What To Expect
Congratulations!
Making your health and wellness a priority is the first step. Here is some information that may be helpful for you to know:
What is Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy?
It’s just like regular physical therapy but with an added specialty knowledge about all things related to the pelvis and the pelvic floor. The “pelvic floor” is a group of muscles, ligaments, and connective tissues that line the pelvis. These muscles surround the openings to our bladder, bowel, vagina, and penis. Everyone has a pelvic floor! They play a vital role in bladder, bowel, and sexual health.
Because the pelvic floor muscles work together with surrounding muscles through direct or indirect fascia attachments, they impact other areas, such as back and pelvic stability, pelvic organ support, hip function, etc.
An evaluation with a physical therapist who is a pelvic health specialist can offer the best course of action and the fastest results with treatment in these specific areas.
Who needs pelvic floor physical therapy?
Bladder and bowel dysfunction
Pelvic pain conditions
Sexual pain or dysfunction
Pregnancy or postpartum issues
Pelvic organ prolapse
Male pelvic dysfunction
Pre-hab or re-hab after surgery
Low back, hip, SIJ pain
What to look for when choosing a pelvic floor physical therapist:
Advanced training and continued education
Environment: a comfortable, safe space
Communication: Your examination and treatment approach should be tailored to you and your issues. You should be offered guidance and treatment options.
Your provider should be compassionate and knowledgeable, listen to your concerns and goals, and make changes/adjustments based on your progress and feedback.
Treatment Options:
Manual therapy (deep tissue mobilization, myofascial release, trigger point release, visceral mobilization techniques, cupping, scar tissue mobilization)
Strength, endurance, stabilization, mobility, and coordination exercises
Posture education and movement training
Relaxation, breathing, and down-training for short/tight pelvic muscles or an amped-up nervous system
Internal work to directly treat the pelvic floor muscles
Exercises to improve muscle workload balance and injury prevention
Education about your body and what you can do to maintain improvements
Dry needling for trigger point release and neuromuscular re-set
Collaboration on a custom treatment plan to achieve your goals
