Pelvic Floor Therapy : Signs You Need It & What Treatment Involves
What is Pelvic Floor Therapy?
To Kegel or not? That is the golden question. It remains common misinformation, that everyone should do kegels. This is actually incorrect. Kegels are not for everyone! Even when kegels are indicated, often they are being done incorrectly.
Pelvic Floor Therapy is very similar to main-stream physical therapy in some ways; and different in others. It is similar because main-stream physical therapy addresses and treats the neuromusculoskeletal system; targeting your muscles, joints, connective tissue, and nervous system.
Many issues of the bladder, bowel, and pelvic area are occurring because of dysfunction of the muscles, connective tissue, or nerves in the pelvic area. Pelvic floor therapy is treated differently in that because the pelvic floor muscles are deeper; assessment can not be done superficially as done with other parts of the body.
What are the Symptoms of Pelvic Floor Dysfunction / What does Pelvic Floor Therapy Treat?
Pelvic floor therapy is used to treat disorders or symptoms caused by imbalances in muscle tone to the pelvic floor and associated muscles and structures.
Here is a list of common conditions:
- Frequent urination
- Strong urge to urinate (urgency)
- Incontinence (uncontrolled loss of urine or stool)
- Pelvic pain (Pain in the pelvis, abdomen, during intercourse)
- Constipation
- Pregnancy/Post Pregnancy pain
- Pelvic organ prolapse
What To Expect At My Appointment….
Examination of the pelvic floor is performed by palpating the perineal area; including the vagina and/or rectum. Internal palpation is an integral part of the pelvic floor assessment and is considered the gold standard treatment. During the examination, your therapist is assessing skin condition, muscle tone, strength, endurance, scar mobility, and function of the pelvic floor.
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