Episode 288: Pelvic Alchemy
with Isa Herrera
Additional Information:
Show notes:
Isa's free gift! Ultimate Guide to Happier Lady Parts
CytoDetox: total detoxification support where it matters most – at the cellular level.
HCF's Live it to Lead it event – Newport Beach – November 14-17, 2019
Pre-order Dr. Pompa's Beyond Fasting book!
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Today I welcome licensed physical therapist and pelvic floor expert, Isa Herrera. She developed her expertise in diagnosing and treating pelvic pain, leaking and prolapse and she's here to discuss the little discussed, but incredibly important pelvic floor syndrome.
Could this be why you have low back pain, digestion, constipation, and hormone problems? And men, this applies to you too! Have you been struggling with your prostate, frequent urination, and erectile dysfunction? A compromised pelvic floor is unknowingly affecting many of us, and Isa will share her breakthroughs and offer amazing tips on this important topic.
More about Isa Herrera:
Isa is a licensed physical therapist, as well as an expert in integrative pelvic floor therapies. She developed her expertise in diagnosing and treating pelvic pain, leaking and prolapse by helping over 14,000 women at her NYC healing center.
She is also the author of five books on the topic of pelvic floor dysfunction and pain including the international bestseller, Female Pelvic Alchemy.
Isa's online school brings all of her expertise to a global audience, incorporating exercises, self-care techniques, and integrative tools to maximize female pelvic healing and professional training.
Transcript:
Dr. Pompa:
This episode of cell TV, “Pelvic Floor Syndrome,” could this be why you have low back pain, digestive issues, constipation, hormone problems? You better stay tuned because the answer is maybe. Men, don't tune this out. You hear about pelvic floor. This has a lot to do with prostate issues, maybe why you're peeing during the night, and yes, erectile dysfunction. I think I got your attention.
No doubt this is affecting so many people. Unknowingly it's a cause of so many problems, even chronic pain disorders of the low back. This is a really important show. That's why I have this expert on who's written five books on this topic. Let me tell you something, this is a breakthrough. She gives amazing tips in a protocol that will change your life. You know what? I have a 21-day challenge that I too made known to you because I think that's how important this topic is. Stay tuned for an amazing show.
Ashley Smith:
Welcome to cellular healing TV. I am Ashley Smith, and today we welcome licensed physical therapist and pelvic floor expert, Isa Herrera. She developed her expertise in diagnosing and treating pelvic pain, leaking, and prolapse by helping over 14,000 women at her New York City healing center. She's also the author of five books on the topic of pelvic floor dysfunction and pain, and she is offering a free gift to our audience today. Please check out our show notes where you can read more about Isa. We will have links to all of this wonderful information. I'll let you two take it from here. Let's welcome Isa Herrera, and of course, Dr. Pampa. Welcome.
Isa Herrera:
Thank you, thank you, super excited to be here. Thank you, Ashley; thank you Dr. Pompa.
Dr. Pompa:
Yeah, I think that most people don't realize what a big problem this actually is, but I think we'd better start here. What is pelvic floor sim syndrome? How does it affect people's health in general? How many people are even suffering from this? Obviously, women, but how many people?
Isa Herrera:
That's a great question because the truth of the matter is that we have over 30 million women in the US alone suffering from chronic pelvic floor dysfunction. It's a huge number, one out of three. We have 50% of older women with prolapse, and another 49% of women who have incontinence. I just think it's almost everybody when you take those stats into consideration. A lot of women believe that maybe this is a part of aging, or as a part of motherhood, or as a part of just the way things are. It's not true, right? Pelvic floor dysfunction, it has a gamut of symptoms, a big huge gamut of symptoms.
Dr. Pompa:
I want to talk about that because there's a lot of people who would be like, “Oh well, I don't have that, so I'm not going to watch this show.” It's like, yeah, a lot of the problems that you have could be this problem. Talk about some of the symptoms and then how we they properly diagnose this.
Isa Herrera:
Yeah, I mean there's a couple of—there’s the subtle symptoms, right? The ones that creep up on you and you just ignore them because you think, “Oh, this is just the way things are.” Constipation is a huge issue with that. Digestive issues is a huge. Pain with sitting, pain with defecation, and then there's the obvious ones like leaking deep pressure in the pelvis, or what I call sciatica in the pelvis. These symptoms, they just don't go away. They just compound themselves and they get worse. Sometimes, we're like, “Oh no things are going to get better. This is just the way it is.”
