What to Expect at Pelvic Floor PT
Is Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy new for you? Have you often wondered what Pelvic Floor PT entails? Or felt nervous because you aren’t sure what to expect? Then keep reading because I will answer all of your questions and put your mind at ease about pelvic floor physical therapy.
What is pelvic floor PT?
Pelvic floor physical therapy is a specialized area of physical therapy that focuses on dysfunctions that involve the pelvic floor muscles, nerves or blood/lymph flow. These include issues such as incontinence, diastasis recti, painful intercourse, pelvic pain, pelvic congestion, and pelvic organ prolapse (just to name a few).
Due to the specialized nature of these issues, it is crucial to work with a pelvic floor PT since most physical therapists have not had the additional training in this area that is required to treat the issues successfully.
Your first pelvic floor PT appointment:
At your first appointment with Revitalize Physical Therapy, the first thing we do is sit down and chat (with coffee if you’d like too!). We go over your medical history together, listen to what has been giving you trouble, and what your goals are. Getting to know our clients helps us learn what is truly important to you so that we are meeting your expectations. It is important to us that you feel comfortable and trust us with your care. Most clients feel more comfortable in workout clothes for their first appointment in order to move easier. Feel free to wear what you feel the most comfortable in but our physical therapists need to access the injured area.
After learning your medical history, we do a variety of different tests in order to figure out the root cause of your issue. These include assessing posture, pelvic and spinal mobility, range of motion, and strength. In addition, we also look at the ability to activate your core muscles and how they coordinate with your diaphragm and pelvic floor. Depending on the situation, we may want to assess the pelvic floor muscles internally so we know how they are activating, if they can fully relax (Kegels aren’t always a good thing! Read more about that HERE), are they well coordinated, and do they have any trigger points or areas of scar tissue.
After gathering all of our information, we sit down with you and discuss what we found, what that means, and if we are able to help you meet your goals.
Considerations:
Not everyone is comfortable with an internal pelvic floor examination, which is done with one finger so there are no speculums involved, and not everyone may be able to have one. For example, experiencing pelvic pain and being unable to have intercourse due to pain would be a reason for not performing an internal exam. We will never knowingly cause pain with what we are doing so we are also able to assess externally. We want to respect your wishes and work within your comfort zone so this is always discussed prior to any examination.
The Revitalize Difference:
At Revitalize Physical Therapy, we focus on making our clients feel comfortable during treatment since these can be very sensitive topics to talk about. Our office includes private treatment rooms closed off with a door rather than a curtain like other clinics. We purposely did not place our treatment rooms in the middle of a gym space where other people are constantly working or hanging out.
In addition, we believe in providing a personalized, hands-on approach to each of our clients so it is not a one-size-fits-all approach. Our physical therapists work together with you to develop a game plan that will work best for you with the best results so you can live a healthy, active life! Working FOR our clients allows us to give you exactly what you need to get better faster. We don’t want to waste your time or money with exercises you could do at home! If you want to read more about how we are different, click HERE.
Misconceptions:
Over the years, I have heard a common theme from clients. So many of them have suffered for months or years and still don’t have answers. Maybe you’ve experienced this yourself - told to just wait six more months or give it more time, told that it is just normal because you are a mom now, told that it is just normal because you are getting older now, told to just have some wine and relax, told to just take pain pills to help, or told that it is all in your head. I feel that it is time to give women answers and help them understand their issues so that we can start providing real solutions (because all of the above are excuses…).