often that
(21:10):
over tight pelvic floor.
And so you're gonna want toreally get into some stretching.
You're gonna want to get intothat decompression position at
home, work on your breathing,get your diaphragm moving, and
you know, maybe get somelubrication.
Do not push through pain.
You know, this is the most, itis, I feel like it's just a
sacred connection that you havewith the person you spend the
(21:30):
most time with in the world.
If you push into pain, that isnot a gift to you or your
partner because it's gonna leadto more pain because your body's
gonna recognize that as atrauma and you're gonna be
scared next time.
So we have a partner guide,also.
I can give you that link.
We've this is something we'velived through too.
So it can be a hardconversation to start.
Your spouse loves you, yourpartner loves you.
(21:51):
They don't want you hurting.
It can be, this can be thehardest topic of all to bring
up.
Even women who are comfortabletalking about you're in leaks
with friends, this can be adoozy.
So we have a guide to help youhave that conversation with your
partner.
Don't push through pain.
Um, start those things if it'spain with penetration, but
there's so many other nuances ofpain with sex.
Like for me, what I've had moreis less of that.
(22:12):
And it has more to do with theprolapse.
So when the organs are kind ofshifting and falling out of
place in their little softtissue compartment homes, it
creates a weird suctionsituation because the kind of
the passage isn't fully clearand upright and propped up.
And so you can end up with likea pain higher up in your
abdomen, like a deep soreness,like something's being punched
(22:33):
repeatedly.
You can also end up with uhpuffiness and swelling and an
increase in that heaviness inkind of that external genitalia
after sex.
All of this is pelvic floortone and strength related.
Does that I try to kind ofsummarize things there?
Michele Folan (22:50):
And I'm like, I'm thinking back, you know.
So I told you I I I don't haveany issues now.
It's Amen.
Yeah, right, right at 61.
But I did postpartum after mysecond, like bad.
Yeah.
Like, you know, I had I had aurethral tear, rectal tear.
(23:12):
Yeah, it was it was really bad.
And I remember the healingprocess, and for years feeling
that pain pressure, you know,and I luckily things things calm
down.
But listen, that is not fun todeal with.
I mean, and you and again, youyou brought that up that it it
(23:34):
can it can make you dread havingsexual relations with your
partner if things are nothealthy in there.
And and this brings upsomething else too, Christina.
And I I am a big advocate ofvaginal estrogen, and I know my
listeners are like, oh, pleasestop, Michele.
Cut it out.
(23:54):
We don't need to hear thisagain.
No, bring it on.
Don't cut it out.
But but even if you don't havepain during intercourse, there
are so many great reasons to beon vaginal estrogen.
It is not absorbedsystemically.
I will say that until I'm bluein the face.
But, you know, it's like usinga wonderful, luxurious face
(24:16):
cream.
You you deserve it, use it.
I did have a question.
So vaginal rejuvenation, Idon't know if it's still hot,
but I know a few years agoeverybody was talking about
vaginal rejuvenation anddermatologists were offering it.
You know, gynecologists wereoffering it.
What does that entail and doesthat really help with this?
Christina Walsh (24:38):
You know, I will I'll be straight up and
honest with you.
It's not something Jen or I hasever, we've ever tried
personally.
So I don't want to speak tothings I haven't tried, but you
know, we have worked with lotsof women who have tried it.
And I'm sure for some women itworks, you know, and they're the
ones who don't end up coming tous.
But we've also worked with lotsof women who've been there,
done that, tried that, whetherit's that, whether it's devices,
(25:00):
whether it's pelvic floortherapy, whether it's Kegels,
you know, and and those are thewomen we see most often because
they've they've tried all thator or they don't want to go that
route.
A lot of women who end upfinding us are specifically
looking for somethingnon-invasive.
They don't want to disrobe andhave things penetrating down
there.
Maybe they have a history oftrauma, um, or that's just
(25:22):
outside their comfort zone.
So it's wonderful that there'sall these different options,
like you do you, boo, all daylong.
Like if you're called to that,try it.
I can't speak to it personally.
I'm sure it helps some women.
You know, that's why itprobably exists.
Michele Folan (25:36):
Well, and this brings up something else I was
just thinking about.
Yeah, anything.
Christina Walsh (25:41):
How much does the fascia get involved in this?
So involved.
My bodywork practice, the thething I was led to from that
neck injury we talked about wayat the beginning, is all about
fascia.
So it is something I can geekout about all day too.
And I like to describe it aslike, you know, when you're uh
cutting up a chicken breast or,you know, that all that slimy,
(26:03):
skinny skin stuff that's like inand through and around.
That's the fascia.
And it's like that in ourbodies too.
It encases everything from thesmall individual fibers to the
larger chunks of muscle.
So it connects everything toeverything else.
And that is actually why Ilove, I love the way you're the
path you're taking thisconversation, because we Jen and
(26:25):
I love to geek out on thisstuff.
Many women with prolapse alsohave neck pain.
And there is a fascial, adirect fascial line from the
bladder to the neck.
You could say, in essence, yourbladder hangs from your neck.
So even if you just want to getyour prolapse addressed because
you don't want a neck hump,that's worth it too.
And many women with prolapsehave foot problems because it
(26:48):
just, you know, when you'redisrupted at your center of
gravity, which the pelvis isbiomechanically, um, not to
mention our energetic center aswomen, it it has repercussions
up and down that chain.
Michele Folan (26:59):
Yeah.
Christina Walsh (26:59):
So yeah, fascia all day long is important and
absolute part of this picture.
Michele Folan (27:04):
Yeah, I didn't, I didn't think I was gonna ask
you that.
And and honestly, I askquestions and I'm not sure I
like have this like geniusformat that I go by.
I just, you know, I startthinking of things and I start
pulling questions.
That is your genius format.
I love every single one of yourinterviews.
Like that is your geniusformat.
(27:25):
It just cracks me up.
Yeah, I had a guest on and wetalked nothing about nothing but
fascia.
And I was fascinated.
Yes, I thought, oh my gosh,this could answer so many
people's issues, but you have togo get a physical therapist
(27:48):
that understands the fascia.
Christina Walsh (27:50):
But well, and if you want a jumping off point
for that, the the specifictechniques I was trained in that
helped me so much with my neckand that I use in my bodywork
practice is um it's mostlythrough the school of up ledger
craniosacral therapy.
So it is gentle, non-invasive.
It is so good for your wholebody, your nervous system, your
tissue, everything.
It just decompresseseverything.
(28:11):
So if you're looking to juststart one new type of holistic
treatment to ease your body intoa state of healing and take the
load off your tissues, trythat.
I mean, that's a great place tostart.
Okay.
That's yeah.
Michele Folan (28:25):
We could go down a whole different path with
that, right?
Christina Walsh (28:30):
We could go down so many wormholes.
I mean, and that's exactly whatthat's what we do, you know, in
our teachings, like on ourYouTube channel.
We I we always say we've gonedown the rabbit hole of
everything you might be afraidto Google because this can
branch off into so manydifferent nuanced discussions.
Um, but I I love that you'reletting your intuition lead the
way.
Michele Folan (28:50):
There are women out there that have been told
you've got stage three, staystage four prolapse, and they
think now they're too far gonefor any of this to work.
So, what kind of guidance wouldyou give them when they do have
advanced prolapse?
Christina Walsh (29:07):
This is such a compassionate question to bring
up because while while we lovewhen women find us at stage one,
stage two, and by the way, youdon't have to know what stage
you are to get help.
We have a free quiz that reallyis based off of all of the
research data that we took.
And it's it isresearch-validated
questionnaires that we combinedinto an online quiz, and we can
(29:29):
grade you and stage you intothree different zones based on
the data.
We are not making this up orpulling it out of a hat.
And we can tell you withconfidence, you are a great fit
to benefit from conservativetreatment, like working with us
in our signature program, oryou're in that middle zone, you
can benefit, but you need togive it a little more time
before you're gonna see results,or you're gonna score in a
(29:50):
zone, which is what a womandealing with these more
progressed issues is gonna mostlikely score in.
If you are dealing with stagefour prolapse and you've been
diagnosed, that Means the organhas fully exited your body.
I mean, that is something thatwhere I'm st I still would
advocate to use the square, doall the things that we already
talked about.
It cannot hurt you, it can onlyhelp you.
(30:12):
However, if that organ hasfully exited your body, you are
a surgical candidate.
I mean, there's no, there's noamount of strengthening that can
put that organ back inside andhold it there if it's gotten to
that degree.
Stage three is a trickier case.
And um, stage three, many womencan still benefit from
conservative care,strength-based, you know,
(30:32):
decompression, strengthening,much like what we offer in our
signature program, but you oftenwill still need regular body
work to keep thingsdecompressed, regular
chiropractic care to keep thingsaligned.
