My path shows rules ARE meant to be broken

Have you ever heard the saying, rules are meant to be broken or that those who follow the rules never make history?

I think when it comes to health care, this is so important to remember.

Take me back just several years in my career. When it came to seeing someone with diastasis. I had lots of rules and regulations as to how I would treat them, the exercises they would get, and the do's and don'ts.

Over the last 18 months, I have been on both a professional and personal journey that has made me realize that rules really are meant to be broken.

That women with diastasis regardless of the width and depth, can do things that we have been told are impossible. But the reality is they never were impossible.

These rules and regulations are set up to create fear, to sell programs, and most importantly, to protect us. We have always been taught to ere on the side of caution. To be careful with our clients to not let them do things that seem like they could be harmful. And that's still the case.

However, if telling a patient not to do something like lift their child, walk upstairs, or do a sit up is detrimental to both their mental health, as well as their overall sense of being a human, then is it really worth the rule.

Is it worth telling somebody they can't do something, and sending them into a spiral of disability? Or would we be better off taking the time to help people feel safe in the movements that are important in their life?

I vote to help people get stronger so they can do all the things they CAN and WANT to do

So maybe, just maybe, it's okay to break the rules.

Nicola Robertson

Pelvic Floor Physiotherapist