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Monday 9am - 5pm Tuesday 9am - 5pm Wednesday 9am - 5pm Thursday 9am - 5pm Friday 9am - 5pm

Fiona Healy -Women's Health Physiotherapist

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Fiona Healy -Women's Health Physiotherapist

Fiona Healy Chartered Physiotherapist. Specialist in Women's Health. Specialising in pregnancy and post-natal dysfunction.

Fiona Healy O' Connor Chartered Physiotherapist.

09/12/2025

😌Relaxing your jaw can help release pelvic floor tension because of a deep neuromuscular connection between the two areas.

😬Tongue and teeth position:
Place your tongue on the roof of your mouth, behind your front teeth. Gently separate your top and bottom teeth, keeping your lips closed.

🧘‍♀️Jaw and neck stretches:
Gently stretch your jaw and neck. You can also sing or hum to loosen the muscles.

💪Conscious posture:
Be mindful of how you sit and stand. Keep your head stacked over your shoulders and avoid clenching your jaw.

Breathing and relaxation

✨Diaphragmatic breathing:
Inhale slowly through your nose, and exhale slowly through your mouth, counting to five. As you exhale, focus on your diaphragm and pelvic floor relaxing and your chest and stomach deflating.

✨Release other tension:
Pay attention to other areas that can be tight, such as your abdomen and glutes. Gently unclench your stomach and release any tension in your buttocks as you breathe.

How the connection works

Neuromuscular link:
The jaw and pelvic floor are linked through nerves and connective tissue, meaning tension in one can create tension in the other.

Jaw-pelvic connection:
Tightness in the jaw can lead to pelvic floor tightness, and vice versa. Relaxing your jaw can be a key part of relaxing your pelvic floor and can help with issues like pelvic pain, constipation, or urinary dysfunction.

❗⚠When to seek professional help

Pelvic Health Physiotherapist: If you have persistent pain or dysfunction, consider seeing a pelvic health physical therapist. They can provide hands-on manual therapy for your jaw, face, and neck, and help you with a holistic approach to your pelvic health.

04/12/2025

✅Diaphragmatic breathing, also known as belly breathing, is an extremely effective and simple exercise with a multitude of benefits for your pelvic floor, mental health, cardiopulmonary system, and core stability.

✅As the diaphragm contracts, it descends, creating a pressure gradient that enables our lungs to fill with air. When we exhale, the diaphragm relaxes and returns to its original position.

❌However, we often find ourselves taking shallow breaths into our chest rather than our abdomen. This causes accessory muscles like the upper trapezius, pectoralis minor, and scalene muscles to work overtime trying to lift the rib cage in order to let air in, causing muscle tightness in the chest and neck.

Breathing through the diaphragm instead can prevent this tightness and unnecessary muscle activation..

✅Diaphragmatic breathing can help manage pelvic floor dysfunction

The diaphragm and the pelvic floor work together to control pressure within the abdomen. As the diaphragm contracts during inhale, the pelvic floor relaxes. As we exhale, the diaphragm relaxes while the pelvic floor contracts. Because of this relationship, breathing through our diaphragm can enhance awareness of our pelvic floor muscles. For example, Toprak (2021) demonstrated that diaphragmatic breathing can improve quality of life and reduce symptoms for patients with urge urinary incontinence.

✅Diaphragmatic breathing can help relieve stress

Studies show that diaphragmatic breathing can reduce stress, lower anxiety, and facilitate relaxation. Breathing through the diaphragm stimulates our vagus nerve, activating the parasympathetic nervous system response that tells our body to “rest and digest.” Diaphragmatic breathing is a powerful tool we can use to help our patients cope with the stress and anxiety surrounding their pelvic floor issues.

✅Diaphragmatic breathing can build core stability

Diaphragmatic breathing is hypothesized to improve proprioception to the core and help activate trunk musculature. Because it helps manage intra-abdominal pressure, the diaphragm provides the postural support necessary for dynamic movements.

27/11/2025

Did you know you can check availability and schedule appointments online??

Or you can call or email Fiona.

25/11/2025

✨Lovely client feedback.

18/11/2025

💪Recent health studies have shown that in women, the higher your vitamin D levels the lower your chance is of having a weak pelvic floor.

✨Out of the women researched, nearly a quarter reported pelvic floor weakness and, regardless of age, those with incontinence had significantly lower vitamin D levels.

❓So how does vitamin D affect your pelvic floor?
Nutrition plays an important role in muscle function and for some time Vitamin D deficiency has been linked to poor muscle strength and loss of muscle mass. Vitamin D receptors are present in our muscles and therefore may have a direct effect on your pelvic floor muscles, so this is important information for those with incontinence and prolapse

⚠Signs of Vitamin D Deficiency
Signs that you may have low vitamin D may include aching bones and excessive head sweating, however the only way to know for sure that you have low vitamin D is by having a blood test. Your body absorbs vitamin D from the sun, so you can become deficient during the winter months.

✅A combination of vit D and physiotherapy showed improvement in symptoms in women with incontinence.

✅If you need support on how best to strengthen your muscle send me a DM or contact your local pelvic health physiotherapist.

06/11/2025

📅📆It is so easy to schedule your appointment as we have an Online booking system which is open for appointments.

✅Appointments are available on Tuesdays/Wednesdays and Thursdays in Kenmare.

✅Click on link in bio or go to www.anuwomenshealth.ieto check availability and book your appointment.