And you will most often likelysometimes benefit from the use
of a pessary, which is that it'skind of like a little
scaffolding, you might couldsay, that you insert and that
(30:54):
stays there to hold hold thingsup and in.
And for what it's worth, Jenand I have never had to resort
to that because of the pathwe've been on.
But we have worked with enoughwomen to know that the one I
hear the most good about is thecube pessary, because they come
in all kinds of shapes andsizes.
And I hear a lot of goodreports about the cube.
So if you're at that point,you'll need to get fitted for
that.
And so stage three is really aborderline.
(31:16):
Stage one and two, you canheal.
And I'm not saying, I'm notsaying reverse the prolapse.
I'm saying functionally heal.
I don't have data on reversingthe prolapse, so I'm not going
to make that claim.
But functionally, you can liveforgetting that you have this on
most days.
That's what I mean abouthealing.
And that that's powerful.
Michele Folan (31:36):
Yeah.
So even if you had stage fourand you had to have surgery,
would you want to follow up withthat patient to do like show
them more exercises and thingsthat they need to be doing to
maintain that surgery?
Christina Walsh (31:52):
That is a fantastic question because I
think education at the veryleast, because a lot of these
major pelvic reconstructivesurgeries do have a 25% failure
rate.
So this is a big deal that youwant to take care of your body
well.
If you've gotten to that point,you do want to get some care
still after that to make surethat you're not pushing your
(32:14):
body past the point where itwhat you had done is gonna undo
itself, which is the most tragiccomments we get under our
teachings, like on YouTube, is Ijust wish I could scoop up
these, you know, so many womenfind us at just the right
pivotal moment where it's nottoo late to take action and get
relief without those much moreextreme measures.
But there are so many women whofind us where it's like, I wish
(32:37):
I could scoop them up and plopthem 20 years ago and say, hey,
let's do something now so youdon't end up here.
And look, the data isoverwhelming that taking action
sooner than later is absolutelyin your favor and it can make a
difference because one in threewomen overall will develop
clinically significant prolapsein their lifespan.
For women who have hadchildren, that jumps up to one
(32:58):
in two.
And the prevalence of prolapsedoubles every 10 years after
menopause.
So the great news, if you're inmidlife though, like if you're
in your, you know, if you're ifyou're not there yet, take
action now.
You know, the hormone shiftsare not going to do you any
favors.
So many women find us in their40s, in their 50s because the
issues were ignorable before.
(33:20):
But then you have that estrogenand collagen decline and all
that soft tissue down there.
And then all of a sudden it'slike, whoa, what was whispering
is now screaming.
But it's that's the time.
Don't wait any longer.
Take action now.
Yeah.
Michele Folan (33:33):
That and that was gonna be my next question.
So if you, if someone listeningwho's age 55 or 65, and they
are experiencing some mildleakage, but hasn't crossed the
line yet, what proactive stepswould she take now before things
get worse?
Christina Walsh (33:51):
All the things we talked about earlier, like
and and and then some.
So there are so many ways youcan gently, compassionately care
for your body when you'redealing with these issues.
Avoid compressive garments.
Like if you even tight jeans ortight underwear, especially if
you're gonna be sitting all day,like this stuff matters because
all these little things add up.
We always talk about this inour team and in our private
(34:14):
community with our members.
These little things add up tothe big wins of relief that
you're looking for.
If you're gonna be travelingall day or sitting all day at
your desk and you've gotsomething tight around your
waist, it's going to addpressure to your middle.
And where does that pressurego?
Especially if you are alreadyweakened or compromised down
below.
That's where it goes.
And you will notice if you'veworn something that you felt
(34:36):
like, wait, why when I wear thator when I sit in this garment
for so long, am I noticing likea little increased leakage or
that pressure gets worse or myback is tighter afterwards?
It's not in your head.
This is one more little thingyou can do and pay attention to
and choose activities thatdon't, you know, for lack of a
word, don't piss it off, thatdon't make it worse.
You know, and this sounds sosimple, but it's it's we've,
(34:59):
like you said, there's been thislayer of acceptance of these
issues.
I think because people arestruggling to know what to do
about them.
So there's all these jokesabout peeing on yourself.
So everybody's like, well, Iguess I'm just gonna keep doing
what I'm doing.
But if if you're doing anactivity, a high impact
exercise, some heavy liftingthat's making it worse, that is
your body like really trying towave the white flag.
Like, please stop.
I can't handle this right now.
(35:20):
I don't have the foundationalstrength to tolerate this
without breaking down.
So choose, choose activitiesthat are kind to your body.
Choose clothing that is kind toyour body.
Use the squatty potty, usethose proper toileting
techniques we talked about.
Optimize your stool consistencyso you're decreasing that
pressure.
Choose active rest for yournervous system and your hips and
(35:41):
pelvis in that at-homedecompression position daily.
All these things will add up.
And then if that's not enough,then you need to go and add
functional strength.
And that is what we areabsolute experts in.
If that feels like the rightpath for you, we are one option.
And that that's what I'drecommend.
Don't wait.
Start listening to your body.
Michele Folan (36:02):
And I think too, that this brings up something
else too.
You can do the work, but youmay have setbacks or flare-ups.
But do you have like a like away to sustain?
So, like things that you woulddo to continue to make sure that
the the work that you've doneholds.
Christina Walsh (36:21):
Yes.
And we talk about thisconstantly in our our members
only community with our programmembers that this healing is not
a linear journey, whetherthat's our mental emotional
health, uh, an old injury, orthe pelvic floor piece and the
prolapse piece, because lifekeeps happening.
You know, we're working onstrengthening, we're doing all
(36:41):
the things, checking all theboxes.
And then guess what?
Winter comes and your kidbrings home a cold and you're
hacking and coughing.
So, what you what the formulafor that for our program members
is lean more into thoserecovery positions, those rest
active rest positions whereyou're offloading pressure, lean
more into the gentle stretchingat that time.
Certainly take all thesupplements that help you fight
(37:04):
that cold, you know, and thenget back to your strengthening
exercises.
And, you know, our bodies aremiraculous healing machines by
design.
So, like if you've already donethis foundational strengthening
and you have a setback, it'snot going to take you the same
amount of time that it took yourebuilding the first time to
kind of get back on the trainafterwards.
(37:25):
And the whole emotional pieceof this is huge.
So before you've reset thatfoundational strength, when you
got a cold and you you had thatsetback, or you, I mean, for me,
it was one time we were hikingwith family on a trip and my kid
was like three, my littlestone, and he was just having a
day.
And he wanted me, only momcould carry him.
(37:45):
Mom needs to carry me.
And it was like there were allof the all the cousins and
everybody was together.
And I was like, I'm gonna dothis right now.
I'm gonna carry this kid, I'mgonna piggyback him.
And I love that special momentwith him, but I knew as long as
we were walking, I was gonnakind of pay for that later.
I was gonna feel it in my body.
But here's the thing when youhave that flare up and you've
already done the strengtheningand you have the tools you need,
(38:07):
it no longer sets you into aspiral of fear and despair.
You no longer have to go, oh myGod, I'm gonna feel hopeless
again.
You have the tools you need toget back on top of things again
in a matter of a few hours or afew days.
So the emotional weight of thatflare-up completely changes.
Life will still happen, but itdoesn't devastate you anymore.
Michele Folan (38:28):
One thing that as you were talking about this, I
started thinking about justposture and how we sit so much.
Yeah.
Talk about that a little bitbecause I don't think people
realize that there is a directconnection between how we sit
and our posture and how we standand you know, your pelvic floor
(38:50):
health.
Christina Walsh (38:50):
Absolutely.
Well, and we talked about howthe diaphragm is the top of that
system of the whole core andpelvis.
And so we're taking shallowbreaths because we're running on
empty, we're having go, go, golifestyle.
So that's part of it.
We're shallow breathing, ourribs are getting stuck tight,
and then that is not helping ourpelvic floor at all and adding
downward pressure.
And when we're sitting all day,our pelvic floor is just like,
(39:12):
I guess I'm clocked out.
You don't need me.
I know, and your outer hips,your glutes, which need to work
in synchrony with your pelvicfloor to have everything
functioning well, they kick offtoo.
And so, yeah, we're sitting allthe day and it's just like
downward pressure.
We're slumping, that's moreheaviness and pressure.
We're not breathing well intoour diaphragms.
That's adding more pressure andtightness.
(39:33):
And then our glutes and ourpelvic floor, when we're
sitting, are just like, okay,I'm off the clock.
You don't need me.
And so they they becomedormant, you know?
And so we really need thatreactivation.
And that's what the functionalstrength approach adds that most
others are skipping is thatroot activation of turning the
muscle back on.
