Sports Medicine Meets Pelvic Health: Why Every Clinician Needs This Conversation

Pelvic floor health has long been overlooked in sports medicine – but that's changing. In this episode, Lynn sits down with internationally recognized pelvic health physiotherapist and researcher Gráinne Donnelly to discuss her groundbreaking new textbook, Sports Medicine in the Pelvic Floor: Science to Practice. Together, they explore why pelvic health deserves a place in every athlete's care, how this ambitious project came to life, and the exciting future of research that will shape the next generation of clinicians. If you're passionate about helping athletes perform at their best, this episode will leave you inspired and thinking differently about the pelvic floor.

In This Episode You'll Discover:

• Why pelvic floor health should be a routine part of sports medicine – not just pregnancy and postpartum care.
• The surprising research changes how we think about urinary incontinence, load capacity, and athletic performance.
• How psychology, biomechanics, and pelvic health all intersect to improve patient outcomes.
• The importance of individualized assessment when guiding athletes back to sport.
• Why research is essential for moving innovative clinical ideas into mainstream practice.

Clinical Takeaways

• Screen every athlete for pelvic floor symptoms. Pelvic floor screening shouldn't be reserved for postpartum clients or those with urinary leakage – it's relevant across all ages, sexes, and athletic populations.
• Think beyond incontinence. Pelvic floor dysfunction encompasses much more than leaking. Pain, pressure, bowel symptoms, sexual function, and performance all deserve consideration during assessment.
• Load capacity matters. Return to sport isn't determined by a timeline alone. Assess each athlete's individual capacity, symptom response, and readiness to progressively increase load.
• Sport-specific demands influence risk. Different sports – and even different positions within the same sport – place unique demands on the pelvic floor, requiring individualized clinical reasoning.
• Stay curious and evidence-informed. Emerging research continues to reshape our understanding of pelvic floor biomechanics, anatomy, and rehabilitation. Remaining open to new evidence helps improve patient outcomes.

Why You Should Listen

Whether you treat elite athletes, postpartum moms, or active individuals, this conversation offers fresh perspectives that challenge traditional thinking. Gráinne shares the vision behind creating one of the most comprehensive pelvic health resources available today while Lynn explores how emerging research could transform postpartum rehabilitation. You'll walk away with new ideas, renewed curiosity, and plenty of inspiration to elevate your own clinical practice.

🎧 Tune in now and discover why the future of sports medicine can't ignore the pelvic floor.

About The Speaker

Gráinne Donnelly is an Advanced Practice Pelvic Health Physiotherapist, doctoral researcher and international educator based in Northern Ireland. She is Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Pelvic, Obstetric and Gynaecological Physiotherapy (JPOGP) and editor of the Elsevier textbook Sports Medicine and the Pelvic Floor – Science to Practice. Her work bridges research and clinical practice, advancing evidence-based pelvic health care for women in sport and postpartum recovery.

Speaker’s websites: https://absolute.physio/ and https://www.sportsmedicineandthepelvicfloor.com/

Connect With Lynn

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Transcript

Okay. Hello everybody. Welcome to this podcast episode and boy, do I have a treat for you.

I am so excited and so honored to have with us Gráinne Donnelly. She is a pelvic health physiotherapist from Northern Ireland, physical therapist to us in the States.

She's an educator and editor in chief of a journal and also editor of this incredible new book, Sports Medicine in the Pelvic Floor, Science to Practice.

This is incredible, Gráinne. Well done. Well, well done. And welcome to the podcast. Thanks so much for being here.

@10:54 - Gráinne Donnelly

Oh, thanks for having me on Lynn. I always enjoy coming on your podcast and I enjoy listening listening to it.

And actually, do you want I don't how famous you are.

@11:01 - Lynn Schulte, PT (lynnschultept@gmail.com)

Why, how?

@11:03 - Gráinne Donnelly

Because when me and Michelle Lyons is a true testament to this, when me and Michelle Lyons were in the airport coming back from Pelvicon last year, we were sitting, Michelle was doing her usual look after other people.

And she was like, you're getting a coffee before you drive up that road, just because it's a long drive and we've been flying overnight.

So we were sitting down, getting a coffee, chatting away, chat, chat, chat. of course, two physiotherapists together chat, physiotherapy chat, stuff about pelvic health.