Dr. Pompa:
Yeah so you've got—now you have some people's attention. Constipation, digestive problems, pain, from back pain to pelvic pain, obviously. I think that most people look at urine problems, those type of chronic infections down there is the classic symptoms. Again constipation, digestive issues, explain that more, why that would be connected. I mean, how many people have constipation, and have tried everything, and this could be the problem?
Isa Herrera:
Oh yeah, absolutely, and the thing is that then they have this constipation. Maybe they have pain with defecation, or maybe they have blue stools, whatever it is. Digestion is a big issue because the pelvic floor muscles, they’re really connected to the abdominal area, and really connected to the digestive system through the fascial system. There's a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. In order to really have a good poop, I mean, we're going to go there, right, so let's go there, the pelvic floor muscles have to open, release, and let go. Many of us are holding, so chronically tight.
This is not just a woman's issue. I see a lot of men also with constipation and digestive issues. What's really interesting is that they feel that the only thing that's going to help them is by getting the pelvic floor muscles stronger, so they do more Kegels. Then they get tighter. Then they have more constipation. Then it becomes a vicious cycle.
Dr. Pompa:
Yeah, as a matter of fact, that’s what I was going to say. Most people that go to their practitioner and be like, “Oh, you just need Kegels if you have a pelvic floor problem.” I think there's two problems here. Number one is you're not diagnosed correctly that this is a pelvic floor issue. Then number two, if you are, then you're given the do Kegels, right? Again, you just pointed out, you can actually strengthen the muscles and actually cause more of a problem. We're going to get folks to—there's actual solutions. My gosh, you wrote five books on this. I have the expert in this area on because this is such a big deal. Again, I think a lot of hidden problems that people are suffering with daily, it's this problem. Let me ask you something if we back up a second. How would—if I were somebody watching this, and you said this could be a man problem as well, how do I know is this my problem or not? Is there a way to know?
Isa Herrera:
Yeah, I mean usually it falls into some sort of category. I like to call it the Five Ss of the pelvic floor. It's either a supportive issue, so if the pubic muscles are too tight or too weak, things can drop into the vagina and cause a prolapse. Sometimes it’s a stability issue. A lot of women and men, there's this is the thing that the pelvic floor is only sexual. Of course, that could be orgasmic problems too, or lack of orgasms, but they play a big part in stability.
If the pubic muscles are too tight or too weak, another one of the Ss is that you can get low back pain. You can get SI joint pain. You can get menstrual cramps. You can get the uterus out of alignment because things attach to the sacrum. Those are some of the categories. Sometimes, you can get—the catch-all phrase now is pelvic congestion. Everybody has pelvic congestion because the pelvic floor muscles, one of the Ss is the sump pump. They have a lymphatic function to them. They’re [00:07:41], they’re supportive, they’re sexual. They have a stability to them.
The one thing that I like to think about the pelvic floor is that they also have a spiritual component to them. When things are not happening, and things are really—or there’s scar tissue. These muscles are like any other muscle in the human body. They can have scar tissue. They can have spasms. They can trigger points. They can have myofascial tension. I feel like if we start to think about these muscles more—instead of between our legs, and more like any other muscle in the body, and the way we would take care of our bodies, our biceps, are triceps, we have to do the same thing with these pelvic floor muscles.
Dr. Pompa:
How do we know that this is our problem? Meaning that I can't go, “Hey there’s a blood test. I can't necessarily do this test or that.” I know you brought up if you have pain this might be wrong, but how do I know if it's your problem?
Isa Herrera:
Yeah, I mean, I think one of the few ways that you can know is you have to take a really detailed medical history. It's really based on symptoms. Now there's also ways that you can go to a pelvic floor physical therapist and you can get a manual examination and assessment of the pelvic floor muscles. We assess for strength, endurance, trigger points, scar tissue, either intravaginally or intrarectally. Many times when you do that you still have to ask these other questions that lead you to a diagnosis. For me it's kind of really simple. Do you peeing yourself when you cough, sneeze, or laugh? Yes, pelvic floor dysfunction. Do you have pain with intimacy? Pelvic floor dysfunction, 100%.
Dr. Pompa:
Yeah, these are almost like 100%, but then there’s constipation, back pain that may be this problem. To your point, let's say you have these issues that have been chronic, digestive issues constipation, low back pain, some of these things that we may not associate with a pelvic floor problem. Your solution is worth trying, regardless. Am I right on that?
Isa Herrera:
Absolutely.
Dr. Pompa:
We'll get to the solution in a minute. I'm sure, like you said, you can promote your books. You actually have a program that you dial in here.
Isa Herrera:
Yeah, absolutely.