One of my favorite things isgetting messages, emails in our
member community of women going,I'm two days into this.
(39:55):
And I am I crazy.
It feels like my muscle isliterally turning back on again.
I mean, and they're it's it's acrazy feeling when it hasn't
turned on in so long.
And they're like, it feels likeit's alive again.
Yeah, you know what?
Michele Folan (40:09):
Yeah.
It's so exciting when peoplemake the connection of, I feel
better when I'm movingappropriately, right?
Christina Walsh (40:17):
It's just so and it becomes an upward spiral.
And I know you see this withthe women you work with that you
think, how am I gonna fit thisin?
It's one more thing.
But then when you start to feelbetter, it's like this, it's
this instant reward that youcrave.
You're like, God, I want to dothat again because like I really
feel it in my body, and it'samazing.
What a relief.
What a load off my shouldersfrom walking around with this
(40:37):
weight of dysfunction andfeeling broken all the time.
You feel that load lift andyou're like, I can't wait to do
this again tomorrow.
I just love your energy.
Your clients must love you.
Michele Folan (40:47):
I mean, I really, you're so inspiring.
I mean, I I I just to givewomen hope when you know, with
with you know, urinary leakageand and bowel incontinence, it's
just you you there's just sucha thing about our psyche with
with all of this as well.
I'd love it if you could sharea client's story.
(41:09):
Oh gosh.
Well, things I have so many.
Christina Walsh (41:12):
I have so many.
Okay, let me see.
Okay, one, I'm thinking we havewomen uh not so infrequently.
This this blows my mind, thecourage that women share after
they have healed.
They come to us and say, Whatcan I do to help other women?
I want to help get this messageout now because my life has
been so dramatically altered.
And we often invite them togive a video testimonial.
(41:34):
And many will.
I mean, it is incrediblypersonal, but they're so
compelled to get the message outthere and do whatever they can.
One woman, I love her interviewso much because she was mid-50s
and had tried all the things.
You know, she had tried theKegels and she'd been in pelvic
floor therapy for like twoyears.
She'd been referred for like avery expensive internal device
(41:56):
that was $1,500.
She tried that, it still didn'twork.
She was now having to keepunderwear in her work drawer
because she was leaking so muchand she was just debilitated by
it and crushed emotionally bythe burden.
And so when she got betterwithin two weeks, she was like,
Wait, I just, I, I, I'm notsneezing and peeing anymore.
(42:17):
And I just can't believe it.
And then she was like, wait,and I'm sleeping through the
night now.
Like, I even know that waspossible.
She didn't join for that, butthat happens too.
And then she was like, in thislittle video interview, she was
like, I just want to jump up onthe rooftops and go, hello,
ladies, there's help for you.
Oh, that's life changing.
It is life altering.
(42:40):
And and every year we kind ofgo back through, you know, new
testimonials that have rolled inin our private community where
we support our members or in ouremail inbox.
And I just end up in tears aswe're kind of regrouping those
to share them.
Of course, we always askpermission, but because it is
life altering when you've you'velived with this stuff.
And so, like you said, so oftenwe've kept it to ourselves.
(43:02):
And shame, you know, truth isthe antidote to shame.
So, you know, that's part ofour mission is to pull back the
veil, you know, remove thetaboo, which is your whole
mission, which I love, and justshout it from the rooftops
because the more we talk aboutthis, much like um, you know, a
grief journey or having somebodystruggling with substance abuse
in your family, when you getthe courage to talk about it,
(43:25):
you realize how not alone youare.
And that is part of thishealing.
Absolutely.
Michele Folan (43:31):
So well said.
Before we close, I would loveto know what one of your own
non-negotiable self-carepractices is.
And it doesn't have to dealwith your pelvic floor.
It could be, it could beanything.
Christina Walsh (43:45):
I I practice what I preach and do all the
things I just advised everyoneelse to do, of course.
But aside from that, at areally deep core level is I'm
not willing to compromise myfamily time.
And that's a value that mypartner Jenn and I share to our
core, and we lead throughexample in our business as well.
That when we clock out, it'sfamily time.
You know, when we pick up thekids from school, we're not
(44:07):
answering emails.
And protecting that boundary ofthat time with my family helps
me show up fully present for mywork, fully invested here with
you, with my clients, because Ihave that time with them.
And, you know, you know, those,you don't get those years back.
So that is a deep core valuethat luckily Jen and I share.
So it allows us to lead byexample uh for our team as well,
(44:30):
that that time is sacred.
Michele Folan (44:31):
Fantastic.
And then finally, for anylistener who wants to connect
with you and Jenn and TightenYour Tinkler, where can they
find you, your website andsocial media?
Christina Walsh (44:43):
It's Tighten Your Tinkler everywhere,
basically.
It's TightenYourTinkler.com.
It's hello at Tighten YourTinkler if you want to hop into
our inbox.
Um, real people, you know, it'sa very small team of working
moms who've all lived this pathourselves too in that inbox and
supporting our members in ourprivate community.
We're on YouTube.
It one of the YouTube is ourmost popular platform, and I
(45:04):
think it's because it feels likea safe space for women to look
up those scary things.
And we've got teaching videosthere on all, again, all the
things you're probably scared toGoogle.
And don't be a don't be astranger.
It's at Tighten.yor.tinkler onInstagram.
Of course, we're on Facebooktoo.
So you can find us any of thoseplaces.
And if you're like, I don'teven know where to start, hop
onto our newsletter list.
(45:24):
Our you know, our messages, weshare personal stories of our
own journey, but we share actionsteps too.
Like if you're like, that wasso much information, I don't
even know where to start, grabthat weekly message and it'll
just pop in with holisticwellness and tips for your whole
self-care and especially as itrelates to pelvic health and
take that quiz.
If you're just wanting to justscratch the surface of learning
(45:46):
more about what all thisentails, where do you fall on
the spectrum of severity?
That free five-minute quiz isthe best place to start.
It is data backed and it willgive you that answer in no
uncertain terms, as well asrefer you to appropriate
resources based on where youfall.
Yeah, I took the quiz.
Michele Folan (46:02):
Yeah, that was my prerequisite.
That was my homework for thisinterview today.
Christina Walsh (46:06):
I took it really, you know, it really does
help connect the dot.
It doesn't very subconsciouslylike, oh, wait a minute, that's
part of this too.
You know?
Yeah.
So no, it was good.
Michele Folan (46:15):
That that actually kind of set the table
for some of my questions too.
So it was good.
And then you also, with yourcourses, you have a discount
code for the listeners too.
Christina Walsh (46:27):
Yes, for your listeners, $50 off if you feel
called that that functionalstrength approach, that holistic
approach, that at-homenon-invasive approach, 10
minutes a day approach, I forgotto mention earlier, is right
for you.
If you're feeling that call,that coupon code is Michele 1L,
obviously, um, as your listenersprobably already know.
And that'll be $50 off of oursignature program, which
(46:50):
includes lifetime access to theboth the program, which we're
constantly improving upon basedon feedback as well as
membership in our privatecommunity of support for women
as they navigate all the phasesof this healing journey.
Wonderful.
Christina Walsh, thank you somuch for being on Asking for a
Friend.
Michele Folan (47:05):
Thank you, Michele.
Thank you for listening.
Please rate and review thepodcast where you listen.
And if you'd like to join theAsking for a Friend community,
click on the link in the shownotes to sign up for my weekly
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telehealth partner.
Because midlife isn't the timeto slow down, it's the time to
(00:43):
optimize.
Health, wellness, fitness, andeverything in between.
We're removing the taboo fromwhat really matters in midlife.
I'm your host, Michele Folan,and this is Asking for a Friend.
Today we're talking aboutsomething most women don't bring
(01:07):
up at brunch that millions aresilently struggling with:
urinary and bowel incontinence.
Research shows that nearly onein three women over 50 deals
with some level of urinaryleakage, and bowel leakage is
far more common than anyoneadmits.
Yet too often we've been toldit's just part of getting older
or what happens after kids.
(01:29):
Let's be clear.
Leaking is not normal.
It's common, yes, but it's asign that your pelvic floor and
core are crying out for help.
Think about it.
Maybe you crush your legs everytime you sneeze.
Maybe you avoid jumping in aworkout class or running with
your grandkids.
Maybe you've said no tointimacy because of pain.
(01:51):
Or you plan your errands aroundwhere the bathrooms are.
Does any of that soundfamiliar?
Causes can range fromchildbirth trauma, hysterectomy,
and hormonal changes inperimenopause and menopause to
chronic constipation, poorposture, or even too much time
sitting.
And yet too many of us havebeen told to just do more kegels
(02:12):
or worse to live with it.
