Pelvic floor therapy is a type of physical therapy for the pelvic floor muscle group. The pelvic floor muscle group is responsible for a variety of functions including supporting the pelvic organs, assisting in bowel and bladder control, and contributing to sexual arousal and orgasm.
Pelvic floor physical therapy it is a good treatment option and alternative to surgery for patients who are suffering from urinary incontinence, difficulties in urination, bowel incontinence, constipation, abdominal pain, low back, SI pain, sexual dysfunction, pelvic pain or coccyx pain, vaginal or rectal pain, penile or testicular pain, as well as men and women prior to or after having pelvic surgery.
The treatment for pelvic floor issues is complex, there is no one size fits all treatment plan. Plans need to be tailored to treat a patients specific dysfunction and to ensure that they are meeting the patients short term and long term goals. The length of treatment and follow-up appointments needed to treat pelvic floor issues also is determined on a case-by-case basis. At Mindful Matters Wellness our physical therapists have completed advanced and specialized training to treat pelvic floor issues. During an initial evaluation our physical therapists will give recommendations for treatment based on their extensive knowledge of pelvic floor therapy and experience in dealing with pelvic floor issues.
All patients who are treated for pelvic floor issues at Mindful Matters Wellness first learn about the anatomy of their pelvis and how the different components of this important organ work together. In most cases, our patients do not know how to correctly contract and relax the pelvic muscles in relation to other muscles, so learning the anatomy of the pelvis is an important first step in understanding how to correctly strengthen the pelvic floor. Patients are also taught breathing and timing techniques to make the exercises more effective. In addition to learning exercises to help strengthen the pelvic floor, a physical therapist may also perform an internal exam to asses the muscle tone and integrity of the pelvic floor and and to gauge the patients pelvic floor motor control and function. If needed, a physical therapist will use hands-on manual therapy methods to massage or stretch the connective tissues to increase blood flow and treat the underlying dysfunction in the muscles, nerves, organs or joints.
There is a lot of evidence proving the effectiveness of pelvic floor physical therapy in helping to treat pelvic floor issues. If you are interested in learning more about pelvic floor physical therapy we highly recommend the American Physical Therapy Association as a resource for information. Or if you are interested in discussing pelvic floor therapy with one of our physical therapists you can schedule an appointment online.