Dr. Pompa:
As a matter of fact, promote it now just so we can put it out there. We'll put a link. I'm sure Ashley will put a link. You can talk about it.
Isa Herrera:
I ran a really busy practice on Madison Avenue for 12 years. After 12 years, I realized that I just wasn't having a global effect that I wanted to have. I wanted to bring this even bigger. It's such a big problem like you said, Dr. Pompa. It is so big that I decided to sort of bring my program online. I have [00:10:33] lift program, which is specifically for the leaking, and for prolapse, and for sexual dysfunction. It works really well. Everything is videotaped. You have a little thing that you can actually ask yourself some questions, and then figure out what's actually going on, so it leads you down a road. Am I this, or am I that, and what should I do? The program the same thing as if you were to come and see me in New York City except without the hefty price and the traveling.
Dr. Pompa:
New York City is always a hefty price [00:11:08]. We appreciate that. We love the guests that come on and offer gifts. You have that for our you know viewers. You'll be able to get this protocol dialed in. Let's talk about it, though. Let's talk about the solution. Like you said, women are set how they do Kegels. As you pointed out, it can make it worse. What is the answer, here?
Isa Herrera:
I think the answer is to have—the answer’s like everything else: balance, fluidity, and flexibility. I think there's such a big mind game on women thinking that they're either too loose down there, or not strong enough, so the only solution given by many—the practitioners tell them, “Go home I do a bunch of Kegels.” The majority of women don't even know how to do a Kegel correctly.
Dr. Pompa:
Yeah, and even if they do they try it for a day or two and then done. It’s a pain in the butt, literally.
Isa Herrera:
Yeah, exactly, and it's a little boring. You’ve got to make it sort of exciting. There are over 25 different types of Kegels. Which one do you pick? How do you start?
Dr. Pompa:
Good point, yeah.
Isa Herrera:
You have to start in the beginning. You have to start with really creating flexibility first. When the muscle is really flexible, and supple, then you can contract it and make it stronger, and make it more vital, and create the vitality of it. If the muscles are here, if it's tension, let's face it. With everything that's going on right now in the world, I think most of us hold really tight in the pelvis.
Dr. Pompa:
You actually started hitting on one of my questions I actually forgot to ask. It was in my head. Why is this an epidemic? Why is this happening to so many women? What's missing all of a sudden?
Isa Herrera:
I think that it's I think a lot of it has to do with sitting. Sitting is the new smoking for the pelvic floor. Poor sitting is the kiss of death for the pelvic floor. A tip here for your audience, which will be really amazing, is make sure that you have a really good ergonomic station that you're working from home. Do not slump sit. When you slump sit, you make the muscles really tight. Then are you trying to do Kegels, and you're trying to find the [00:13:24] of the pelvic power, and it's not attainable because you don't have the balance. Sitting, I think prolonged sitting is probably one of the worst things that’s happening on many levels, but it does affect the public for dramatically also.
Dr. Pompa:
Is there any correlation of toxins, toxicity, stressors as far as chemical or emotional?
Isa Herrera:
Absolutely. I think that there's been so much with everything, with the sexual trauma, everything with the Me Too, Times Up Movement, we just know that women have had a lot of trauma in this particular area, and because it is a basket, it is a holding area, we tend to store emotions there. It’s a buildup of toxicity. It's a buildup of lactic acid. What happens is we guard. It's natural to guard. It's natural to want to protect ourselves, but when these muscles go through a lot of trauma, emotional, physical, or whatever it is, then they tend to grip. When they grip, they give you pain, or they give you a stabbing pain, or what I call sciatica and the pelvis. It's really hard trying to get to the root cause of things when we have to really explore our entire lives, how we sit, how we think, how we eat. What is the microbiome like?
Dr. Pompa:
Yeah, no, exactly. We're assuming, hey, as we look upstream at those things, but people want something they can do now. Let's get back to the solution, the protocol, this balance that you're saying that would create. I'm the person sitting out there going yeah, I want it step-by-step here. I want I know exactly what to do.
Isa Herrera:
Yeah, we all do. Everybody wants that. Everybody wants it now, so let me do it. I think one of the really most important things is breath. A lot of us really confine our breath, and these muscles—the pelvic floor muscles and the diaphragm, they work together. There’s synchronization with them. As you breathe in, you're inhaling, the pelvic floor muscles go down and the diaphragm goes down. The first thing is to make sure that you're breathing correctly. A lot of us like this [short, shallow breathing]. Diaphragmatic breathing is really important because when you do the diaphragmatic breathing, you're coordinating with the diaphragm. Then when you do that the muscles also open up.