My guest today is ChristinaWalsh, a physical therapist and
co-founder of Tighten YourTinker, who, along with Jenn
Lormand, has made it her missionto dismantle the shame around
pelvic health and give women thetools to take back control
without invasive procedures orendless kegels.
(02:33):
Christina Walsh, welcome toAsking for a Friend.
Christina Walsh (02:37):
Michele, that was the best introduction.
I couldn't have written thatthat well myself.
Like you had you checked allthe boxes.
And so much of what we love todo is really help women connect
those dots.
You know, because so many womenare either they're dismissed at
their doctor, they're ashamed,they're like all those things.
And no one's helping women putthe picture together of all
these different issues that manyare dealing with, and no one's
(02:57):
saying that's all related andthat shares a root cause.
And so, I mean, wait,five-star, five-star nature.
Yeah.
You checked all the boxes.
And like, I love you alreadybrought up the idea that, you
know, our the symptoms aresignals.
Yeah.
You know, it's not the feelingis so deep with these issues
because you start to feel brokenat your center.
As a woman, it's devastating.
(03:18):
We carry that around like aweight.
And if you've been carryingthis around for a long time, you
probably don't even realize howheavy it is anymore.
But these symptoms often creepup slowly over time.
For some women, it's sudden,but for more of us, it creeps up
slowly over time.
And it feels like our body hasbetrayed us, right?
Very often.
But it's really our body tryingto go, hey girl, I need some
(03:40):
help here.
Yeah.
You know, why don't you, whydon't you give me the support I
need so like we can roll on, youknow, into our later decades in
fine fashion.
Michele Folan (03:49):
Yeah, and it's embarrassing too.
I mean, women don't really wantto talk about this stuff, but
it's there and there's helpthere that, you know, I think
may go underutilized because wearen't asking the questions.
But I want to start real quickthough, because you have a
journey as well as yourco-founder of Tighten Your
(04:12):
Tinkler, which by the way,cutest name ever.
And so catchy.
So it it's it's verytransparent what you do.
But tell me a little bit moreabout the genesis of how you two
connected and what you have incommon.
Christina Walsh (04:29):
You know, like many of us in this space, it was
it's personal.
You know, I we didn't justaccidentally find, well, we did
kind of accidentally findourselves here.
It's the kind of thing youwouldn't wish on anyone.
But once you navigate this pathyourself and you find a
different and better way toapproach these issues, you can't
be, you're, you cannot bestopped anymore from getting,
(04:49):
doing everything you can to getthis message out there.
And yeah, we teach on all thisstuff on all of our, you know,
platforms and everything.
And the comments, you know, onour YouTube teachings on this
very public platform are alwayslike, you know, I thought I was
the only one.
You know, you're you're justhitting the nail on the head of
so many issues.
And they're saying, you know,because it's not the first thing
you want to talk about.
When you get that elusivecoffee date with your mom
(05:11):
friend, that's not the firstthing you want to talk about.
Maybe probably not the lastthing you want to talk about.
But so, yes, it's personal tous.
You know, my story is a littlebit winding of how I got here.
I really think seeds wereplanted in my childhood.
I'm the oldest of four kids,and I watched my mom suffer with
some of this stuff, you know,and I'm a natural helper, I'm a
natural healer, you know, that'sjust my personality.
(05:32):
And so I wanted to help her.
And I didn't know how.
And I all this has come to meso clearly as I've walked this
path, you know.
But I was thrust into a whatfor many is much more of a later
midlife journey uh as a primarycaregiver for my mother.
She suffered a 15-year,absolutely terrible decline.
And I was at her bedside at 34years old saying goodbye.
(05:54):
I mean, I'm gonna getemotional.
So, you know, I was losing heras I was becoming a mom.
And so I I kind of I think Idedicate all this work to her in
my heart now.
Um that's not that's not how Ifound myself here per se, but
it's a part of the story of whyI do what I do now.
You know, I ended up gettingout of traditional PT work
because of a neck injury first.
(06:16):
And this, you know, the systemdidn't have what I needed to get
all the way better enoughbecause it's like an
occupational hazard.
When you work with, you know,ill people and sick people and
injured people, you see wherethat can go.
Oh, yeah.
You know, and I was in my 20swith this injury, going, I don't
want to be having a surgery at45 just so I can keep
functioning.
And so I made, I went on thewar path to find other
(06:39):
treatments for that first, anorthopedic injury.
And I found a manual therapytechnique that I loved.
And I always had this idea inthe back of my head, in my heart
of hearts, that I wanted towork with women and moms in a
women's health space, but Ididn't take that traditional
path that many PTs do to end upin that women's health space.
I ended up meeting Miss JennLormand, who is an exercise
physiologist extraordinary,recovering from traumatic birth
(07:01):
injuries.
She landed on my table formanual therapy, trying to get
better.
And we just had this soulconnection.
It was that moment where sparksfly and you're like, I we have
to do something together.
And she invited me to practiceout of her personal training
gym.
She was already working onrecovering from her own birth
injuries.
She was working with women onpelvic floor issues.
Then I got pregnant and had acouple kids.
(07:22):
So we were working under thesame roof as two separate
businesses.
I'm doing manual therapy, she'sdoing personal training.
And then I had a few childrenand I had what I thought was the
foresight of working with allthese other women with injuries.
And I was going, I'm gonna dothis differently.
I'm gonna have a doula, I'mgonna have a midwife, I'm gonna
have an unintervened upon birthbecause I know that that will
lower my risk of injury.
But guess what?
(07:42):
We don't get to control all ofthat.
Okay, so I had that birth.
I had no medical intervention,but I had a sunny side-up
delivery.
You can't control that.
And I had to push for two and ahalf hours, and that is a risk
factor for developing prolapse,which is where those organs
shift and fall and lose theirhome in your pelvis, and it
results in lots of symptoms.
(08:03):
It's kind of like theprogression of pelvic floor
dysfunction, you might say, isprolapse when the organs really
shift.
But so I didn't know even thenthat pushing for greater than
two and a half hours, two hourswas going to set me up to be at
risk for prolapse, and I havedealt with it.
Yeah.
You know, and but so then Jennand I became insanely united in
our cause to find help for theseissues.
And Jenn had tried Kegels andthey didn't work.
(08:24):
She'd been referred to herurogynecologist who looked her
straight in the face at 36 yearsold and said, it's not if
you're gonna have surgery, it'swhen.
You have stage two prolapse ofall three of these compartments,
you're gonna have surgery.
And as she tells the story, sheleft that office sobbing,
crying, and with an insane newdetermination that that was not
gonna be her story.
(08:45):
Because he looked at her and hewas like, and the really sad
thing about this is that thesesurgeries really have to be
redone every 10 years.
So if you have it done now, youknow, that's that's just your
path.
And she was like, no.
And so I'm recovering from, youknow, birth injuries, you could
say, from a non-traumaticbirth.
She's recovering from moresevere injuries.
And we were like, we have tofind a different way.
(09:06):
You know, what's been proposed?
We either don't want to do itor we've tried it and it's not
working.
So we went on the war path, youcould say, um, with fire in our
heart to help ourselves andthen every other woman dealing
with these issues.
And we did find a differentway.
We found a functional approachand we've embraced that, we've
ran with it, and we did threeyears of university research
study to validate it because weare nerds like that.
(09:27):
And we were like, testimonialsaren't gonna get this out into
the world.
You know, we were published ina peer-reviewed medical journal
with the protocol we found anddialed in for ourselves first.
And we thought that was gonnabe the way we helped women was
getting that research out there.
But it kind of fell flatbecause it was too, it was too
zoomed out for most of theWestern medical system to accept
(09:48):
that all these things wereconnected and that functional
approach could get it allbetter.
And so we here we are withTighten Your Tinkler online now
because the women in our studywere like, please make us a
video.
I need this for my friend ofVirginia.
My sister-in-law needs this,she doesn't live here.
And so it was at the, you know,at the urging of the women in
(10:08):
our research that is why TightenTinkler exists and why we've
been shouting it from therooftops ever since and trying
to teach and educate, pull backthe veil of shame.
Uh, just encourage women to gethelp now because this stuff
doesn't get better on its own.
Michele Folan (10:22):
Well, no, it doesn't.
And and that's the thing.
And we've all been, you know,told if you've if you've been in
this situation where you haveany kind of prolapse that
surgery is going to be your bestoption.
But on your website, you alsosay please stop kegling.
And I I think that's alwaysbeen the default is is kegels.
(10:44):
And I told you before westarted recording, my dad was a
urologist, and he always told usto do our kegels.
Why would that possibly worsenor mask the underlying
dysfunction?
unknown (10:58):
Yeah.
Christina Walsh (10:58):
Well, and first of all, let's not, we're not
throwing anybody under the bushere for recommending that.
