Women's health and Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy

Hormonal changes, weight gain, and postural changes due to the growth of your baby all place additional strain on your muscles and joints. This can make you more susceptible to injury or pain including upper and lower back pain, groin or pelvic pain, hip pain, and numbness and tingling in your arms or legs.

Although these complaints are more common in pregnancy, they are not a normal part of being pregnant. Physical therapy can help.

Treatment may include: exercises to stretch tight muscles, strengthen weak muscles, and improve posture, manual techniques to restore joint alignment, soft tissue mobilization to relieve muscle tension and pain, and education on proper body mechanics to reduce stress on muscles and joints.

Urinary incontinence is a common condition that is often associated with pelvic floor muscle weakness. Pregnancy, childbirth, aging, menopause, and disuse can all cause your pelvic floor muscles to weaken. This can result in loss of bladder control. One-on-one training with a therapist can help you regain your pelvic floor strength which often decreases or eliminates this problem.

Treatment may include a specifically designed exercise program to help you correctly strengthen your pelvic floor muscles, biofeedback, education in proper use of these muscles during daily activities, and bladder retraining.

Those with urinary frequency and urgency often have abnormally high tension and/or weakness in the muscles of the pelvic floor. One-on-one training with a therapist can help you restore normal tone to these muscles and regain your pelvic floor strength which often decreases or eliminates these problems.

Treatment may include a specifically designed exercise program to help you correctly strengthen your pelvic floor muscles, muscle relaxation training through biofeedback, myofascial release, or internal soft tissue mobilization, and education in bladder irritants, urge deferment techniques, and bladder retraining.

One of the primary roles of the pelvic floor muscles is to support the pelvic organs. Pregnancy, childbirth, aging, menopause, and disuse can all cause your pelvic floor muscles to weaken. When this happens, it can result in relaxation of the pelvic organs including the bladder, uterus, and rectum. One-on-one training with a therapist can help you regain your pelvic floor strength which often decreases or eliminates these problems.

Treatment may include a specifically designed exercise program to help you correctly strengthen your pelvic floor muscles, biofeedback, education in proper use of the pelvic floor muscles during daily activities, and education in proper body mechanics to minimize the increases in intra-abdominal pressure during your normal daily activities.

Pelvic pain is often characterized by abnormally high tension in the muscles of the pelvic floor. This is a form of pelvic floor dysfunction and can contribute to urinary urgency and frequency, painful intercourse, chronic pelvic pain, vaginal or rectal pain, and constipation. Physical therapy to address the cause of this tension and restore normal tone can be very effective in alleviating these conditions. Treatment may include muscle relaxation training through biofeedback, electrical stimulation, myofascial release, internal soft tissue mobilization of involved muscles, and education in proper posture and body mechanics. The physical therapist will also evaluate your spine, pelvis and hips for any underlying dysfunctions, as problems in these areas can affect the tension of the pelvic floor muscles.

Interstitial cystitis is a condition of the bladder that is characterized by multiple symptoms such as urinary urgency, urinary frequency, and pelvic pain or pressure in the region of the bladder or pelvis. Many of the urinary, bowel, or sexual symptoms that IC patients experience can be signs of pelvic floor dysfunction due to abnormally high tension in the muscles of the pelvic floor. Numerous studies support the effectiveness of specialized physical therapy treatment to help ease pain and bladder symptoms through treatment of pelvic floor dysfunction.

Treatment may include relaxation training through biofeedback, myofascial release, internal soft tissue mobilization of involved muscles, education in proper posture and body mechanics, and behavioral strategies to help reduce symptoms.

To read more about interstitial cystitis, visit www.ichelp.org

Following pelvic or abdominal surgery, you may be experiencing lingering pain and muscle weakness. Our therapists are available to work with you to mobilize scar tissue and restore muscle strength and tone to address these complications.

Treatment may include myofascial release, soft tissue massage, therapeutic exercise, and body mechanics training.

Physical therapy to address pelvic floor muscle weakness is an effective treatment for urinary incontinence following prostate surgery. Your pelvic floor muscles are located at the base of your pelvis between the pubic bone and the tail bone. Because these muscles are inside your pelvis, it can be difficult to isolate them. A physical therapist will work one-on-one with you to help you correctly strengthen your pelvic floor muscles which often decreases or eliminates this problem.

Treatment may also include biofeedback, education in proper use of these muscles during daily activities, and bladder retraining.

Like any other muscle in your body, the tension of the pelvic floor muscles can be abnormally high. This is a form of pelvic floor dysfunction and can contribute to rectal pain and constipation. Physical therapy to address the cause of this tension and restore normal tone can be very effective in alleviating these conditions.

Treatment may include muscle relaxation training through biofeedback, electrical stimulation, myofascial release, internal soft tissue mobilization of involved muscles, as well as education in adequate fiber and fluid intake, and proper evacuation techniques.

Fecal incontinence is often associated with pelvic floor muscle weakness. Childbirth, aging, menopause , straining during bowel movements, and disuse can all cause your pelvic floor muscles to weaken. This can result in loss of bowel control. One-on-one training with a therapist can help you regain your pelvic floor strength which often decreases or eliminates this problem.

Treatment may include a specifically designed exercise program to help you correctly strengthen your pelvic floor muscles, biofeedback, education in proper use of these muscles during daily activities, fecal urge control techniques, and proper defecation technique to eliminate straining with bowel movements.