When you hear the term “pelvic floor”, what comes to mind? Kegel exercises? The impact of childbirth? Urinary incontinence (a.k.a. leakage)? Pelvic organs falling down? Sex and aging? Pain and spasms?
Millions of women in the US alone suffer daily and weekly with urinary incontinence, pelvic organ prolapse, sexual pain, pelvic pain of varied origins, and bowel problems.
What I want you to know is that none of the conditions listed are normal and YES they can be helped!! As a society we DO NOT get enough education on how to care for our pelvic floor, so when things start happening we just chalk it up to age, weakness or we blame the difficult birth. Granted many births are seriously arduous and cause much disability, however most of the time we can recover with proper help and education!
How do You Know if You Have a Problem?
Some signs that you may need Pelvic Floor PT are: hip pain, lower back/sacroiliac joint pain, pain with sex, constipation, pelvic organ prolapse, you are/were or are going to be pregnant, you had surgery, you have bladder leakage, you have a separation in your abdomen, or you have urgency and/or frequency of urine.
What are You Supposed to do?
In physical therapy for the pelvic floor, the goal is to identify the structures or habits that are causing the problem and create a plan centered around solving those problems. In my many years as an orthopedic manual physical therapist as well as a women’s health specialist, I have had the benefit of being able to link the two together (orthopedics and women’s health).
There are many structures that need to be properly and thoroughly assessed when it comes to a pelvic floor consultation. The pelvic floor and the lumbar, thoracic and sacroiliac joints are very intimately connected. At Universus Physical Therapy, we are also looking at how the body moves and controls specific movements, such as bending, walking, sitting, breathing, lifting, etc. The approach here is holistic and centered around your goals.
Important: Peeing when you laugh or jump isn’t normal, having to go the bathroom 15 times a day isn’t normal, being constipated all the time isn’t normal (and may have just as much to do with your pelvic floor as your diet), pain with sex in not normal, also constant lower back and/or hip pain when sitting or walking isn’t normal.
The truth is many women live perfectly active lives pain free with full bladder control until their final days. If you want to live life on your terms without worries about bladder leaks, painful intercourse, frequent urination, constant back and SIJ problems, it can be done– AND in most cases it can be done without medication or surgery.
Getting help with these issues as soon as they arise (not ignoring them and praying they will disappear) is the BEST way to get ahead of the situation and you will have the best chance at a full recovery. We absolutely LOVE helping women get their body back and reclaim their confidence! You can start with a Free Telephone Consultation or a Free Discovery Visit where you get all your questions answered and find out if you would be a candidate for Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy.
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