Like, much like your a recentguest that um the dentist you
spoke with recently talked abouthow, like, you know, everybody
was doing the best that theyknew at that time when they're
recommending that.
And the same thing applieshere.
Nobody gets into a healingprofession because they they
they get into it because theywant to help people.
And so Kegels were the bestanybody had thought of or knew
(11:21):
to do for a very long time.
And that also applies to thosedevices.
Anything that you insert intoyour body and just isolatedly
squeeze around is the same thingas just doing a Kegel.
And the problem is, there'slots of problems with the
approach, it's not functional.
So if you strengthen a musclejust in one place in one range
of motion and you just squeezeand relax, you're not gonna gain
(11:42):
strength that carries with youthrough the full motions of that
muscle.
And like we need that muscle tobe able to subconsciously turn
on for us when we're in a deepsquat picking up a laundry
hamper and we sneeze.
We don't need it to work for usjust when we're lying on our
back in that one position.
And furthermore, it shouldn'thave to be a conscious thing,
right?
Think about before you had anyof these issues.
(12:02):
Did you have to think aboutsqueezing the muscle before you
sneezed in order to not leak?
No.
So it's not functional.
For some women, that works.
And by look, if you have doneKegels and it worked for you,
girl, that is awesome.
I'm not talking to you.
I'm talking to the thousands ofwomen who come to us and say,
I've tried that.
It didn't work for me.
It made it made it better for alittle while, then it made it
worse.
(12:22):
Or I've tried the devices.
That also didn't work for me.
I'm talking to you becausethat's why we're so wonderful
that so many options exist now,because our bodies are not all
the same and we need differentapproaches.
So we're just honored to beable to provide one option for
women looking for help for theseissues.
Michele Folan (12:38):
You know, we've normalized leaking.
Yeah.
You know, I mean, sure, therewe've seen the the
pharmaceutical uh companiestalking about, you know, gotta
go, gotta go, gotta go rightnow, you know, those, you know,
giving people um a pill for itor or just wearing some depends
or a pad.
(12:59):
How do we get people to finallywake up and say, okay, I know
this isn't normal.
Christina Walsh (13:06):
I need to go address this.
It really depends.
It's up to every individualwoman to decide she's had
enough.
And it's it's fascinating to mewhat that breaking point is, is
very different for differentwomen.
For some women, they come to usand they're like, the very
first leak, they're like, Ican't live like this.
I'm fixing this now.
I want to get to the rootcause.
This is the right path for me.
(13:27):
They have so much clarity.
For so many other women,though, it's a slow progression
over time of like, well, it, youknow, I had some leaks every
now and then, but it didn'treally bother them me that much.
This is a language we hear allthe time.
My back was tight all the timesince I had my kids, but it
didn't really bother me thatmuch.
For some women, it's okay, butnow sex is painful.
I can't have this interruptingmy marriage.
(13:48):
So now it's a problem I need totake action to fix.
Or now, one woman, it was, Iwas walking on the beach with my
family and I couldn't have apad in because I was in a
swimsuit and I sneezed and Ifelt the pee run down my leg.
I'm done with this.
I want to fix it now.
So I'm not here to convince youthat it's a big enough problem
to fix.
I'm telling you that there's apath to healing.
(14:08):
So when you decide I've hadenough, this is impacting my
life so negatively that I wantto fix it, there are options and
there is hope.
Michele Folan (14:17):
So, for women who leak, say they cough, sneeze,
exercise is a big one, let'ssay, even during sex, how do we
help them identify whether it'slike overactive bladder versus a
pelvic floor dysfunction issue?
Christina Walsh (14:34):
I love that question because overactive
bladder is still a pelvic floordysfunction issue.
And here's why.
So the nervous system is routedinto all of our body, right?
And so for overactive bladder,very often a huge component of
that is over tightness of thepelvic floor, where that
sphincter can no longer clearlyget the messaging and do its
(14:56):
job.
So a lot of times we need, soour approach is functional and
holistic.
So we always recommend womendecompress first.
I love you.
You know, so go back and listento that breathing episode.
The the breathing diaphragm isthe top of the core.
(15:18):
So you've got to loosen thatbreathing diaphragm if you want
to loosen your pelvic floor.
Get our free at-homedecompression technique.
That is a great place to start.
If you suspect that hypertonicor overtight pelvic floor, if
you're dealing with urinaryfrequency or what you think is
overactive bladder, um, startwith decompressing.
Start with stretching.
That is where you want tobegin.
(15:38):
Make sure to get yourself asquatty potty so you're
ergonomically emptying.
Stop pushing out your pee.
Like there's so much you canstart doing now, today, to
really stack things in yourfavor as far as taking care of
your pelvic floor.
You want to be making sureyou're optimizing your bowel
consistency.
So think about how many timesyou pee and poop.
If you're in the ergonomicposition with a squatty potty,
(16:00):
knees higher than your hips, andyour bowel movement consistency
is not too hard and not toosoft, and you're not straining
or pushing, you're breathing,you're relaxing, you're even
swaying on that potty to helpempty completely without
pressure.
That is a gift to your pelvicfloor that you are giving it
like multiple times a day.
So, so much good you can doright now.
Michele Folan (16:21):
Christina, we're gonna take a quick break.
And when we get back, I want totalk more about bowel leakage,
urgency, and how that intersectswith urinary leakage.
I'm really curious, how manyrecipes have you saved over the
last month?
How many random workouts aresitting in your camera roll?
(16:42):
And how many times have yousaid, I'll start Monday, or
maybe in the new year?
Here's the truth (16:46):
you don't need more Pinterest boards or
another motivation Monday.
You need a plan that actuallyties it all together: nutrition,
movement, mindset, and in a waythat's doable and sustainable.
That's exactly what I do in mymetabolism reset with Faster
Way.
I'll teach you how to eat,train, and recover like a woman
(17:08):
who's done making excuses andready to feel strong, confident,
and in control again.
Check the show notes to join usbecause this time I've got you.
We are back.
Before we went on break, Iwanted to talk about how does
bowel leakage, urgency, and evenconstipation intersect with
(17:33):
urinary leakage?
What's the interplay betweenthe bladder, the bowel, and
pelvic floor function?
Christina Walsh (17:40):
Perfect.
I love this question.
I had someone else come up withthe catchphrase that you know
the pelvic floor is responsiblefor the three P's, peeing,
pooping, and penetration.
Oh.
So it is.
Yeah.
It's a the pelvic floor.
It's like people think of it aslike this mysterious entity,
the pelvic floor.
What is it?
It's a sling of muscles thatholds our guts in from below.
So, like there's no boneholding your bladder up and in
(18:02):
or your bowel or your uterus.
It's all soft tissuecompartments.
So, you know, that's the pieceof where it's all connected down
there.
And it's all con, and thepelvic floor connects to your
low back.
It connects to the front of thepelvis, it integrates with the
deep abdominal muscles.
So all of that should beworking together when things are
healthy and well.
But pelvic floor issues canpresent, we say towards the
(18:24):
front of the bowl or the back ofthe bowl.
So you can have, depending onthe births you had, depending
on, you know, if you have likewhat you talked about earlier,
if you had that history ofconstipation chronically over a
lifespan, all of that's gonna,you know, sunny side up delivery
puts you more at risk forissues on the back side of the
bowl.
Other things put you more atrisk for issues on the front
side of the bowl.
(18:44):
So it's all pelvic floor in theend.
Now, that being said, that'swhat I mean about, you know,
start with the low-hanging fruitto take care of your pelvic
floor, those things we alreadytalked about, because you're
positively impacting your wholepelvic floor function when you
take those steps we alreadytalked about.
Um, and if you're dealing withbowel leakage or gas leaks or
pressure, pressure and heavinessdown there is a telltale sign
(19:07):
that that things aren't happyand well down there.
That feeling of like, why do Ifeel like I'm in my third
trimester of a pregnancy and I'mnot been pregnant in 20 years?
Michele Folan (19:15):
Or or you feel like you've got a tam, like
you've got a tampon in and it'sfalling, like the tampons
falling out, that kind offeeling.
Christina Walsh (19:22):
Yeah.
Yes, yeah.
Or the bulge.
Many women just say there's abulge.
All of that are telltalesymptoms of prolapse.
I'm not diagnosing you over theinternet, but I've I've done
this long enough and I felt itin my own body to know.
Um, but so yeah, the back ofthe bowl, the front of the bowl,
it's all just different partsof the same muscular sling.
And where you feel it more,what symptoms you have more of,
(19:43):
just speaks to what tissue wasoverstressed most for you over
your lifespan.
Michele Folan (19:48):
And then there's also painful sex.
And I know that's can be taboo.
