Course Objectives for The Effect of Thoracic and Cervical Stiffness on Lumbo/pelvic/pelvic floor Dysfunction

At the end of the presentation, the learner will be able to:

1) Define normal abdominal and thoracic pressures and how these pressures are increased with normal postures, positions and activities.

2) Review the anatomy and physiology of the glottis to the pelvic floor – including the anatomical changes with prolonged postures.

3) Understand the physiology behind the literature on the effects of the prolonged seated posture.

4) Discuss the relevance of the literature on fatiguability of the pelvic floor muscles and training

5) Outline various changes in intervention techniques to reduce the effects of increased abdominal pressures and epiglottis considerations with pelvic floor, transverses abdominus, multifidus and diaphragm training from low level to high level activity.