Dr. Pompa:
Again, I mean, so when people say “Oh, breathing. We go back to our lifestyle, now we’re breathing again in short, shallow breaths.” You're saying take how long a day and to do this diaphragmatic breathing where—which you could describe a little better for people on how to do that and for how long each day.
Isa Herrera:
For the prescription for the diaphragmatic breathing would be at least five to ten minutes a day. Place your hands on your belly. Make sure that when you're breathing in, the belly swells up like a nice balloon.
Dr. Pompa:
Instead of bringing it into our lungs, we’ll actually bring it into our belly.
Isa Herrera:
Then we're going to bring it down further. We're going to bring it into our pelvic floor, which I call pelvic floor breathing. When you breathe into the belly, you get a certain aspect of the pelvic floor. When you go down deep, and you breathe what I call vaginal breathing, or anal breathing for men, then we get to the part where we can open and release. When we do that, that's called a reverse Kegel, which is the thing—
Dr. Pompa:
What does that feel like, exactly? If I would say, okay, I'm doing it right or I'm not, what would I feel?
Isa Herrera:
You will feel an opening. You will feel an expansion. You will feel a release. You will feel—
Dr. Pompa:
I hope I don’t poop myself when it expands.
Isa Herrera:
Actually, this is how you start. You initiate pooping in peeing. That’s the reverse Kegel. That why you’ll feel like that for sure.
Dr. Pompa:
Is that a tip? You should almost make that poop, pee feeling as you're bringing air into that area and coordinating those two.
Isa Herrera:
Absolutely, and the main thing when you are pooping or peeing, since we're going here, is don't push. If you push, you're doing the opposite. These muscles will never release, and you'll always have constipation, or you'll have hesitancy of urination, or you’ll have a trickle of peeing. The main thing is to open, release, and let go, and then everything comes out easier. We don’t want to force it because when we force it the pelvic floor muscles do what? Boom. You can't get anything out of your this tight. It's not going to happen. You have to open and let go, and things will—
Dr. Pompa:
I just tried so hard, I just got dizzy. I did something in that area. You feel weird. I literally focused on that area so much I got this like weird feeling from my testicles. I'm just saying.
Isa Herrera:
This happens, though. This is normal. Energy, yeah, this is energy moving through you. Sometimes when there's a big energetic opening, you could feel light-headed, you could feel like hey, what's going on, or you can retrieve a memory sometimes. I think it's pretty fantastic that you had that experience. Good for you.
Dr. Pompa:
I don't know that I connected my breath to that area. I could actually recreate it. When I connect my breath to that area, something happens. That's all I’m saying.
Isa Herrera:
Good for you! As long as it’s a good thing, it’s good. You'll know if it's good or bad. You’ll know.
Dr. Pompa:
Okay, yeah, that's pretty obvious. I got goosebumps that time. Step two, that’s step one, what else—what are we doing?
Isa Herrera:
Step one is the reverse Kegel, the diaphragmatic breathing, absolutely important.
Dr. Pompa:
Why do you call it a reverse Kegel, again? You probably said that.
Isa Herrera:
Yeah, that’s something that I coined about ten years ago because everybody Kegels, and everybody wants to lift, and everybody wants to squeeze up. The reverse key goes the opposite. It's the dropping. It’s the releasing. It’s the letting go.
Dr. Pompa:
That's when I got that feeling, that drop feeling. Reverse Kegel makes sense now to me. I'm glad I asked that.
Isa Herrera:
Yeah, and I think that when women go see a physician instead of them telling them, “Hey go do a bunch of Kegels,” maybe we should be prescribing the reverse Kegel and saying, “Let's create this flexibility first, so that we can take you to the promised land and get these symptoms fixed. That's the first thing.
Dr. Pompa:
Before we get to the second, how long does someone have to do this, like you said, five to ten minutes a day, before we notice an improvement?
Isa Herrera:
It depends on how connected you are to your breath. A lot of people can't even do diaphragmatic breathing. What they do is the opposite, something called paradoxical breathing. Once we can get that connection of the belly filling as we inhale, and flattening as we exhale, and we get that going, then we can either put our hands on the perineum our hands inside and then start to feel for the opening, so we can confirm it. Once that's mastered, then only then, can you go and do a Kegel. For everything that goes up, it must come down. I mean it's a law.
Dr. Pompa:
You're saying that and after you master this then you could actually do a Kegel?
Isa Herrera:
Yes, if that's the right prescription for you. If you're a woman and you have sexual pain, if you have pain with orgasms, if you have pain with sitting, if you have low back pain, if you have sciatica, if you just had a surgery, you may have to stick with the reverse Kegels for quite some time until you heal that area and until the pain subsides. We don't want to create more tension in an area that's already tense and painful.