@11:29 - Lynn Schulte, PT (lynnschultept@gmail.com)

Bombing in words there and things.

@11:31 - Gráinne Donnelly

And there was a lady adjacent to us. was behind a barrier and she was with a man, her husband, and she turned around and goes, are you pelvic health physios?

And we went, yeah. And she was American. She was over on a trip and she was like, oh, I'm a pelvic health physio too.

I can't remember her name, but we chatted and we geeked out. And then she said, wait, are you Gráinne Donnelly?

And I was like, yeah. You know, I was like, how do you know who I am? And she said, I heard about you on the Institute of Birth Healing.

She was like, so it all came back to you. And. One of the times I was on, so that's where she first had it, and she joined the dots, and I was like, isn't that amazing, the power of connection?

@12:07 - Lynn Schulte, PT (lynnschultept@gmail.com)

Yes, yes, I love that. That's so cool. That's so cool. I'm sure she heard your voice. It was like, wait a minute, I've heard that before.

@12:16 - Gráinne Donnelly

Yeah, there was something that, it was after a while, it just landed. She's like, oh, you are who I know, because possibly also, too, when people see my name, they might be saying Greeny Donnelly, or they have a different first name, and then suddenly it lands, and they're like, hold on.

@12:31 - Lynn Schulte, PT (lynnschultept@gmail.com)

Oh my God, that's so great. Yeah, that's, I love that. Thank you for sharing that. That's so cool. Awesome.

So, so tell me, gosh, you have so much going on. First off, how the heck do you have a time to create this book?

And what was the impetus for this? How did this come about?

@12:50 - Gráinne Donnelly

Well, although this book would have always been something that would have been a huge goal, this book actually found me because I never intended to write a book or never thought I was in a position.

I'm to write a book at this stage of my career. felt I'll finish my PhD. I'll get a little bit more mature in my career.

And then I'll feel like maybe I'm in a position to share.

@13:11 - Lynn Schulte, PT (lynnschultept@gmail.com)

But actually Elsevier reached out to me.

@13:13 - Gráinne Donnelly

And if I'm truly honest, I think I've shared this before, but it landed in my junk file. And it was the way it presented.

I don't know what your inbox is like, Lynn, but I get a lot of spam mail sometimes about, hey, and I'm not even I'm not Dr.

Donnelly yet. I hope to be one day, but I always get a hello, Dr. Donnelly. And I'm kind of like, hmm.

@13:34 - Lynn Schulte, PT (lynnschultept@gmail.com)

And they're like, could we want to invite you to do this or speak here or something?

@13:37 - Gráinne Donnelly

And they're usually quite spammy. And when you look into them that they're not that legit. And so I assumed that this was something I opened it up.

It was an invitation to write a book based on something to do with sports medicine, pelvic health and bridging it.

And I was like, that is brilliant. But it nearly seemed too good to be true. I think that's what it was.

And I initially was like, that'd be lovely if it was true, but that's not the case. Yes. They followed up and asked if I wanted a Zoom meeting.

@14:02 - Lynn Schulte, PT (lynnschultept@gmail.com)

And I was like, oh, there's going to be someone at the end of that.

@14:06 - Gráinne Donnelly

I can do that. So once I got on the Zoom, I was like, oh, this is legit. Okay. So it was really, really interesting.

And when you think about that, I could have ignored that and completely missed that opportunity. And again, my initial thoughts were a little bit kind of imposter syndrome where I'm like, oh, I'd love to do it, but I'm not ready.

And so I talked through it with them and they basically said they had followed some of my research and they thought this topic was really novel and they want to, I suppose, feature it more, which is exactly what I want to do is bridge those gaps.

So I got the confidence boost from my husband, who was like, you're doing editor in chief of the journal as a volunteer role.

And he was like, is that not what you spend your time doing? That seems like a full time job that you don't get paid for.

And I'm like, yes.

@14:51 - Lynn Schulte, PT (lynnschultept@gmail.com)

And he was like, this is the same thing.

@14:53 - Gráinne Donnelly

And I'm like, oh, okay.

@14:56 - Lynn Schulte, PT (lynnschultept@gmail.com)

Oh my God, that is so great. So I, what is. You were saying it, the name of the publisher.

