Women's bodies go through many changes depending on age, childbirth and other health and lifestyle factors. Drs. Georgia Nab and Kris Petrocco-Napuli sat down with us for a webinar in March to discuss how chiropractors can best serve female patients.
Posted in Risk Management on Wednesday, May 11, 2022
QUESTION: What would be some suggestions that you would give your patients to safely start exercising?
ANSWER: Dr. Kris Petrocco-Napuli: Every female has a different story on what that looks like. Whether it’s kids or caring for parents or having a job where they’re there long hours, finding time is the first piece and really identifying, “When can I fit this into my schedule?”
My first recommendation is do what you like to do. It could be as easy as going out and walking, trying yoga, swimming—looking at different ways to move and just really giving them options.
Dr. Georgia Nab: For me, I don’t use the word exercise in my office unless they come in and tell me they are exercising.
But for a general patient, I talk to them about movement because to them, if I say the word “exercise,” they’re going to think they need to be in the gym for an hour, three to five times a week and immediately that wall comes up.
If they’re not used to moving, I start them with five minutes in the morning. And then as that gets easier, I push them to get going. When you start small with patients and allow them to do what they do and just gently push them, it can make a profound difference in their movement.
QUESTION: If a patient is having problems losing weight by diet and exercise, is there anything else they could do?
ANSWER: Dr. Kris Petrocco-Napuli: I wish I had the silver bullet answer for that one because that’s often asked. Patients give you the whole list of things, but I really think it’s individualized. One of our greatest skills as chiropractic physicians is to look at the patient from the whole aspect and I always say, “What else is going on that we might be missing?”
I go back to the stress component, because that seems to be a very significant thing in a lot of our female patients. And there’s also the other screening questions that we ask in our history—How is your mental health? How are you sleeping? Sleep is another big component that we know that impacts metabolism.
But the two biggest factors that I see that slow down or even halt weight loss, is all about the hormones.
Listen to the full discussion.