People don't want to talk aboutthat too much, but you you all
address it very openly.
Yes.
What are the most common causesin terms of the pelvic floor
related to pain during sex inmidlife?
Christina Walsh (20:08):
And how do you approach that?
This is fantastic.
I've done literally an entireepisode on just pain with sex.
So I will try to summarizethis, but it is nuanced and it
does involve, it involvescertainly the pelvic floor tone
and health, but sometimes it'smore than that, especially as we
get to midlife, right?
The estrogen's dropping,collagen's decreasing, we have
(20:28):
less moisture being held in ourtissues.
So sometimes it's you need, youknow, a topical estrogen cream.
Sometimes you need a lubricant.
But if you but there arecertain types of pain with sex
that are directly pelvic floorrelated, also.
And it can be some of both.
It can be some of all of it.
Just like any pelvic floorsymptoms that women are
experiencing look a littledifferent for each woman because
(20:49):
where was that tissue injured?
How was it overstretched orover-tightened?
But it's all the same ball ofwax in the end.
If we address the root causeand strengthen that
undercarriage and remove some ofthat pressure and those kind of
offending issues, then we can,we can really heal a lot.
But so the different types ofpain with sex, one is pain with
penetration.
That's kind of the most clear,direct, like that's often that
(21:10):
over tight pelvic floor.
And so you're gonna want toreally get into some stretching.
You're gonna want to get intothat decompression position at
home, work on your breathing,get your diaphragm moving, and
you know, maybe get somelubrication.
Do not push through pain.
You know, this is the most, itis, I feel like it's just a
sacred connection that you havewith the person you spend the
(21:30):
most time with in the world.
If you push into pain, that isnot a gift to you or your
partner because it's gonna leadto more pain because your body's
gonna recognize that as atrauma and you're gonna be
scared next time.
So we have a partner guide,also.
I can give you that link.
We've this is something we'velived through too.
So it can be a hardconversation to start.
Your spouse loves you, yourpartner loves you.
(21:51):
They don't want you hurting.
It can be, this can be thehardest topic of all to bring
up.
Even women who are comfortabletalking about you're in leaks
with friends, this can be adoozy.
So we have a guide to help youhave that conversation with your
partner.
Don't push through pain.
Um, start those things if it'spain with penetration, but
there's so many other nuances ofpain with sex.
Like for me, what I've had moreis less of that.
(22:12):
And it has more to do with theprolapse.
So when the organs are kind ofshifting and falling out of
place in their little softtissue compartment homes, it
creates a weird suctionsituation because the kind of
the passage isn't fully clearand upright and propped up.
And so you can end up with likea pain higher up in your
abdomen, like a deep soreness,like something's being punched
(22:33):
repeatedly.
You can also end up with uhpuffiness and swelling and an
increase in that heaviness inkind of that external genitalia
after sex.
All of this is pelvic floortone and strength related.
Does that I try to kind ofsummarize things there?
Michele Folan (22:50):
And I'm like, I'm thinking back, you know.
So I told you I I I don't haveany issues now.
It's Amen.
Yeah, right, right at 61.
But I did postpartum after mysecond, like bad.
Yeah.
Like, you know, I had I had aurethral tear, rectal tear.
(23:12):
Yeah, it was it was really bad.
And I remember the healingprocess, and for years feeling
that pain pressure, you know,and I luckily things things calm
down.
But listen, that is not fun todeal with.
I mean, and you and again, youyou brought that up that it it
(23:34):
can it can make you dread havingsexual relations with your
partner if things are nothealthy in there.
And and this brings upsomething else too, Christina.
And I I am a big advocate ofvaginal estrogen, and I know my
listeners are like, oh, pleasestop, Michele.
Cut it out.
(23:54):
We don't need to hear thisagain.
No, bring it on.
Don't cut it out.
But but even if you don't havepain during intercourse, there
are so many great reasons to beon vaginal estrogen.
It is not absorbedsystemically.
I will say that until I'm bluein the face.
But, you know, it's like usinga wonderful, luxurious face
(24:16):
cream.
You you deserve it, use it.
I did have a question.
So vaginal rejuvenation, Idon't know if it's still hot,
but I know a few years agoeverybody was talking about
vaginal rejuvenation anddermatologists were offering it.
You know, gynecologists wereoffering it.
What does that entail and doesthat really help with this?
Christina Walsh (24:38):
You know, I will I'll be straight up and
honest with you.
It's not something Jen or I hasever, we've ever tried
personally.
So I don't want to speak tothings I haven't tried, but you
know, we have worked with lotsof women who have tried it.
And I'm sure for some women itworks, you know, and they're the
ones who don't end up coming tous.
But we've also worked with lotsof women who've been there,
done that, tried that, whetherit's that, whether it's devices,
(25:00):
whether it's pelvic floortherapy, whether it's Kegels,
you know, and and those are thewomen we see most often because
they've they've tried all thator or they don't want to go that
route.
A lot of women who end upfinding us are specifically
looking for somethingnon-invasive.
They don't want to disrobe andhave things penetrating down
there.
Maybe they have a history oftrauma, um, or that's just
(25:22):
outside their comfort zone.
So it's wonderful that there'sall these different options,
like you do you, boo, all daylong.
Like if you're called to that,try it.
I can't speak to it personally.
I'm sure it helps some women.
You know, that's why itprobably exists.
Michele Folan (25:36):
Well, and this brings up something else I was
just thinking about.
Yeah, anything.
Christina Walsh (25:41):
How much does the fascia get involved in this?
So involved.
My bodywork practice, the thething I was led to from that
neck injury we talked about wayat the beginning, is all about
fascia.
So it is something I can geekout about all day too.
And I like to describe it aslike, you know, when you're uh
cutting up a chicken breast or,you know, that all that slimy,
(26:03):
skinny skin stuff that's like inand through and around.
That's the fascia.
And it's like that in ourbodies too.
It encases everything from thesmall individual fibers to the
larger chunks of muscle.
So it connects everything toeverything else.
And that is actually why Ilove, I love the way you're the
path you're taking thisconversation, because we Jen and
(26:25):
I love to geek out on thisstuff.
Many women with prolapse alsohave neck pain.
And there is a fascial, adirect fascial line from the
bladder to the neck.
You could say, in essence, yourbladder hangs from your neck.
So even if you just want to getyour prolapse addressed because
you don't want a neck hump,that's worth it too.
And many women with prolapsehave foot problems because it
(26:48):
just, you know, when you'redisrupted at your center of
gravity, which the pelvis isbiomechanically, um, not to
mention our energetic center aswomen, it it has repercussions
up and down that chain.
Michele Folan (26:59):
Yeah.
Christina Walsh (26:59):
So yeah, fascia all day long is important and
absolute part of this picture.
Michele Folan (27:04):
Yeah, I didn't, I didn't think I was gonna ask
you that.
And and honestly, I askquestions and I'm not sure I
like have this like geniusformat that I go by.
I just, you know, I startthinking of things and I start
pulling questions.
That is your genius format.
I love every single one of yourinterviews.
Like that is your geniusformat.
(27:25):
It just cracks me up.
Yeah, I had a guest on and wetalked nothing about nothing but
fascia.
And I was fascinated.
Yes, I thought, oh my gosh,this could answer so many
people's issues, but you have togo get a physical therapist
(27:48):
that understands the fascia.
Christina Walsh (27:50):
But well, and if you want a jumping off point
for that, the the specifictechniques I was trained in that
helped me so much with my neckand that I use in my bodywork
practice is um it's mostlythrough the school of up ledger
craniosacral therapy.
So it is gentle, non-invasive.
It is so good for your wholebody, your nervous system, your
tissue, everything.
It just decompresseseverything.
(28:11):
So if you're looking to juststart one new type of holistic
treatment to ease your body intoa state of healing and take the
load off your tissues, trythat.
I mean, that's a great place tostart.
Okay.
That's yeah.
Michele Folan (28:25):
We could go down a whole different path with
that, right?
Christina Walsh (28:30):
We could go down so many wormholes.
I mean, and that's exactly whatthat's what we do, you know, in
our teachings, like on ourYouTube channel.
We I we always say we've gonedown the rabbit hole of
everything you might be afraidto Google because this can
branch off into so manydifferent nuanced discussions.
Um, but I I love that you'reletting your intuition lead the
way.
Michele Folan (28:50):
There are women out there that have been told
you've got stage three, staystage four prolapse, and they
think now they're too far gonefor any of this to work.
So, what kind of guidance wouldyou give them when they do have
advanced prolapse?
Christina Walsh (29:07):
This is such a compassionate question to bring
up because while while we lovewhen women find us at stage one,
stage two, and by the way, youdon't have to know what stage
you are to get help.