Dr. Pompa:
How do we know when to move on to the Kegel? You better redescribe the Kegel. Maybe that's Step 2, and I'm just jumping ahead with the questions.
Isa Herrera:
Yeah, I think that once you have—and you always have to ask yourself what's your pain level, zero no pain, ten worst pain you ever had. I think that women who have very low-level pain or no pain, those are the individuals who are candidates for Kegels. Anytime there's a pain situation, Kegels are not—they're not they're not going to work for you. They're going to make you worse. They really are. Don't go there. It's going to save you a lot of heartache at the end. For a Kegel, what we're looking is for—we're looking for a couple of things. I have my model here if you want me to bring it out.
Dr. Pompa:
Yeah, we love models.
Isa Herrera:
Perfect, let me do it. A picture paints a thousand words.
Dr. Pompa:
Describe, too, because we get hundreds of thousands of people just listening, so just think about those people, and we get viewers.
Isa Herrera:
The Kegel, here, involves three things. Everybody, if you're listening, write this down. The clitoris should nod when you do it. The perineal body, right here, should move up and in. The anus should wink. You should be doing all of that as—
Dr. Pompa:
The anus should wink?
Isa Herrera:
It should wink. It should contract.
Dr. Pompa:
Oh, it should wink. I thought you said a funny word I didn't know.
Isa Herrera:
That is my accent. We have the clitoral nod, the perineal body moves up and in, and then the anus should contract. It should happen together, and your pelvis should be neutral. The body is really wonderful. When it wants to do a Kegel, it will do all kinds of magical things that get the Kegel going. It will squeeze the butt, it will squeeze the inner thigh, you’ll lift your body off the table.
Dr. Pompa:
I just lifted up, yeah, I got it. I can do it. The opposite Kegel, diaphragmatic breathing, letting everything settle down but not to the point of pooping yourself or peeing yourself. Letting that relax as the air comes in. Then people that aren’t in a lot of pain, you would—people that are having a lot of pain syndromes in any area, you would continue that process until the pain dissipates, then move on to the Kegel. Let's say the person without a lot of those symptoms, maybe they're doing it for a digestive issue. When can they move to that Kegel portion where you're actually going up?
Isa Herrera:
I think as soon as they master the reverse Kegel.
Dr. Pompa:
As soon as they master that, then move onto the Kegel, got it.
Isa Herrera:
Totally. Some people spend too much time with the reverse Kegel because they love the relaxation, and they get all into it. Eventually, you have—the goal is always to do a Kegel reversing. There's no such thing as a Kegel without a reverse Kegel. You have to—
Dr. Pompa:
The world is doing the opposite. The world is just doing a Kegel without the reverse Kegel. Really it should be reverse Kegel, then Kegel, then both together properly.
Isa Herrera:
That's it. You're going to take my job away from me, Dr. Pompa.
Dr. Pompa:
I hope I'm just doing mine. You do this all the time. When I talk about cellular detox, it's like I just skip over things. My brain’s asking a zillion questions that hopefully our viewers are asking or wondering as well. Okay, so that's step one and step two. Do we need to cover anything else here before we move on?
Isa Herrera:
I think one of the critical things is this container, this physical body that we have, holds the pelvic floor. The bones hold the pelvic floor. Posture—and I know that it sounds so simple. Everybody's like, “Oh my God, why is she teaching about posture?” That's the container that is holding the muscles. If you have your knees locked out, if you’re all forward head, if your muscles are weak in the back, then it effects everything down the spine.
Dr. Pompa:
Absolutely, and by the way, sitting is probably the number one thing that just destroys posture. In fact, I don't spend a lot of time sitting because I do so many different things in my day. When I'm sitting here, right now, my back is in an arched position. I've trained myself, literally, to sit in this proper position, not this. Not this computer position that I see my kids, and I want to smack them on the back.
Isa Herrera:
It makes me nuts, especially the kids today with their social media, even my daughter. I'm like, “You cannot sit that way.” I know. Then they wonder why they have TMJ, neck pains, upper back pain. It's crazy. Your position of comfort is your position of permanent deformity.
Dr. Pompa:
Yeah, no, I agree. Sitting is the kiss of death for this, and it weakens the pelvic floor. The sad part is that most people end up on medications for this stuff instead of actually dealing with the cause.
