Thanks to social media, word of mouth, and increasing awareness of the pelvic floor muscles, pelvic floor physical therapy (PT) has become more and more mainstream. Want to know who benefits from this specialty treatment, and if you are a candidate for pelvic PT? Read on to find out!
Pelvic PT helps people of all ages and genders overcome issues relating to bladder and bowel function or lack of control; issues with sexual function; and pelvic, low back, or hip pain. In other words, if you have any concerns with the four P’s – pee, poop, procreation, or pain, pelvic floor PT might be for you!
Pee Problems
Pelvic floor physical therapy helps people who have issues with bladder function. Urinary leakage is commonly treated with great success in the clinic. Whether unwanted leakage occurs with daily activities such as coughing, sneezing, or laughing, or with higher-level activities such as jumping and running, pelvic floor PT can help you keep your pants dry. Pelvic PT also offers hope and recovery for people who feel like they always have to pee – urinary urgency and frequency, bladder pain, or even leaking urine with a strong urge are commonly treated in pelvic PT as well.
Poop Problems
Constipated? Yes, that is commonly treated in pelvic floor PT too! Your pelvic floor muscles play an important role in allowing you to pass bowel movements, and if there are dysfunctions in how the muscles work, it could be backing you up. Constipation might also contribute to other issues – notably back pain, hip pain, or issues with urination or sexual function. Other people who may benefit from pelvic PT include those who experience pain or difficulty passing bowel movements, abdominal pain/GI pain, excessive wiping or fecal smearing, and bowel leakage.
Procreation Problems
Whether it is returning to intimacy after having a baby, overcoming recent or long-term limitations in the ability to have and enjoy penetrative intercourse, or improving sensation with sex, pelvic floor physical therapy helps people with vaginas better engage in and enjoy sex. Internal treatment is always at the discretion of the patient, and treatment is tailored to meet individual needs such as improving scar tissue mobility after having a baby or surgery, decreasing muscle tension, calming the nervous system, or teaching on the use of tools to use at home to improve sexual function. And speaking of procreation, pelvic PT is not just for the postpartum period, it also helps pregnant people manage pain/unwanted symptoms, provide guidance on exercise during pregnancy, and optimize their body for labor and delivery.
For people with penises, concerns commonly addressed in pelvic health PT include pain with erection or ejaculation, difficulty getting and maintaining erections, or difficulties with ejaculation. These issues may have developed over time or occurred after an injury or surgery such as a prostatectomy. The pelvic floor muscles play critical roles in enabling people to achieve and maintain erections and have a pleasurable ejaculation experience, and limitations or issues in the muscles can lead to compromises in these essential functions of the penis. Your pelvic PT can help identify and improve these physical structures contributing to limitations in sexual function.
Pain Problems
Pain anywhere around the pelvis, low back, or hips? Pelvic floor physical therapy can treat that too. Whether pain has been there for a long time or started more recently, your pelvic PT will work with you to find the primary cause of symptoms and provide treatment and home exercises to reduce and eliminate pain in order to get you back to living the life you love. The pelvic floor muscles are part of the deep core, which also includes the respiratory diaphragm, deep abdominal muscles, and low back muscles. The health of the whole trunk, low back, hips, and pelvis depends on each of these four muscle groups performing their jobs and working well together. Accordingly, if there is dysfunction in one of these four core muscles, it could throw off the system and cause issues anywhere in the region. With that in mind, dysfunction of the pelvic floor muscles often leads to pain in the back or the hips, and therefore pelvic PT can help identify and improve the root cause of the problem – even if it is not in the pelvis!
Still not sure if pelvic PT is for you? Reach out to us or your local pelvic PT for more information.
Source:
Understanding The Pudendal Nerve and Healing From Pudendal Neuralgia: https://n2physicaltherapy.com/b/understanding-the-pudendal-nerve-and-healing-from-pudendal-neuralgia