Hi everyone! What’s up!
In today’s blog, we are going to discuss some common things that Pelvic Floor Physical Therapists Treat on a daily basis.
Just as an FYI, we won’t be talking about treatment today! There are A LOT of things Pelvic Floor Physical Therapists do so I am trying to keep everything in a nutshell while still giving you important details of each diagnosis.
So-what you’re going to get is a list of common diagnoses and symptoms that are commonly seen with each one! This blog is not intended to diagnosis anyone! Just to give you information- if it seems familiar to you, or you are experiencing some of the symptoms, please feel free to reach out and we can discuss them at greater detail!
Alright- let’s get started!
We are first going to be discussing Incontinence.
Generally speaking, up to 50% of women report that they experience some type of urinary incontinence during their lifetimes. Roughly 6.5 million men in America suffer from Urinary Incontinence. About 25% of women under 45 years old without children and about 42% of high impact female athletes experience some type of incontinence.
What are the different types of incontinence?
Stress Urinary Incontinence is often the most heard of. It occurs when you leak during periods of increased abdominal pressure- a.k.a sneezing, coughing, squatting, lifting, laughing… very common things in daily life!
Urge Urinary Incontinence happens when an involuntary leakage is associated with a strong, sudden urge to use the restroom. In other words, you just can’t make it to the toilet in time. It is also generally associated with some type of environmental stimulus like running water or arriving home. Planning to void your urine early in order to avoid this tends to be a common coping mechanism that can actually increase your symptoms.
There are also two lesser known types of incontinence including Fecal Incontinence and Flatal Incontinence- which is the involuntary release of gas.
Our next common complaint is pain.
Now that is such a broad term! As physical therapists, we are able to treat anything that moves on your body- so anywhere you have pain, we can address! Some of the main things that are specific to Pelvic Floor PT include:
· abdominal discomfort
· lower back pain
· hip pain
· tailbone pain
· pain during insertion of a tampon
· pain with intercourse
Pregnancy can result in increased pain from hormone fluctuations and it can also aggravate old injuries due to lax ligaments.
Pregnancy and Postpartum make up a good portion of the clientele for other reasons as well.
Often times, women need some assistance learning to coordinate contractions of their muscles for good posture while carrying a baby, muscle strengthening and coordination for safe laboring and pushing during delivery, and re-learning how to use the pelvic floor after the trauma of giving birth.
The last topic we are going to discuss will probably be a little less familiar and that is Pelvic Organ Prolapse.
Pelvic Organ Prolapse is where the organs of the pelvis descend toward or through the opening of the vagina. This occurs because of a loss of support from the pelvic floor muscles, fascia, and ligaments in the area. Anything that increases pressure in the abdomen to a large enough degree can cause this- we often see it with women who are pregnant or who have already given birth.
Common symptoms experienced are feeling of heaviness in the pelvic region, a feeling like something is “falling out” of the vagina, vaginal flatulence, a lack of sensation during vaginal penetration and lower back pain.
There are several types of Pelvic Organ Prolapse that are then categorized into degree of severity. This requires a pelvic exam by a Gynecologist or a Pelvic Floor Physical Therapist.
These are not all of the things that pelvic physical therapists treat! But they are very common things that occur- even if no one wants to admit them!
If you have any questions or think you are experiencing symptoms of any of these- feel free to email me and we can discuss them in further detail!
Thank you for reading another addition to Recharged Performance Therapy’s Blog!
Dr. Paige Hubert, PT, DPT
Owner/Physical Therapist for Recharged Performance Therapy
Paige@RechargedPerformanceTherapy.com
(321) 802-1630