Isa Herrera:
What makes me really crazy is that a lot of women will do some kind of medication or surgery, some kind of injection for something that can actually be healed naturally in the privacy of your own home with the proper guidance. It's not a mystery. All you have to do is just find yourself someone who knows what they're talking about and get the program going. The good news and the bad news is that you're actually the only person that's in charge of your pelvic health. There's no one else external to you who's going to come down and be like, “Well, I want to sprinkle some fairy dust, and give you the most perfect you know pelvic floor.” It's not going to happen. It takes conditioning like anything else, strengthening, balancing. Sometimes you have to do some internal work if you're a woman, and a man, too, by the way.
Dr. Pompa:
I mean, so many of us are working on the muscles that don't matter for all-around health. Yet this muscle’s sitting there absolutely getting more flaccid as time goes on, creating more digestive issues, constipation, more problems in your hormones that you don't even think that this could be the problem. Gosh, five, ten minutes a day could change your world. Forget about your bicep or your thigh.
Isa Herrera:
Triceps, yeah, because women obsessed with their triceps. If we can be as obsessed with our vaginas as we are with our triceps, we will conquer the world.
Dr. Pompa:
I agree, yeah, or those thigh muscles or the abs. Your pelvic muscles are more—if you want to talk about core, this is the core of the cores. Your abs [00:28:14] of your core, you know what I’m saying, and your obliques. Your pelvic muscles are really the core of the core. Is that a safe statement?
Isa Herrera:
Yeah, absolutely, and what—it is the core of your core. It’s the most important core. It’s the thing that holds—
Dr. Pompa:
That’s your next book, by the way, The Core of Your Core.
Isa Herrera:
I like it. Thank you for that tip. I think I'm going to do that. The thing is that the abdominal muscles also are interconnected with the pelvic floor, so if you've had a hysterectomy, mild maxima, if you’ve had a cesarean, you have to take care of the scar, and you have to take care of the core in a way that make sense. You have to do proper abdominal training, not these three thousand crunches that women are doing because then that creates more trigger points and more disharmony, maybe a [00:29:00]. Then you're doing all the Kegels, you're doing the reverse Kegel, but your core is weak, the foundation, which is the abdominal muscles.
Dr. Pompa:
Yeah, which maybe that’s step three or four. Then start working some of the abdominal muscles. I don't know. You tell me.
Isa Herrera:
Yeah, totally, I think the one abdominal muscle that all humans should be working regardless of where you are in your life is the transverse abdominal muscle. That's the deep core. That's the one we don't see. We don't see it, we don't train it. We want to train the beauty: the obliques the six-pack. To train the transverse is to give you the ultimate power when you train that with the pelvic floor. It's really simple. All you have to do is sit up really straight, inhale, and as you exhale bring your bellybutton slightly into your spine but up towards your heart. That's the trick is this up motion. In, and up, and hold for five seconds, and then release. When you do it, it’s really beautiful. It will give you the beautiful core that everyone desires. It's functional. What it does, it gives you a way to create more power in the pelvis, so you experience less leaking, prolapse, whatever it is. You need to have this core muscle really trained. It's also going to help your back because it is also fires the back muscles. I find these little things—we're looking for the big answers, the big things, but it's really all the micro steps that we take on a daily basis, the breathing, the core, the sitting, the posture.
Dr. Pompa:
Yeah, no, I get it. Is that step three or four? I don't know. Where are we?
Isa Herrera:
I don’t know. I think it’s step four. I lost count. The transverse abdominal training is really important. I think one of the big tips, okay, I'll give you tip number five. Stop doing crunches. I think that went out with bell-bottoms in the ‘70s.
Dr. Pompa:
Yea, right, and it’s true.
Isa Herrera:
It’s true. I can't believe people are still doing old-fashioned crunches. I'm like, for real? I mean, come on. In my program, I don't allow anyone to do a crunch. They get really upset with me. They're like, what do you mean? I’m like, “I'm going to get you there. Just follow these few little basic—”
Dr. Pompa:
Again, what is the gift that you have for everybody? The program that we have here walks you through in greater detail, so don't panic folks. You provided for that, Isa, thank you.
Isa Herrera:
Yeah, no problem, yeah, I'm giving everybody The Ultimate Guide to Happier Lady Parts, which is the ultimate guide to get you to where you—it's like step one. Step one is that. Read that report, go in there, check it out. It's going to give you a lot of beautiful tips. You're going to love it. Then from there, if you want to go deeper, then of course you will explore one of my programs. We will typically follow up with that depending on what your condition is. I just want women to know that they don't have to be afraid of their own bodies, that their bodies haven't betrayed them. It's really just—it's like a self-care program for the rest of your life, really knowing how to care for this vital part.