@15:02 - Gráinne Donnelly

What is the name again? It's Elsevier. So it's Academic Press is an imprint of Elsevier. So I think Elsevier might be on the back.

Yeah, they are. Yeah, they are the overall publishing house, but then they have a lot of different sub houses.

@15:13 - Lynn Schulte, PT (lynnschultept@gmail.com)

Yeah, that is so funny you say that because that happened to me early on, right before I started the Institute for Birth Healing.

I had been putting out videos on YouTube and I got a Facebook message from someone in Russia, Katerina Perkovov, right?

And she says in her message, like, I love what you're saying. I want to bring you over to Russia.

want to translate all your work, all your materials, everything that, you know, and I read it and I go, yeah, how much is that going to cost me?

@15:47 - Gráinne Donnelly

Yeah, yeah, exactly. What's the catch? Yeah, yeah.

@15:50 - Lynn Schulte, PT (lynnschultept@gmail.com)

And so then she said, then she kept following up and it was funny because it wasn't until I made a shift in my own thinking about, and I got clear on what I wanted to create because I wasn't clear there yet.

And it was right after I'm like, I need to create an institute. I want to teach what I know to pelvic health therapists.

And it was right after that, I got another message from her. And she says, I put on this conference.

I want you to speak at this conference. And the Midwifery Journal, Midwifery Today has partnered with me. Like, I'm legit.

You know what I mean? And then I finally, like, by, that was Sunday when I made that, like, oh, I need to start my institute.

And Friday, I was going to Russia to be a part of her conference. Isn't that fun?

@16:45 - Gráinne Donnelly

It's so fun, but also how easy you could have missed that opportunity or dismissed it or overlooked it. Like, I see all these, like, changing doors or revolving doors.

And it's so funny. Like, decisions in moments, yeah, do change what the course of what could happen. So I think it's exciting.

But I love the fact that in both those examples, the person nearly came back again, you know, which really helped.

@17:07 - Lynn Schulte, PT (lynnschultept@gmail.com)

So for those people out there that are wanting to reach to, you know, someone maybe a little bit, I don't know, you know, that they aspire to be or someone, you know, they feel is a little bit above them, keep asking.

@17:21 - Gráinne Donnelly

Oh, yeah, more than once, right?

@17:23 - Lynn Schulte, PT (lynnschultept@gmail.com)

More than once, definitely. That's the lesson there for sure. Oh, my gosh. So, so, Gráinne, you have 24 chapters in this book.

It's over 600 pages of incredible content. I haven't gotten through it all yet, but I've already started highlighting and and checking things out.

I'm curious, like, tell me your processing for how you developed, who you were even going to ask, because you didn't write all 24 of these chapters.

You actually got a huge, gosh, your contributor list is almost two pages. Like how many, how many? So people helped to write this book with you?

@18:03 - Gráinne Donnelly

Yeah, all those. There's over 40, I think, helped me write it. Basically, obviously, nobody can be the expert in every single thing.

And that's a really important limitation to recognize. And it's knowing your lane and knowing what I can contribute with strength, what I'm not the strongest person to do.

And so I wanted to cover the breadth. So it's quite a breadth of a topic. Like we think we're niching down, but sports medicine and the pelvic floor, well, what does that even mean?

@18:31 - Lynn Schulte, PT (lynnschultept@gmail.com)

So like, where do we start?

@18:32 - Gráinne Donnelly

So I had to, first of all, it was pure pen and paper, like brainstorming, kind of like, well, if I wanted this book, what do I want to read?

And the logistical things I was thinking of were like, well, one, if I'm someone who doesn't really understand what the pelvic floor is, I want to know what the pelvic floor is.

And there's, it's also to get in that balance of, like, I thought about it, like how, not how basic, but like, how much information do we want to give people?

And then I was like, no, do you know what, if we look at any other... And so people can sift through and read stuff and take on the amount of detail that's relevant to them.

know that the coaches don't really need to know the full on anatomy and physiology of the pelvic floor, but it's probably good for them to realize, oh, this isn't just an itsy bitsy muscle.

@19:18 - Lynn Schulte, PT (lynnschultept@gmail.com)

It's really simple. There's actually like, there's a lot to it.