We have a free quiz that reallyis based off of all of the
research data that we took.
And it's it isresearch-validated
questionnaires that we combinedinto an online quiz, and we can
(29:29):
grade you and stage you intothree different zones based on
the data.
We are not making this up orpulling it out of a hat.
And we can tell you withconfidence, you are a great fit
to benefit from conservativetreatment, like working with us
in our signature program, oryou're in that middle zone, you
can benefit, but you need togive it a little more time
before you're gonna see results,or you're gonna score in a
(29:50):
zone, which is what a womandealing with these more
progressed issues is gonna mostlikely score in.
If you are dealing with stagefour prolapse and you've been
diagnosed, that Means the organhas fully exited your body.
I mean, that is something thatwhere I'm st I still would
advocate to use the square, doall the things that we already
talked about.
It cannot hurt you, it can onlyhelp you.
(30:12):
However, if that organ hasfully exited your body, you are
a surgical candidate.
I mean, there's no, there's noamount of strengthening that can
put that organ back inside andhold it there if it's gotten to
that degree.
Stage three is a trickier case.
And um, stage three, many womencan still benefit from
conservative care,strength-based, you know,
(30:32):
decompression, strengthening,much like what we offer in our
signature program, but you oftenwill still need regular body
work to keep thingsdecompressed, regular
chiropractic care to keep thingsaligned.
And you will most often likelysometimes benefit from the use
of a pessary, which is that it'skind of like a little
scaffolding, you might couldsay, that you insert and that
(30:54):
stays there to hold hold thingsup and in.
And for what it's worth, Jenand I have never had to resort
to that because of the pathwe've been on.
But we have worked with enoughwomen to know that the one I
hear the most good about is thecube pessary, because they come
in all kinds of shapes andsizes.
And I hear a lot of goodreports about the cube.
So if you're at that point,you'll need to get fitted for
that.
And so stage three is really aborderline.
(31:16):
Stage one and two, you canheal.
And I'm not saying, I'm notsaying reverse the prolapse.
I'm saying functionally heal.
I don't have data on reversingthe prolapse, so I'm not going
to make that claim.
But functionally, you can liveforgetting that you have this on
most days.
That's what I mean abouthealing.
And that that's powerful.
Michele Folan (31:36):
Yeah.
So even if you had stage fourand you had to have surgery,
would you want to follow up withthat patient to do like show
them more exercises and thingsthat they need to be doing to
maintain that surgery?
Christina Walsh (31:52):
That is a fantastic question because I
think education at the veryleast, because a lot of these
major pelvic reconstructivesurgeries do have a 25% failure
rate.
So this is a big deal that youwant to take care of your body
well.
If you've gotten to that point,you do want to get some care
still after that to make surethat you're not pushing your
(32:14):
body past the point where itwhat you had done is gonna undo
itself, which is the most tragiccomments we get under our
teachings, like on YouTube, is Ijust wish I could scoop up
these, you know, so many womenfind us at just the right
pivotal moment where it's nottoo late to take action and get
relief without those much moreextreme measures.
But there are so many women whofind us where it's like, I wish
(32:37):
I could scoop them up and plopthem 20 years ago and say, hey,
let's do something now so youdon't end up here.
And look, the data isoverwhelming that taking action
sooner than later is absolutelyin your favor and it can make a
difference because one in threewomen overall will develop
clinically significant prolapsein their lifespan.
For women who have hadchildren, that jumps up to one
(32:58):
in two.
And the prevalence of prolapsedoubles every 10 years after
menopause.
So the great news, if you're inmidlife though, like if you're
in your, you know, if you're ifyou're not there yet, take
action now.
You know, the hormone shiftsare not going to do you any
favors.
So many women find us in their40s, in their 50s because the
issues were ignorable before.
(33:20):
But then you have that estrogenand collagen decline and all
that soft tissue down there.
And then all of a sudden it'slike, whoa, what was whispering
is now screaming.
But it's that's the time.
Don't wait any longer.
Take action now.
Yeah.
Michele Folan (33:33):
That and that was gonna be my next question.
So if you, if someone listeningwho's age 55 or 65, and they
are experiencing some mildleakage, but hasn't crossed the
line yet, what proactive stepswould she take now before things
get worse?
Christina Walsh (33:51):
All the things we talked about earlier, like
and and and then some.
So there are so many ways youcan gently, compassionately care
for your body when you'redealing with these issues.
Avoid compressive garments.
Like if you even tight jeans ortight underwear, especially if
you're gonna be sitting all day,like this stuff matters because
all these little things add up.
We always talk about this inour team and in our private
(34:14):
community with our members.
These little things add up tothe big wins of relief that
you're looking for.
If you're gonna be travelingall day or sitting all day at
your desk and you've gotsomething tight around your
waist, it's going to addpressure to your middle.
And where does that pressurego?
Especially if you are alreadyweakened or compromised down
below.
That's where it goes.
And you will notice if you'veworn something that you felt
(34:36):
like, wait, why when I wear thator when I sit in this garment
for so long, am I noticing likea little increased leakage or
that pressure gets worse or myback is tighter afterwards?
It's not in your head.
This is one more little thingyou can do and pay attention to
and choose activities thatdon't, you know, for lack of a
word, don't piss it off, thatdon't make it worse.
You know, and this sounds sosimple, but it's it's we've,
(34:59):
like you said, there's been thislayer of acceptance of these
issues.
I think because people arestruggling to know what to do
about them.
So there's all these jokesabout peeing on yourself.
So everybody's like, well, Iguess I'm just gonna keep doing
what I'm doing.
But if if you're doing anactivity, a high impact
exercise, some heavy liftingthat's making it worse, that is
your body like really trying towave the white flag.
Like, please stop.
I can't handle this right now.
(35:20):
I don't have the foundationalstrength to tolerate this
without breaking down.
So choose, choose activitiesthat are kind to your body.
Choose clothing that is kind toyour body.
Use the squatty potty, usethose proper toileting
techniques we talked about.
Optimize your stool consistencyso you're decreasing that
pressure.
Choose active rest for yournervous system and your hips and
(35:41):
pelvis in that at-homedecompression position daily.
All these things will add up.
And then if that's not enough,then you need to go and add
functional strength.
And that is what we areabsolute experts in.
If that feels like the rightpath for you, we are one option.
And that that's what I'drecommend.
Don't wait.
Start listening to your body.
Michele Folan (36:02):
And I think too, that this brings up something
else too.
You can do the work, but youmay have setbacks or flare-ups.
But do you have like a like away to sustain?
So, like things that you woulddo to continue to make sure that
the the work that you've doneholds.
Christina Walsh (36:21):
Yes.
And we talk about thisconstantly in our our members
only community with our programmembers that this healing is not
a linear journey, whetherthat's our mental emotional
health, uh, an old injury, orthe pelvic floor piece and the
prolapse piece, because lifekeeps happening.
You know, we're working onstrengthening, we're doing all
(36:41):
the things, checking all theboxes.
And then guess what?
Winter comes and your kidbrings home a cold and you're
hacking and coughing.
So, what you what the formulafor that for our program members
is lean more into thoserecovery positions, those rest
active rest positions whereyou're offloading pressure, lean
more into the gentle stretchingat that time.
Certainly take all thesupplements that help you fight
(37:04):
that cold, you know, and thenget back to your strengthening
exercises.
And, you know, our bodies aremiraculous healing machines by
design.
So, like if you've already donethis foundational strengthening
and you have a setback, it'snot going to take you the same
amount of time that it took yourebuilding the first time to
kind of get back on the trainafterwards.
(37:25):
And the whole emotional pieceof this is huge.
So before you've reset thatfoundational strength, when you
got a cold and you you had thatsetback, or you, I mean, for me,
it was one time we were hikingwith family on a trip and my kid
was like three, my littlestone, and he was just having a
day.
And he wanted me, only momcould carry him.
(37:45):
Mom needs to carry me.
And it was like there were allof the all the cousins and
everybody was together.
And I was like, I'm gonna dothis right now.
I'm gonna carry this kid, I'mgonna piggyback him.
And I love that special momentwith him, but I knew as long as
we were walking, I was gonnakind of pay for that later.
I was gonna feel it in my body.
But here's the thing when youhave that flare up and you've
already done the strengtheningand you have the tools you need,
(38:07):
it no longer sets you into aspiral of fear and despair.
You no longer have to go, oh myGod, I'm gonna feel hopeless
again.
You have the tools you need toget back on top of things again
in a matter of a few hours or afew days.
So the emotional weight of thatflare-up completely changes.
Life will still happen, but itdoesn't devastate you anymore.
Michele Folan (38:28):
One thing that as you were talking about this, I
started thinking about justposture and how we sit so much.
Yeah.