We don't get that. My daughter just got sex education. I said, “Honey, what did they teach you in that class?” They should be talking about the pelvic floor and everything, nothing, zero.
Dr. Pompa:
She’ll have to teach it. They should bring you as a lecturer. What [00:32:45]? This affects women's hormones in general because I understand the anatomy. Most people listening or watching may not. How will this affect your hormone was in general? Women are saying, “Well, I have this hormone amount and I'm taking this bioidentical hormone.” Meanwhile, the core may start with the core of a cores.
Isa Herrera:
I think one of the things about hormone imbalance—and let's talk a little bit about the pelvic floor muscles being a feedback loop, a feedback system. If there's congestion, tightness, if there's a lack of circulation, then what happens is the muscles become atrophic. When they become atrophic, we start to think that there is a hormone imbalance. Maybe there's not. Maybe there is. You have to check that with the blood so make sure you’re under the right care.
The most important thing is to understand that we always need to have circulation. Cellular healing in the pelvis is really important. The opening, having those muscles, those muscle cells really sharp in the pelvis is really important. All the different tools that you have definitely will work for that. I think that one of the most important things is just understanding that there is something that you can do that's natural, that is holistic, and that is actually going to bring results. Instead of let me go pop that pill, let me get this antibiotic, let me do this. The pelvic floor muscles can mimic infections too.
Dr. Pompa:
Yeah, no, it does, absolutely. They end up doing an antibiotic, which affects them multiple ways. One of the things I want to challenge by my listeners and viewers to is it's 21 days to make a habit. If you take five minutes every day and just do this, number one, every day you'll get better. You’ll feel it more every day. See where you're at in 21 days.
Everybody that makes a massive change in their life or their health, it started with a decision of I'm just going to do this, even in my own life. I challenge you all, commit to 21 days. Get the free gift that you offer but commit to the 21 days. Just do it and evaluate where you're at. If you’re no better, stop doing it. I promise you because I know the importance of this. Again, it's affecting so many people. That's why you're on the show.
Isa Herrera:
Thank you.
Dr. Pompa:
It’s affecting so many people unknowingly, and that's the sad part. I think you said that women on average go to five to seven doctors for these types of symptoms. They end up on different medications, and problems, and—
Isa Herrera:
Or worse, they end up with a mesh surgery, or they take out their uteruses, or they'll give them some sort of bladder surgery. That's what makes me crazy. There's such a lack of education among practitioners when it comes to this field. We're still doing the same old same old. It's just not working anymore. It's pretty evident with the whole—it's pretty obvious with all the evidence that's out there right now. I like that you did that challenge I think it's really incredible because it does take 21 days. There is no magic bullet healing. There is action. You have to take baby steps. You move a mountain how, one step at a time. The same thing with the pelvic floor. You have to create a habit to care for these muscles the way you would care for your thigh muscles, or your butt muscles, doing the squats and that kind of thing. I like this challenge I think it's really awesome. Thank you
Dr. Pompa:
Yep, we'll call it The Pelvic Floor 21-day Challenge. Let’s do it.
Isa Herrera:
I love it.
Dr. Pompa:
You know why? I know the lives. I know that people will watch the show, listen to the show, and go, “Oh, that makes a lot of sense.” Then they just don’t make that conscious decision to absolutely commit to something. Twenty-one days, do it. I know that people's lives will change if you make the decision. No doubt, that's the challenge. I have one really important question for you. This is a big one. Where is your accent from?
Isa Herrera:
Oh, I'm Puerto Rican.
Dr. Pompa:
Ah, Puerto Rican, that's awesome. Yeah, so you’re actually a part of the United States.
Isa Herrera:
Yes, I am. How many times I get that question? I'm like, are you kidding me?
Dr. Pompa:
I’m guilty of it too. Oh, Puerto Rico, we still have that mind set. There’s a tax advantage if you move to Puerto Rico.
Isa Herrera:
Yeah, did you see all these hot entrepreneurs now, all these online gurus are moving there? I'll hit them up when I do my little—I do a benefit for Puerto Rico once a year. I'm going to call them all up. They live in Puerto Rico now. I'm going to be like, I need you to pony up.
Dr. Pompa:
That's great. Yeah, it's funny that my oldest daughter, her boyfriend is from Puerto Rico. I have an interesting in going to Puerto Rico now, and I will.
Isa Herrera:
Oh, you must. It is one of the most beautiful places in the whole world. It is beautiful there.
Dr. Pompa:
How are we recovering from the hurricane? I'm sure some parts faster than others.