@19:21 - Gráinne Donnelly

So I decided to ask, so I looked at who I would want to learn from. And I knew Jenny LaCrosse was working closely with John Delancey and Dr.

Ashton Miller. And I thought, what a great group so that we can get the, I suppose, most up to date or cutting edge insights into the anatomy and physiology of the pelvic floor, but also with Jenny's strengths, really bringing that physical therapy approach and that application to sport, because I didn't want it to be just seeming like a urogyne chapter.

@19:48 - Lynn Schulte, PT (lynnschultept@gmail.com)

It has to be relevant to the sports element.

@19:51 - Gráinne Donnelly

And so I started from there and she was actually the first person I asked and she locked in and I was like, okay, so I've got chapter one sorted.

So then I'm like, where am I going from here? And chapters like evolved, they didn't evolve in chronological order, if that makes sense.

then I was like, right. So I reached out to people in different research focuses or clinical focuses. Thankfully, people were so willing to contribute because that was one of the things you're reaching, you're reaching out to people and you're thinking, well, they probably maybe are writing their own book or they like, why would they want to, you know, spend all this time?

They're busy people of other projects. But people were so supportive, which really, really helped. And that gives you a confidence to in moving forward with the project.

And then there was a couple of chapters that naturally evolved, like, by chance connections. So I had come across a bioengineer who looked at the biomechanics of childbirth.

I've had a few conversations with Katie Hart on and off. And that all seemed like a separate realm to what we do in healthcare.

She's not a clinician. But I was like, this is exactly the text, we need to bring it in, because in other sports medicine texts, you're going to have the

So we need to understand this. So those were the ones that kind of evolved and I brought in and thought they were quite useful context for wider.

@21:11 - Lynn Schulte, PT (lynnschultept@gmail.com)

Absolutely. Absolutely. I've already devoured all the pregnancy postpartum stuff in the book. As I'm revamping my holistic treatment of the pregnant body and postpartum body courses, I'm just like, oh my God, this is a wealth of information.

And that's the way I want it to serve.

@21:27 - Gráinne Donnelly

So that's amazing to hear because that's what we want. Like we want that dissemination and people will be like, oh, here, this is it already compiled.

@21:34 - Lynn Schulte, PT (lynnschultept@gmail.com)

This is the up to date information. Right. Right. Oh, my God. It's been amazing. Amazing. Amazing. Was there. So the other thing is you even brought in psychology, right?

@21:45 - Gráinne Donnelly

Yeah. So important. So as we all practice in that biopsychosocial approach to care, it was really important for me to make sure that the content covered that too, because I didn't write this book only for content covered.

But So the physical therapists, physiotherapists in pelvic health like you and I, I wanted to make sure that, yes, I want people to read that from our world, but I want people who wouldn't traditionally look at pelvic health related texts or urogyne texts to think, oh, maybe I need to know about this.

So I wanted to bring in elements so that, one, everyone understands the link between psychology and pelvic health conditions and how there's like a bidirectional link.

But I also wanted to appeal to the likes of the sports clinical psychologists who may be dealing with sports people who may not think that pelvic floor health is in their remit, but they might read this and go, huh, actually, I have a role here.

So it was, it was kind of just, I suppose, really bringing in that biopsychosocial element of care, covering it from all angles and giving people food for thought that they can then adapt and apply into their own scope of practice.

Yeah.

@22:50 - Lynn Schulte, PT (lynnschultept@gmail.com)

Yeah. Oh, it's brilliant. Brilliant, brilliant. I love it. What was your biggest aha or maybe surprising thing that came out of writing?

Writing this book or, you know, was there a, um, information that you're just like, wow, I didn't really realize that.

@23:08 - Gráinne Donnelly

Yeah, I found it actually, John DeLancey, Jenny LaCrosse, Dr. Ashton Miller's chapter was a really nice update for me.

It's a dense chapter. think anyone who's listening who's already read it will know what I mean, but it's one that we are like so hungry for as, as PTs in this area.

Um, and because it goes into such steps. So there was really nice content in it that I was like, oh my goodness, I need to kind of, that's great.

Cause I need to update my knowledge on it. Like even how much the urethral mobility contributes to the odds of someone experiencing urinary incontinence.

