Pelvic Health Problems? There’s an app for that!
PPFC supporting ‘World Continence Week 2016’ June 20-26
Technology and smartphones are pretty incredible! How did we live without them?!
We have apps for pretty much everything. Need to find a good restaurant near-by? Want a fun school holiday activity to do with the kids? Jump straight on your smartphone and with a little searching you’ll find the answers right at your fingertips.
Pelvic health is no different. There are many apps available for people with pelvic problems or for general men’s and women’s health needs. There are apps that can help patients with their pelvic problems and support or enhance their home exercise program.
Jessica Reale*, a Pelvic Floor Physical Therapist in the USA, has put together a great list of apps on her blog and she has kindly given her permission to share them on our blog.
If you would like to discuss any of the information below, please contact our clinic to arrange an appointment with one of our Women’s Health physiotherapists.
Helpful Apps for Pelvic Floor
Pregnancy/Postpartum
Pregnancy Pelvic Floor Plan
This app by the CFA has both a tracker to see weekly milestones during pregnancy, but also has great information on pelvic floor health. It includes the option to receive regular reminders to perform pelvic floor exercises.
Gentle Birth
This app promotes a positive pregnancy and birth experience. It includes mindfulness, breathing techniques, affirmations and hypnosis – combined with evidence based research. Customised programs based on the woman’s needs. Free for a sample program, then requires paid subscription.
Mind the Bump
Meditation app geared toward pregnancy/postnatal populations. Includes different meditations for different periods of time (first trimester-postpartum)
Pregnancy Exercise- Weekly Workout
This app by Oh Baby! Fitness, based out of Atlanta, includes a new exercise for every week of pregnancy based on pilates, yoga and strength training. 10 weeks is free, then $5 to unlock the rest of the weeks.
Rost Moves
This app provides recommendations for body mechanics/movement options when performing different regular home activities. It is especially great for new mums or pregnant women with pelvic girdle/low back pain.
Pelvic Floor Exercises
Squeezy
This excellent app was designed by pelvic physiotherapists in the UK and is endorsed by the NHS. It allows for a personalized exercise program, has reminders, visuals and keeps a record.
Kegel Trainer
This app includes information on how to use pelvic floor muscles, and has various levels of exercise based on different contraction/relaxation intervals. It includes reminders and an exercise tracker. Free version includes first level, paid goes up to 15 levels.
Pelvic Floor First
This app is from the Continence Foundation of Australia (CFA). It offers a nice progressive exercise routine for someone struggling with pelvic floor weakness (like we commonly see with urinary incontinence, pelvic organ prolapse, and postpartum difficulties). The programs go from Starting Out (30 min), Moving On (40 min) to Stepping Up (50 min). Just be sure to chat with your Physio before you jump in the program.
Pelvic Pain/Relaxation Apps
RelaxLite with Andrew Johnson
A popular 10-15 min guided progressive relaxation. He has a paid version too with lots of additional upgrades – the free meditation is great.
Headspace
Free version includes a free 10 minute meditation to teach basics of meditation. Upgrade provides access to lots of different meditation options. This app is a great way to start learning meditation.
Calm
Another great meditation app. Free version includes the ‘7 days of Calm’ introductory program to learn the basics of mindful meditation. It also includes access to soothing sounds to help relieve stress. Upgrade allows access to all of the different meditation programs (for sleep, calm, etc)
Insight Timer
Meditation community app, includes a timer to track meditation with different sound options, and includes over 1300 guided meditations. Also includes discussion groups and meet-up groups.
Binaural- Pure Binaural Beats
This app allows you to listen (use headphones) to various sounds to promote brain wave activity correlated with relaxation, meditation, problem solving and activity – all of the content is free.
Bladder/Bowel problems
iDry
Free version includes a tracker for pad usage and bladder leakage. Premium version includes options for interventions, pelvic floor exercises, a more detailed chart tracker, reminders, and options to send to your health care providers.
UroBladderDiary
This app allows tracking of urinary frequency, volume, leakage, urgency level and fluid intake. It also allows results to be converted to a PDF so you are able to e-mail them to health care provider. App costs $1.99
Flush Toilet Finder
For those struggling with strong urinary or bowel urgency and/or incontinence, this app may become your best friend. It uses your location to quickly identify all of the public toilets/bathrooms nearby.
BM Classic
For those with bowel problems, this app not only allows you to track your bowel frequency and stool consistency (using the awesome Bristol Stool Scale), but also allows you to track stress level, water intake, and dietary habits. Could be a great resource for someone struggling with bowel problems.
Women’s Health
iPeriod
Paid versions only. Use this app to track periods, ovulation and fertility. Graphs of data can be exported to make showing your results to your practitioner easy. Lots of personalisation options too.
Clue
Period tracker that predicts dates for your next period, and also allows you to track symptoms such as pain, as it relates to your cycle.
My Days
This app tracks and predicts periods, ovulation and fertility. Also allows options to track basal metabolic temperature, cervical mucus and cervix for those trying to become pregnant.