Isa Herrera:
I think some parts faster than others, but it's still really bad. I mean, I have a bunch of family there and they had a complete brown out. There was no water for a couple of days. It never hits the media, but it's still pretty bad.
Dr. Pompa:
Hey, you had a blackout in New York City not that long ago.
Isa Herrera:
I know. I’m like, are you—I know, I’m like, really? I was like, yeah, it happens. It's going to recover, it will, and it's just everybody has to participate in any way that they can, at any level that they can.
Dr. Pompa:
You've written five books. If someone were to start, what book would they start with? What’s the name of it?
Isa Herrera:
It would be, depending on the condition, I would say either Female Pelvic Alchemy if you’re leaking and have prolapse. If you have pain, you will go to Ending Female Pain, of course. If you're a guy, you will get my male book, Ending Male Pelvic Pain.
Dr. Pompa:
You took my last question. If I'm a guy, you already did say that this applies to guys as well. I know that the pelvic floor plays into the prostate, which is—that's a big deal for men. Nocturnal urination, meaning you know you're urinating up a few times during the night. For me, even urinating, I mean, granted, if you drink a huge glass of water before bed you'll probably urinate. Hey, I'm 54. If I don't drink water before bed, I don't get up at urinate. That's a difference of a healthy pelvic floor prostate and someone who's not. Talk about how this does apply to men.
Isa Herrera:
Really great question. When I first started this out, I never thought that I would see men. Then all of a sudden, men started coming to me for prostate cancer after they’ve had their prostate removed, or if they had prostatitis, or if they had a pain in the pelvis. What's really interesting is that it's very similar to all the things that I gave you right now. All these steps that we gave for women are the exact same steps that a man would follow. Many times they will come to me because of erectile dysfunction. Men will come when there's something happening with their penis. They’re like, “Okay, I'm here.”
Dr. Pompa:
That’s it. That was going to be my last thing. Does this apply there? The answer is yes. Now you’ve got their attention.
Isa Herrera:
Yeah 100%, and the thing is they come to me and they're like, “What do I do?” I'm like, “you’re going to do everything else that every other woman has done for the millennia. You’re going to work these muscles.” They're like, “What?” Men typically listen to me. They'll do what I tell them to do, and they heal faster because they don't want me anywhere near them. They're like, “Okay, we're done here. What do I need to do?”
I wrote the book because of all these men that were coming to me. There's such a global problem that I said I need to help them more. That was one of the reasons why I wrote the book. I never had any intention of writing a book for men, but it's such a big problem. Especially in New York City, I think we have such high-power executives all stressed out all the time.
Dr. Pompa:
Where are you in New York?
Isa Herrera:
I’m in Madison Avenue.
Dr. Pompa:
Which streets?
Isa Herrera:
Between 33rd and 34th Street. That’s where I have my practice. Now I have a little practice in Brooklyn.
Dr. Pompa:
Yep, okay, I know where that is.
Isa Herrera:
Yeah, I was there for 12 years, and then I pivoted, and I decided to go online. I gave that practice up. Now, because I always want to do the work with the patients, I have an office here a garden office in Park Slope in Brooklyn.
Dr. Pompa:
Next time in New York, I'm going to come visit you.
Isa Herrera:
Yeah, you should. I'll take you out. Definitely, you should definitely come over and visit, absolutely 100%.
Dr. Pompa:
Isa, thank you for being on. This is great information. I hope everybody takes our challenge. I hope everybody takes your gift as well. No doubt, their life will get better if you choose to do it. Great information. Wow. What a niche, what an expert you are. I'm so glad we were able to get you on the show.
Isa Herrera:
I want to express my gratitude to you, Dr. Pompa, for being open to having this kind of discussion. Not too many people would do that. I'm really happy. I love I love the fact that you’re so open minded. I'm grateful to be here and to share my experience with you and your audience.
Dr. Pompa:
Hey, look, if I know it's going to help people make a difference—I know the problems people are having out there. This is one of those topics that people aren’t talking about and need to. It's a hidden cause. I love exposing that stuff. I think we did here today. Thanks again for being on the show.
Isa Herrera:
Thank You, gratitude, thank you.
Ashley Smith:
That's it for this week. We hope you enjoyed today's episode. This episode was brought to you by CytoDetox. Please check it out at buycytonow.com. We'll be back next week, and every Friday, at 10am Eastern. We truly appreciate your support. You can always find us at cellularhealing.tv. Please remember to spread the love by liking, subscribing, giving an iTunes review, and sharing the show with anyone you think may benefit from the information heard here. As always thanks for listening.
