Pelvic Floor Therapy for Women

Pelvic therapy is often a woman’s first line of defense against many pelvic floor disorders and plays an important role in a woman’s overall treatment.

Patients who are referred to pelvic health therapists typically have conditions that include:

• Stress incontinence and overactive bladder including urinary urgency and frequency
• Pelvic organ prolapse
• Pelvic pain related to such conditions as endometriosis, trauma from childbirth, interstitial cystitis, chronic pain after UTI, pudendal neuralgia, and pain with intercourse
• Chronic urinary tract infections
• Vulvodynia
• Vaginismus
• Dyspareunia
• Urinary retention/Incomplete voiding

Our experienced pelvic health therapists also provide patients with non-surgical treatment for complex conditions including patients with spinal cord injuries, musculoskeletal issues, and patients with neuromuscular disorders including Parkinson’s disease and multiple sclerosis.

Pelvic Health Therapists Offer Tools for Managing Women’s Personal Health Issues

You can expect one-on-one, personalized treatment with a pelvic health therapist. As a first line therapy for female pelvic floor disorders, our pelvic health therapists utilize advanced techniques for effective treatment. Therapy begins with a comprehensive internal and external exam of the pelvic floor muscles to aid in the accurate diagnosis. Therapy typically includes one or more of the following:

• Pelvic Floor muscle exercises – Therapists provide instruction on performing pelvic floor muscle exercises (Kegels) properly for optimal results. A trained pelvic health therapist will show you how to perform Kegels correctly. Strong pelvic floor and sphincter muscles help control urine leakage and hold pelvic organs in place. Your pelvic health therapist will show you how to perform these exercises to promote muscle strengthening, relaxation, and coordination.
• Bladder training or delayed voiding – This involves controlling the urge to urinate by waiting a few extra minutes after you feel the urge at first, and then gradually increasing the time between bathroom visits.
• Manual therapy including strain/counter-strain, positional release, scar mobilization, MFR, trigger point releases, fascial releases, neural tension stretching.
• Other therapy modalities include heat, ICE, and/or electrical stimulation (internal and external).
• Education on proper diet, breathing, daily fluid intake, activities of daily living (ADL), and toileting postures.

Pelvic Health Self-Assessment

Use this questionnaire to assess your own pelvic floor health.

Bladder Health

• Do you leak urine with any activity or exercise?
• Do you go to the toilet more than once every 2 to 3 hours?
• Do you experience a strong urge to go to the bathroom?
• Do you have difficulty starting the stream of urine?
• Are you unable to completely empty your bladder?

Pelvic Pain

• Do you have any discomfort or pain around the vulva (or labia) with tight clothing or light touch to the area?
• Do you experience any pain with the use of tampons or during a pap smear?
• Do you have any pain with urinating or bowel movements?
• Do you have any sharp stabbing pains in the rectum OR abdomen?

Pelvic Prolapse

• Do you feel any heaviness or pressure in the vagina or rectum?
• Have you noticed a bulge in your vagina or the feeling of something “falling out?”

Bowel

• Do you experience difficulty holding stool in?
• Do you have any trouble getting everything out?
• Do you experience constipation and strain to empty your bowels?

Sexual Health

• Do you have ANY pain/discomfort with sex?
• Do you struggle to reach orgasm?

If you answer yes to one or more of these questions, contact a urologist or a pelvic health therapist for further evaluation.