So I think, John Jenny quote, that is 10% perhaps. So it is an element, but it's not the sole element.

It's not the only element. And it's also given us kind of weights in our head, weighted, I suppose, distribution in head to kind of look at the individual in front of us and think about what's happening.

And so I find that really useful because before that I've always considered urethral hypermobility. Particularly when I see it on ultrasound imaging, but I never knew how much we can confidently attribute it to being why someone leaks with stress urinary incontinence versus other factors like urethral sphincter insufficiency or pelvic floor muscles or, you know, all the other elements.

So that was nice getting me thinking food for thought.

@24:18 - Lynn Schulte, PT (lynnschultept@gmail.com)

Right, right. And I love how you, you know, the different chapters, at least the ones I was able to read before we got on this.

@24:25 - Gráinne Donnelly

I've only had it for a week.

@24:28 - Lynn Schulte, PT (lynnschultept@gmail.com)

Um, and just the different sports you're, you're, you know, you're talking about, you know, it's not a sports, just one sport, but what, what comes to mind for me, when you're talking about that urethral hypermobility is the stretchiness of probably our gymnasts, you know, who, you know, who probably are that more, obviously they are that more flexible type.

They've got that greater type three collagen fiber in their, their body. Yeah. Their pelvic floor, their urethra, the, all those.

Yeah, absolutely. is that variability.

@25:11 - Gráinne Donnelly

Because I think what you touched on there is really important. There's individual considerations because all of us are different in our past medical history or genetic makeup and our life exposure.

Like what factors? Did we have chronic constipation as a child? Did we have good access to nutrition growing up?

Different things may influence our, as I said, John Delancey talks about that lifespan model, that functional reserve, but also then the sports specific considerations because different sports will have different loading demands under the pelvic floor.

And what do, are we considering that as health professionals? Are we looking at that and going, huh? And, you know, it was interesting.

One of my first insights into this in particular was when I was part of a Four Nations study led by Molly McCarthy Ryan that looked at rugby players, England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales.

Some of them were Paris women. Others, most of them are nulliparts, but when it looked at who is leaking and actually player position made a difference because there's different load demands, even within one sport.

Sports have more tackles, more tackling. They usually have higher BMI in terms of their anthropometrics than the back. So there's a different risk factor even within a sport.

So that's really interesting. Oh my gosh, I love it.

@26:24 - Lynn Schulte, PT (lynnschultept@gmail.com)

I love it. Yeah, we as PTs have such a beautiful comprehension of sport and positions and what they're doing and that biomechanical understanding of what needs to happen in different positions even.

@26:40 - Gráinne Donnelly

Yeah, fascinating. Absolutely. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

@26:44 - Lynn Schulte, PT (lynnschultept@gmail.com)

What was, what was there anything that, well, wait, I'm sorry, we're going to edit that out. So, so back to the biomechanical or what you read with Delancey.

I love that you brought in the pregnancy and postpartum. To this book, because I think, you know, as I was reading it, I have to say that I was like, uh oh, you know, like a little bit of like panic because it, you know, I'm so ingrained.

And I think most of us are that we need to wait, we need to, you know, recover, we need to do all this, like, let's, let's protect that postpartum period.

And yet, I think this book is really giving us permission. going to Thank To have our athletes start doing things more quickly, more intensely, and so I think inside, I was having a little bit of a struggle going, is that going to be okay?

You know what I mean?

@28:17 - Gráinne Donnelly

Yeah, I know, and I think the big thing is that as we research, and we find out more, and we learn that, I suppose the overarching message is all of that physical activity is good, and the benefits of physical activity far outweigh many of the risks, but that's an individual nuance, because individual circumstances, transitions, like pregnancy, postpartum, individual risk factors, will move the needle as to what people are ready to do, and it all comes down to individual load capacity, which is why the chapters on load capacity, so we had one just load capacity and the pelt floor, and then we had built on that with sport-specific load capacity, but that chapter, led by Biljana Kennewick, was so important, because...

