It’s here! The online course I designed to take women step by step through my approach to incontinence, and creating a sturdy center that anchors movements and fitness is here (finally!). Pelvic Floor Piston: Foundation for Fitness has been in a telehealth research study throughout the Fall of 2013, and we can now release it! We were answering the question can women independently access and use a pelvic floor education program via the internet (feasibility) and benefit from it. I can’t reveal all the results, they will be available this Spring, but I can give you a glimpse.

Based on raw data collection***, 79% of the study participants had never had treatment for stress urinary incontinence. This is my target, the women who have never had treatment either due to reluctance to seek help, lack of access to help, lack of awareness that help exists, or time restraints. A strong majority of women either agreed or strongly agreed that they liked getting pelvic floor information online (82%), were able to perform the exercises on their own (85%), and understood the instructions they were given (88%). 97% would recommend the program to a friend! We used a brief incontinence likert scale, validated and reliable for incontinence, to measure outcomes and found that of the women that returned surveys, 85% noted an improvement in symptoms (61.8%= A little bit better; 23.5%= Much Better). Please note that these improvements were experienced with independent practice over only 3 weeks! The thrust of the program is creating a balanced coordinated action of all the elements of the Pistoning system vs. a traditional strengthening model, with positive, immediate results. This was a preliminary study with a focus on feasibility. We kept it simple to promote participation and survey return. We feel like it is a good start to looking at the impact of both using an online telehealth format for pelvic health promotion and an integrative program for restoring pelvic health. I am hoping to do a follow-up that measures participant’s response to the program at longer intervals 6-8 weeks, and 6 months.

An exciting follow-up study is already brewing through an awesome collaboration with two women’s health physios in the Sultanate of Oman. They plan to translate the webinar into Arabic, and repeat the study with women in their country. A blog about my amazing experience in Oman over the holidays is forthcoming, but for now you can read about it and see pictures on my Facebook feed.

I am introducing the webinar to my tweeps, Facebook friends, LinkedIn connections and blog frequenters at 10% off. I hope it will be a great resource for you and I look forward to your feedback! Use discount code: Friends  until February 1, 2014. (the online course is priced for single user purchases). If you are a rehab or fitness pro new to my blog or my approach, there is a discounted professional webinar bundle offered that combines two webinars, the first with with the theory and evidence behind the approach, and then this new one that takes you step by step through how I teach it to and apply it to women. Check out a clip here.

Happy New Year! Here’s to an incontinence free 2014!

*** These numbers are based on raw data collection only, and applies to the respondents. The numbers and meaning behind them will be clearer as we analyze the data.