Talk about that a little bitbecause I don't think people
realize that there is a directconnection between how we sit
and our posture and how we standand you know, your pelvic floor
(38:50):
health.
Christina Walsh (38:50):
Absolutely.
Well, and we talked about howthe diaphragm is the top of that
system of the whole core andpelvis.
And so we're taking shallowbreaths because we're running on
empty, we're having go, go, golifestyle.
So that's part of it.
We're shallow breathing, ourribs are getting stuck tight,
and then that is not helping ourpelvic floor at all and adding
downward pressure.
And when we're sitting all day,our pelvic floor is just like,
(39:12):
I guess I'm clocked out.
You don't need me.
I know, and your outer hips,your glutes, which need to work
in synchrony with your pelvicfloor to have everything
functioning well, they kick offtoo.
And so, yeah, we're sitting allthe day and it's just like
downward pressure.
We're slumping, that's moreheaviness and pressure.
We're not breathing well intoour diaphragms.
That's adding more pressure andtightness.
(39:33):
And then our glutes and ourpelvic floor, when we're
sitting, are just like, okay,I'm off the clock.
You don't need me.
And so they they becomedormant, you know?
And so we really need thatreactivation.
And that's what the functionalstrength approach adds that most
others are skipping is thatroot activation of turning the
muscle back on.
One of my favorite things isgetting messages, emails in our
member community of women going,I'm two days into this.
(39:55):
And I am I crazy.
It feels like my muscle isliterally turning back on again.
I mean, and they're it's it's acrazy feeling when it hasn't
turned on in so long.
And they're like, it feels likeit's alive again.
Yeah, you know what?
Michele Folan (40:09):
Yeah.
It's so exciting when peoplemake the connection of, I feel
better when I'm movingappropriately, right?
Christina Walsh (40:17):
It's just so and it becomes an upward spiral.
And I know you see this withthe women you work with that you
think, how am I gonna fit thisin?
It's one more thing.
But then when you start to feelbetter, it's like this, it's
this instant reward that youcrave.
You're like, God, I want to dothat again because like I really
feel it in my body, and it'samazing.
What a relief.
What a load off my shouldersfrom walking around with this
(40:37):
weight of dysfunction andfeeling broken all the time.
You feel that load lift andyou're like, I can't wait to do
this again tomorrow.
I just love your energy.
Your clients must love you.
Michele Folan (40:47):
I mean, I really, you're so inspiring.
I mean, I I I just to givewomen hope when you know, with
with you know, urinary leakageand and bowel incontinence, it's
just you you there's just sucha thing about our psyche with
with all of this as well.
I'd love it if you could sharea client's story.
(41:09):
Oh gosh.
Well, things I have so many.
Christina Walsh (41:12):
I have so many.
Okay, let me see.
Okay, one, I'm thinking we havewomen uh not so infrequently.
This this blows my mind, thecourage that women share after
they have healed.
They come to us and say, Whatcan I do to help other women?
I want to help get this messageout now because my life has
been so dramatically altered.
And we often invite them togive a video testimonial.
(41:34):
And many will.
I mean, it is incrediblypersonal, but they're so
compelled to get the message outthere and do whatever they can.
One woman, I love her interviewso much because she was mid-50s
and had tried all the things.
You know, she had tried theKegels and she'd been in pelvic
floor therapy for like twoyears.
She'd been referred for like avery expensive internal device
(41:56):
that was $1,500.
She tried that, it still didn'twork.
She was now having to keepunderwear in her work drawer
because she was leaking so muchand she was just debilitated by
it and crushed emotionally bythe burden.
And so when she got betterwithin two weeks, she was like,
Wait, I just, I, I, I'm notsneezing and peeing anymore.
(42:17):
And I just can't believe it.
And then she was like, wait,and I'm sleeping through the
night now.
Like, I even know that waspossible.
She didn't join for that, butthat happens too.
And then she was like, in thislittle video interview, she was
like, I just want to jump up onthe rooftops and go, hello,
ladies, there's help for you.
Oh, that's life changing.
It is life altering.
(42:40):
And and every year we kind ofgo back through, you know, new
testimonials that have rolled inin our private community where
we support our members or in ouremail inbox.
And I just end up in tears aswe're kind of regrouping those
to share them.
Of course, we always askpermission, but because it is
life altering when you've you'velived with this stuff.
And so, like you said, so oftenwe've kept it to ourselves.
(43:02):
And shame, you know, truth isthe antidote to shame.
So, you know, that's part ofour mission is to pull back the
veil, you know, remove thetaboo, which is your whole
mission, which I love, and justshout it from the rooftops
because the more we talk aboutthis, much like um, you know, a
grief journey or having somebodystruggling with substance abuse
in your family, when you getthe courage to talk about it,
(43:25):
you realize how not alone youare.
And that is part of thishealing.
Absolutely.
Michele Folan (43:31):
So well said.
Before we close, I would loveto know what one of your own
non-negotiable self-carepractices is.
And it doesn't have to dealwith your pelvic floor.
It could be, it could beanything.
Christina Walsh (43:45):
I I practice what I preach and do all the
things I just advised everyoneelse to do, of course.
But aside from that, at areally deep core level is I'm
not willing to compromise myfamily time.
And that's a value that mypartner Jenn and I share to our
core, and we lead throughexample in our business as well.
That when we clock out, it'sfamily time.
You know, when we pick up thekids from school, we're not
(44:07):
answering emails.
And protecting that boundary ofthat time with my family helps
me show up fully present for mywork, fully invested here with
you, with my clients, because Ihave that time with them.
And, you know, you know, those,you don't get those years back.
So that is a deep core valuethat luckily Jen and I share.
So it allows us to lead byexample uh for our team as well,
(44:30):
that that time is sacred.
Michele Folan (44:31):
Fantastic.
And then finally, for anylistener who wants to connect
with you and Jenn and TightenYour Tinkler, where can they
find you, your website andsocial media?
Christina Walsh (44:43):
It's Tighten Your Tinkler everywhere,
basically.
It's TightenYourTinkler.com.
It's hello at Tighten YourTinkler if you want to hop into
our inbox.
Um, real people, you know, it'sa very small team of working
moms who've all lived this pathourselves too in that inbox and
supporting our members in ourprivate community.
We're on YouTube.
It one of the YouTube is ourmost popular platform, and I
(45:04):
think it's because it feels likea safe space for women to look
up those scary things.
And we've got teaching videosthere on all, again, all the
things you're probably scared toGoogle.
And don't be a don't be astranger.
It's at Tighten.yor.tinkler onInstagram.
Of course, we're on Facebooktoo.
So you can find us any of thoseplaces.
And if you're like, I don'teven know where to start, hop
onto our newsletter list.
(45:24):
Our you know, our messages, weshare personal stories of our
own journey, but we share actionsteps too.
Like if you're like, that wasso much information, I don't
even know where to start, grabthat weekly message and it'll
just pop in with holisticwellness and tips for your whole
self-care and especially as itrelates to pelvic health and
take that quiz.
If you're just wanting to justscratch the surface of learning
(45:46):
more about what all thisentails, where do you fall on
the spectrum of severity?
That free five-minute quiz isthe best place to start.
It is data backed and it willgive you that answer in no
uncertain terms, as well asrefer you to appropriate
resources based on where youfall.
Yeah, I took the quiz.
Michele Folan (46:02):
Yeah, that was my prerequisite.
That was my homework for thisinterview today.
Christina Walsh (46:06):
I took it really, you know, it really does
help connect the dot.
It doesn't very subconsciouslylike, oh, wait a minute, that's
part of this too.
You know?
Yeah.
So no, it was good.
Michele Folan (46:15):
That that actually kind of set the table
for some of my questions too.
So it was good.
And then you also, with yourcourses, you have a discount
code for the listeners too.
Christina Walsh (46:27):
Yes, for your listeners, $50 off if you feel
called that that functionalstrength approach, that holistic
approach, that at-homenon-invasive approach, 10
minutes a day approach, I forgotto mention earlier, is right
for you.
If you're feeling that call,that coupon code is Michele 1L,
obviously, um, as your listenersprobably already know.
And that'll be $50 off of oursignature program, which
(46:50):
includes lifetime access to theboth the program, which we're
constantly improving upon basedon feedback as well as
membership in our privatecommunity of support for women
as they navigate all the phasesof this healing journey.
Wonderful.
Christina Walsh, thank you somuch for being on Asking for a
Friend.
Michele Folan (47:05):
Thank you, Michele.
Thank you for listening.
Please rate and review thepodcast where you listen.
And if you'd like to join theAsking for a Friend community,
click on the link in the shownotes to sign up for my weekly
newsletter where I share midlifewellness and fitness tips,
insights, my favorite finds, andrecipes.
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