While we don't have a lot of robust evidence or uncertainty research investigating load capacity as a concept with it specific to the pelvic floor, we do have a lot of body-wide load capacity research and so we are trying to apply the principles of that to pelvic floor so there's a lot of things to consider it's considering all those internal and external factors that may support or hold back someone's readiness for activity and it's about making that individualized decision and supporting your athlete where they're at yeah yeah that's and yeah so I I guess that's great when we get moms that have one-on-one care yes you know and yet I I'm a little like nervous about those people who read this and go oh well I can go do anything without getting that individualized care and assessment really you know I think the whole thing about it is that people should be getting highlighted that first of all first and first

So foremost, there needs to be screening of symptoms in every athlete at any life stage, not limited to pregnancy postpartum.

So we're talking about we need to consider pelvic floor load capacity in all athletes, no matter if they're an adolescent, no matter if they're a young nulliparous athlete, no matter if they've gone through pregnancy.

And then that screening indicates the need that someone probably does need a one to one assessment. Now, if they're in an area of the world where they can't access it, there's lots of resources they're being signposted to.

But they're also being given information that if they were an athlete reading it, like in that load capacity chapter, we talk about how people can evaluate load.

And so, like, even do you go to symptom threshold or just before it and then either working in your repetitions just before symptom threshold.

So it's all about building load capacity and that will be a graded return. It's not like they're not back to full sport because they're leaking.

They're now training to get their load capacity to be back to full sport.

@30:53 - Lynn Schulte, PT (lynnschultept@gmail.com)

Yeah. Yeah. Well, I just in in Granier, I know I just wish. wish. If Every athlete could get the work that I teach with the bones that I know that's not out there yet.

There's newer research that is supporting the sacral flexion that I'm finding in all my postpartum moms. And I really, I'm doing, I want to do some research myself on ischial splay because, you know, that's the biomechanics of the baby coming out, the pelvic outlet opens, and that's where the pelvic floor is attached.

@31:28 - Gráinne Donnelly

Oh, absolutely.

@31:31 - Lynn Schulte, PT (lynnschultept@gmail.com)

And so it's like bringing those bones back together really does impact the pelvic floor muscle function. And also the way babies come on out, like they rearrange the tissue internally.

And I just wish everybody could get things, I'm going to call it put back into place in a way, you know, just those tissues helped and supported.

It's amazing the change in the pelvic floor muscle function. So it's my dream, my hope, my wish that everyone.

Who's had a baby, especially our high-level athletes, could get this type of work done so that they can improve so much quicker.

@32:10 - Gráinne Donnelly

Well, then what definitely needs to happen is that needs to be research because the only way you're going to make that change is to have the research to support it because that's the way you get into scientific textbooks.

I know.

@32:21 - Lynn Schulte, PT (lynnschultept@gmail.com)

I know. And so I've been working with some professors in ATSU, and I'm trying to create the, you know, just doing some measurements of pregnant moms, first proving it's a thing.

Yeah. Proof of concept.

@32:38 - Gráinne Donnelly

Yes.

@32:38 - Lynn Schulte, PT (lynnschultept@gmail.com)

And I have a feeling, you know, you put your book out there. It's like, I'm going to put this out there, and it was like, oh, but that's inter, you know, the reliability is off.

And that, you know, it's like, I really need x-rays. I really need MRIs to, to show that, hey, this is a thing.

Yeah.

@32:55 - Gráinne Donnelly

Cause how are you measuring it for proof of concept? Proof of concept, can do it as more of something, tape, just tape.

Or like, yeah, yeah. But as long as if that's showing something that warrants to be investigated more, then you get the next step.

And that frustrating bit, Lynn, is research is so slow, like, so slow. It takes so long to even get one paper out.

Like, it is slow.

@33:15 - Lynn Schulte, PT (lynnschultept@gmail.com)

Well, it's even slow for me in collecting the data, you know? Yeah, yeah. It's like, you got to get them before, you got to get them in price, and then you got to get them to come back without doing any work in between so you can capture that, right?

So, yeah, it's been interesting.

@33:33 - Gráinne Donnelly

So you're collecting that. Oh, I look forward to that. So you're collecting that, and hopefully you write that up?

I, yeah, well, with the help of the professors.

@33:42 - Lynn Schulte, PT (lynnschultept@gmail.com)

But yeah, I also want to do a couple of case studies. And with that, I've talked to a chiropractor, want to do some x-rays before and after treatment, and see if we can see in the x-ray, the amount of change in the bony structure that I feel in my hands.

