Women's Health Physiotherapy in Bundoora

Women's health physiotherapy addresses the unique musculoskeletal and pelvic health needs of women across every stage of life — from adolescence through pregnancy, postpartum recovery, and into menopause and beyond. At Better Physiotherapy Bundoora, we provide evidence-based, sensitive care for a full range of women's health conditions.

Prenatal Physiotherapy

Pregnancy places enormous demands on the body — changing posture, increasing weight through the pelvis, hormonal changes to ligament laxity, and a progressively shifting centre of gravity. Prenatal physiotherapy addresses:

• Pelvic girdle pain (PGP) and symphysis pubis dysfunction (SPD) — stabbing pelvic pain that worsens with walking, stairs, and rolling in bed. Very common in pregnancy and highly responsive to physiotherapy.
• Lower back pain during pregnancy — affecting up to 70% of pregnant women. Physiotherapy relieves pain and provides safe exercise guidance.
• Pelvic floor education and preparation for birth — learning to correctly activate and relax the pelvic floor muscles before labour, reducing the risk of perineal trauma.
• Safe exercise guidance — which activities to continue, modify, or avoid at each trimester.

Postnatal Rehabilitation

Childbirth — particularly vaginal delivery — is one of the most physically demanding events a body can experience. A postnatal physiotherapy check at 6 weeks post-birth is recommended for all women, assessing:

• Pelvic floor muscle strength and coordination
• Abdominal muscle function and diastasis recti (abdominal separation)
• Perineal healing and scar tissue
• Safe return to exercise guidelines — particularly for high-impact activity

Pelvic Floor Conditions

• Stress urinary incontinence — leaking with coughing, sneezing, laughing, or exercise. Affects 1 in 3 women and is highly treatable with physiotherapy.
• Urgency incontinence — strong, sudden urge to urinate that is difficult to defer
• Pelvic organ prolapse — descent of the bladder, uterus, or bowel. Physiotherapy is the first-line treatment for mild to moderate prolapse.
• Vaginismus and dyspareunia — painful intercourse and pelvic muscle tightness
• Chronic pelvic pain — including endometriosis-related pain

Musculoskeletal Conditions in Women

Women are disproportionately affected by several musculoskeletal conditions due to hormonal, anatomical, and biomechanical factors:

• Osteoporosis and osteopenia — exercise therapy is the most effective non-pharmacological intervention for improving bone density
• Gluteal tendinopathy (lateral hip pain) — particularly common in post-menopausal women
• Knee OA and patellofemoral pain — affecting women at higher rates than men
• Hypermobility — generalised joint laxity causing pain and instability