What to Expect in Pelvic therapy pt 1
You’ve probably stumbled onto this page because a provider told you to check out pelvic PT, you were researching on your own, or many possible other reasons. You’re probably wondering, what pelvic PT is and what do pelvic physical therapists do once you’re here?
Whether you have been to pelvic PT before or not, it is true that not all pelvic PT clinics or clinics that offer pelvic PT are the same. Many clinicians are trained differently, and/or have taken different courses. This has its own pros and cons, but it also means that it can take some searching to find a pelvic physical therapist that works for you. Here at The Pelvic Model, we use proven methods to help your pelvic dysfunction, and we are proficient in treating pelvic pain, bowel, bladder, sexual dysfunction, those who are pregnant or postpartum, and we offer transgender care. Depending what your body needs, we will tailor your assessment and treatment to your body. Here is what we do:
We get to know you and what you’re going through
The first thing that happens during your initial evaluation is that your pelvic PT will sit you down and ask you questions about the ins and outs of what you are going through. We want to make sure we are hitting all the points that are most important to you, and we want to get to the bottom of what is contributing to your symptoms. This will include questions about bowel, bladder, sexual function and current aches and pains. We also want to tailor your questions to find out how we can best help you reach your goals. Here are a few pelvis specific sample questions:
How frequently do you urinate?
Do you have urinary incontinence?
Do you push and strain with bowel movements?
Do you feel like you need to urinate/defecate when you have just gone or know you don’t actually need to go?
Do you have pain with urination, defecation, or sexual activity?
Do you have pain in the genitals?
& much more.
We know that pelvic floor dysfunction can include other parts of the body. Further questioning could include history of back pain or hip pain. We may inquire about medications, your surgical history, and any medical diagnosis that can be pertinent to your case. During this part of the process, we want to ask specific questions to get to know you and your body more. The answers to these questions can guide your clinician during the examination.
2. We perform a physical therapy examination
If any of you had gone through traditional orthopedic physical therapy, you know the therapists will check out posture, move joints and muscles around, check strength and range of motion, and assess neural tissues, etc. This is what we do in pelvic floor physical therapy as well. In this specialized field, The Pelvic Model physical therapists are trained to also take these special considerations into account:
Intraabdominal pressure
Myofascia
Visceral fascia
Pelvic floor muscles and function
Pelvic nerves
Breathing patterns
Posture and relation to how it affects the pelvis
Hip function
Back function
& much more
The first part of the evaluation, we tend to look at all the structures “externally,” which is everything that is not your pelvic floor. We take into consideration posture, movement mechanics, and other musculoskeletal qualities because this can affect what is going on with your pelvis. Afterwards, we look into your pelvic floor.
Pelvic floor assessment is an “internal assessment” where your therapist assesses the pelvic floor muscles and structures via vaginally or rectally or both. Here, we palpate the pelvic floor muscles, assess for restrictions, assess if the muscles have increased or decreased tone, how well they contract, relax, and lengthen, and we also assess neural structures if there is any irritation. Here, we can also assess for fascial restrictions surrounding select urinary organs, GI organs, and reproductive organs. While gathering all this information, your pelvic PT is making an assessment on what is contributing to your symptoms and is making a plan on how best to help you.
3. We go over what we had found
After we have gathered all of that information, we enter the last stage of the evaluation session to talk to you about the following:
How your body is supposed to function
How it is functioning
What we have found and how it contributes to what you are going through
Depending on what you came in for, we may give you general information about bowel, bladder, or sexual health that you can immediately implement. Here, we will come up with your plan of care, lay out what needs to be done, and educate you on what you should expect to help you reach your goals.
This is a brief synopsis of what the beginning stages of pelvic floor PT looks like. During the evaluation, our pelvic PTs are in tune to the sensitive nature of the process, and we put your comfort and safety first. Our priority is to work with you to help you reach your goals, and good communication with patient and provider is highly important to us. Your treatment is directly with a doctor of physical therapy that has been thoroughly trained to treat pelvic dysfunction. All evaluations and treatment sessions are one hour long, and patients receive one on one treatment directly with their pelvic health PT. If you’d like to book an evaluation or a 15 minute digital consultation, please click here.
In part 2, we will go over what the rest of your treatments here will look like. Stay tuned!
