Participants who register for this course have the option to attend the course live-online and/or watch the recording later. The recording will be available to all registrants for a 6-week period and access is provided on the next business day following the course. This allows participants who may not be able to attend live-online to still benefit from the course content. 

Course Description:

Menopause is having a moment! There’s never been a better time to become familiar with the whole body and brain changes associated with menopause and to get clear about our role in helping women live well during menopause and beyond.

Female hormones change dramatically throughout our lives, and affect every function and structure in our bodies, from pelvic health to psychological health.

Do you understand what's happening hormonally during the menstrual cycle? During pregnancy and postnatal recovery? What if you're postnatal AND perimenopausal?

And what's the difference between perimenopause and post menopause?

How can we help women live well during all of these transitions?

In this revised, updated and expanded course we will explore:

• The definitions, key terms and diagnostic criteria to understand around this transition
• The influence of menstrual and maternal health on good outcomes at and after menopause
• The musculoskeletal implications of low oestrogen: how muscles, tendons & joints are affected by menopause
• Breast health, back pain and prolapse – creating good support systems
• Resistance training: what do we need to consider, from bone health to pelvic health?
• Brain changes, sleep hygiene and evidence based lifestyle medicine for managing symptoms
• Why women at menopause/after hysterectomy are more likely to be diagnosed with IBS and what does the evidence tell us about our role in midlife bowel health
• Why urinary frequency and urgency, as well as incontinence are menopausal issues
• Sexual health at menopause: it’s not just about atrophy! Body image, msk considerations & relationship with self, along with lubricants, moisturizers and topical hormonal treatment
• Metabolic changes, weight gain and exercise prescription
• Exercise prescription at menopause: picking the right tool for the target

Objectives - By the end of the course, participants will be able to:

1. Explain the anatomical, physiological and hormonal changes associated with the menopausal transition, including their impact on pelvic, urogenital, musculoskeletal and whole-body health from peri- to post-menopause.
2. Critically appraise and apply the evidence for pelvic rehabilitation in Genitourinary Syndrome of Menopause (GSM), integrating assessment, education, exercise, pelvic floor rehabilitation and appropriate multidisciplinary management into individualized care.
3. Recognize, assess and manage the Musculoskeletal Syndrome of Menopause (MSM), applying evidence-informed principles of resistance, impact, balance, mobility and load management to support muscle, tendon, joint and bone health and lifelong physical function.
4. Integrate brain, heart, mental and metabolic health into menopause rehabilitation, using a biopsychosocial and behaviour-change-informed approach to create personalized strategies that support resilience, recovery, physical activity, sleep, nutrition and long-term health.

In this course, supplemented by access to pre-recorded lectures & videos, the therapist’s repertoire of clinical reasoning, manual therapies and exercise prescription will be developed, along with an exploration of evidence based integrative approaches, including yoga, breath-work, stress management, sleep hygiene & lifestyle pertaining to the management of menopausal symptoms. Participants will gain an understanding of the changing hormonal profiles of the menopausal woman, but will also appreciate the long term implications of these changes, especially pelvic & sexual health and function, musculoskeletal/bone health issues, and overall health and wellness.

5+ hours of pre-recorded material available 7 days before the course start date and for 6 weeks after the last session.

Audience: Open to all healthcare and wellness professionals. Information/skills taught must only be used within your scope of practice.

Prerequisites: None

References:

1. Wright, V. J., Schwartzman, J. D., Itinoche, R., & Wittstein, J. (2024). The musculoskeletal syndrome of menopause. Climacteric : the journal of the International Menopause Society, 27(5), 466–472. https://doi.org/10.1080/13697137.2024.2380363

Schedule

Time: Two-day course from 10:00am - 4:00pm ET (Toronto). Please convert to your local time zone. 

Delivery Format

Live attendance is not mandatory for this online course. Enjoy a 6-week period to access and review the course recording, which is sent out on the next business day. We understand that life can be busy, which is why we offer you the freedom to access the course recording(s) during the time-limited viewing period.

Instructor

Michelle Lyons has been a physiotherapist for over 23 years, with a focus on integrative women’s health. With additional training in mindfulness as a therapeutic intervention, nutrition therapy, herbal medicine, pilates and yoga as well as her clinical experience in pelvic health, orthopaedics and oncology rehab, Michelle is a firm believer in a whole body approach to health and wellness. She is licensed in both Ireland and the U.S., and teaches nationally, internationally and online. She is on the faculty of Herman & Wallace, The Pelvic Rehab Institute, The Integrative Women’s Health Institute, Medbridge Education and is clinical consultant for Burrell Education, as well as a former tutor for the Pelvic, Obstetric and Gynaecological Physiotherapy Association in the UK. She has presented at IPPS (2016), ICS (2017), the Klose Lymphedema Conference (2017) and the British Pelvic Floor Society conference (2017), as well as at national conferences for POGP, the Irish Society of Chartered Physiotherapists, Turkish Pelvic Health Academy and the UK Women’s Health Summit.

What people are saying

Michelle Lyon’s ‘Menopause: An Integrative Approach For Physiotherapists’ course is a must for every physiotherapist who works with women! The course content was comprehensive, up-to-date and research based, and the labs presented new assessment and treatment skills I was able to implement the next day in clinic. Thank you PHS for bringing top notch pelvic health education to Toronto!

– Karin S