✅ Alternatively call Fiona on 0879731801

03/11/2025

**Venue Change**
New venue: Pobalscoil Inbhear Sceine for " Let's Talk About Women's Health" on Wednesday 26th November at 7.30pm.
Call/text or email Irene if you would like to book a place.

22/10/2025

✨ Client feedback

I got the loveliest review recently

I really appreciate the kind words. It makes work so much more enjoyable.

Fiona

20/10/2025

📌Bone is what we call a ‘reactive tissue’ It is constantly being made and remodelled which means it’s re-absorbed and replaced with new bone. We replace our entire skeleton about every 10 years.

✅Oestrogen, the main female reproductive hormone is a major player in bone formation; the time of most rapid bone loss starts approximately one year before the final menstrual period ( So keep your girls active!!).

📌A woman’s experience of menopausal symptoms is personal and individual but bone turnover declines with reducing oestrogen.

✅Chartered Physiotherapists, as movement experts are well placed to advise you on the best exercise programmes for this period of your life and particularly around maintaining a healthy bony skeleton.

❌There may also be other symptoms which act as a barrier to exercise such as symptoms of leakage from the bladder when you exercise or a feeling of heaviness in the va**na. The physiotherapist specialising in pelvic health can help and advise you

The three main components of exercise for bone health (and many other aspects of health) are:

✅Resistance training for your muscles

When we contract muscles, they pull on our bones and we know this is very good for healthy bones.

✅ Plyometric exercise or exercises which increase speed, endurance, and strength, will also help your bones.

✅exercises which improve your balance are important as it helps to prevent you from falling and hurting your bones

Starting with small steps the physiotherapist can advise you on a programme of safe exercises.

18/10/2025

📌The genitourinary symptoms of menopause

Structures within the pelvic area for example, the va**na, v***a, urethra, bladder and pelvic floor muscle are all responsive to changes in oestrogen levels.
As a result:

🔶Tissues become thinner
🔶Tissues become less elastic or flexible
🔶Less lubrication causing va**nal dryness
🔶Ligaments and muscles less supportive
🔶A rise in pH – the va**na becomes less acidic
🔶Change in the balance of “good“ bacteria and “bad” bacteria in va**na

Each woman’s experience of the menopause is different. As hormone production by the ovaries start to fall most women do experience some kind of symptoms, although the type and extent of these can vary widely. The falling levels of oestrogen can lead to a group of ge***al and urinary symptoms that are called genitourinary syndrome of the menopause or GSM. Some of the symptoms of GSM you may notice include;

❗️Itching, burning or discomfort in the va**nal area or when emptying your bladder
❗️Vaginal examinations or smear tests become uncomfortable. If you are still using tampons these
❗️Light bleeding after s*x or va**nal examinations
❗️More frequent infections of the urinary tract (UTI) and or va**nal infections
❗️Symptoms of prolapse
❗️Increased frequency and urgency to empty your bladder. You may have to rush to the toilet or get up more than once at night. Sometimes may leak before you get there known as urge incontinence (see incontinence section for more details)
❗️Leakage of urine if you cough, sneeze, laugh or move suddenly known as stress urinary incontinence (see incontinence section for more details)
❗️The changes in the tissues make them more fragile so pe*******on can cause small tears and you may also experience bleeding after in*******se

You do not have to have all of these symptoms to be diagnoses with GSM. Many women may experience GSM but few seek help. But you do not have to resign yourself to living with these symptoms as with the right advice and treatment they can be improved.

A pelvic health physiotherapist has specialist training, so they are able to treat women with pelvic floor dysfunction associated with the menopause.

10/10/2025

🌍🌍World Mental Health Day 2024

📆Since it’s World Mental Health Awareness Day, I have decided to talk about the relationship between pelvic floor dysfunction and mental health.

Pelvic floor dysfunction includes bladder and bowel control problems, pain and prolapse, as well as s*xual problems.

📌Pelvic floor problems affect mental health
Prolapse, bladder leakage and accidents from the bowel all have strong associations with poor mental health. Studies show increased rates of depression and anxiety, as well as low mood and emotional distress. For example, someone who has bladder leakage or bowel accidents may not want to leave the house. They miss out on social activities or may feel unable to participate in activities and exercise, leading to other health issues.

📌Mental health affects the pelvic floor
The opposite can also happen – stress, anxiety and trauma can negatively affect the pelvic floor. Like other muscles, the pelvic floor muscles can become tight. They can stay contracted and be hard to relax.
When pelvic floor muscles are too tight, they can’t function properly. This can cause pain, bladder and bowel problems, and s*xual dysfunction. We need these muscles to be strong enough to hold everything in until we get to the toilet, but then we need them to be able to relax at the right time to empty the bladder or bowel when we choose to. We also need them to be relaxed to allow pe*******on during s*xual activity, or for medical exams.

❌Don’t put up with symptoms
People with pelvic floor disorders often suffer in silence, thinking there is nothing that can be done. These problems aren’t talked about enough and there’s still a lack of awareness about the fact that help is available.

✅Pelvic Health Physiotherapy can help
At Anú Women’s Health Physiotherapy we more than happy to help you.
Don’t suffer in silence – these problems are common but they’re NOT normal.

Address

19 Henry Street (Above Brosnan's Pharmacy)
Kenmare
CO.KERRY

Opening Hours

Monday	9am - 5pm
Tuesday	9am - 5pm
Wednesday	9am - 5pm
Thursday	9am - 5pm
Friday	9am - 5pm

Telephone

+353646670960

Website

https://anu-womens-health.eu1.cliniko.com/bookings

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