@33:56 - Gráinne Donnelly

Yeah, yeah.

@33:57 - Lynn Schulte, PT (lynnschultept@gmail.com)

And then I'd love to do some ulcers. So ultrasounds of the pelvic floor function to see if we can see before and after.

So there's lots of ideas I have, Gráinne, but yeah, it's a lot of time and effort and energy.

@34:10 - Gráinne Donnelly

When it's your passion project, it's worth it. So if it's something you're looking to investigate, go follow that. And when you get the first thing out, as much as it might be a drop in the ocean in terms of what you're intending to do next, it's so rewarding because you know how much work went into that.

Yeah, right.

@34:30 - Lynn Schulte, PT (lynnschultept@gmail.com)

Oh my gosh. So what's your dream with this book? What's your goal? Why did you do all that hard work?

It took you, you said, two years to complete this project. It's incredible, Gráinne.

@34:43 - Gráinne Donnelly

Well done. Thank you so much. Basically, my goal is that there will be much more comprehensive understanding of pelvic floor within sports medicine.

So traditionally, sports medicine has dealt with everything from head to toe, but almost sidesteped or like

@35:00 - Lynn Schulte, PT (lynnschultept@gmail.com)

Overlock the pelvic floor because it was someone else's remit.

@35:02 - Gráinne Donnelly

It was taboo. Someone else will go there. But just like, you know, sports medicine professionals screen for neurological concerns and red flags.

screen for other things that they're not maybe going to manage. They should also be screening for pelvic floor issues.

And so it's my hope that their understanding and their, I suppose, want or priority to screen increases and becomes much more than just screening for incontinence.

Because while we're getting sports medicine's attention, it typically centers around like pelvic floor issues are leaking. I'm like, oh, there's much more roles in the pelvic floor than that.

And so we need a more holistic and wider understanding.

@35:40 - Lynn Schulte, PT (lynnschultept@gmail.com)

So hopefully, hopefully. Yeah. Yeah. Well, that's great. Well, you've done a beautiful job with this. I'm so grateful to you for your work and what you're putting out into the world.

It's incredible.

@35:53 - Gráinne Donnelly

So thank you. you. Yeah. Awesome.

@35:56 - Lynn Schulte, PT (lynnschultept@gmail.com)

Well, thanks, everybody, for listening in. Please go grab your. copy of Sports Medicine in the Pelvic Floor, Science to Practice.

It is a must-have. Do you hope and do you feel this will be a part of most pelvic health curriculum in PT schools?

@36:14 - Gráinne Donnelly

I would love if it gets into curriculum. think that's where you have most tangible change because, like, I don't know about you, Lynn, but when I remember we had, like, one lecture on pelvic health.

@36:24 - Lynn Schulte, PT (lynnschultept@gmail.com)

I've done. Well, I'm really old. Oh, I'm really old. That's horrendous.

@36:28 - Gráinne Donnelly

So that's awful. But I remember being one lecture as if it was some really, like, wasn't that common of a thing nearly that you don't need to have much information on it.

So I would love if it would get in so that you're already sowing the seed in our undergrads and also making PTs aware of this area as an area of practice because many of us don't really know about it until we come out and we somehow get an interest in it.

@36:50 - Lynn Schulte, PT (lynnschultept@gmail.com)

So let's make it not a hidden area. Exactly. It's just another part of our body, everybody. Awesome. Well, that is so great.

Great. Let's help support that dream to happen. So thank you.

@37:05 - Gráinne Donnelly

Thank you for what you've done.

@37:06 - Lynn Schulte, PT (lynnschultept@gmail.com)

Thank you for coming on and being a part of this podcast. And thank you, everybody, for listening in. Go get yourself a copy, Amazon or at Elavir's Press, right?

Academic Press.

@37:17 - Gráinne Donnelly

can get it there. Yeah, Elavir's Shop Online or any really book outlet is storing it. So just wherever you usually buy your books from, you should have it.

@37:26 - Lynn Schulte, PT (lynnschultept@gmail.com)

Awesome. Great. Well, thanks, everybody, for listening in. And we'll see you all in the next episode.