Okay so here's the thing nobody tells you about becoming a physio who works in pelvic and women's health. You bring it up at a dinner party and the table goes dead silent for two seconds, then suddenly everyone has a question. A real one. The kind they've never asked anyone else out loud.
That's basically my whole career in one sentence.
I'm Talya, and I run a physio practice in Johannesburg where we treat everything from a stiff neck after a bad night's sleep to the stuff people whisper about. Back pain. Running injuries. Headaches that won't quit. And yes, pelvic floors, periods, pregnancy, postpartum bodies, and the pain people are told to just “push through.”
Somewhere along the line, women especially got taught that discomfort is just part of the deal. Painful periods? Normal. Leaking when you sneeze? Normal, apparently, if you've had a baby. Pelvic pain during sex? Something you're supposed to quietly live with.
None of that is normal.
It's common, sure. But common and normal are not the same thing.
And honestly, that gap is a big part of why I got into this field in the first place.
I also see people who've been told their back pain means their spine is “damaged” or that they'll “never run again,” when honestly, with the right plan, that's rarely the full story either.
Because this is what I believe: your body isn't broken just because something hurts.
Pain, weakness, leaking, stiffness, pregnancy, postpartum changes, an injury — these things deserve to be understood, not brushed off or accepted as something you just have to live with.
Why I'm starting this blog
Not to sell you anything. Not to throw complicated physio jargon at you. Just to say the things I say in the treatment room, out loud, to more people.
- The questions you're too embarrassed to ask.
- The things you've been told are “normal.”
- The physio advice you've seen online that makes me want to quietly close my laptop.
- And the stuff I wish more people knew about their bodies before they ever walked through my clinic door.
Every couple of weeks, I'll be sharing practical advice, answering real questions and talking about the things that don't always get talked about openly.
- Ask Talya — your actual questions, the ones you've been too awkward to Google, answered properly.
- How To — simple, practical guides for the stuff that actually helps. Real exercises, real explanations, no fluff.
- Myth vs Fact — because the internet is full of physio “advice” that needs to die quietly. We're here for that.
If something in this blog makes you go “wait, is that me?”, that's kind of the point.
Maybe you'll learn something new. Maybe you'll finally realise that thing you've been putting up with isn't something you simply have to accept.
And maybe you'll come into the clinic one day and we'll talk about it properly.
Either way, welcome.
I'm glad you're here.
