Pelvic Floor Therapy Helps Solve
Stress Incontinence
Stress Incontinence is an anatomical condition that occurs when pressure is put on the bladder from a laugh, cough, sneeze, jump, bend, etc., and that pressure exceeds the urethral closure pressure.
Our Pelvic Floor Therapy program is a comprehensive plan of care to rehabilitate the pelvic muscle through pelvic muscle exercises, Electrical Stimulation, lifestyle modification, and a lifetime maintenance plan. It is based on the fact that a strong pelvic muscle will help to hold sphincter muscles together,like a rubber band, at the Urethra which helps stop urinary leakage.
Common causes can include: pregnancy, childbirth, obesity, straining, chronic constipation, heavy lifting, age, high impact exercise, and chronic coughing.
Overactive Bladder
OAB is a neurological condition. The detrusor muscle contracts, but the brain did not instruct it to. A person feels the sensation to go, but the bladder is not always full.
Symptoms are often Urgency, Frequency, Urge Incontinence, and Nocturia
Estimated 40 millions Americans over 40 years. old have OAB
We follow a multifaceted plan of care to manage and resolve OAB that includes:
Pelvic Muscle Rehabilitation
Pelvic Floor Stimulation to reeducate the neuro signal and increase urethral closure pressure
Dietary Modification (These changes can reduce leakage as much as 50%.)
Bladder Retraining
Prolapse
Prolapse refers to a descending or dropping of organs that create a bulge in the vagina; typically after childbirth, menopause, or a hysterectomy. Further contributing factors are obesity, respiratory chronic, long-term cough, or constipation.
Pelvic Floor Therapy strengthens the pelvic floor muscles, taking the strain off the ligaments, and reducing the prolapse.
* 65-65% of premenopausal women are affected.
* 80% of patients report significant improvement.
Constipation
As much as 50% of people with chronic Constipation have pelvic floor dysfunction (PFD) - impaired relaxation and coordination of pelvic floor and abdominal muscles during evacuation. Constipation is either slow transit constipation or functional constipation.
Strategy of Treatment:
• Dietary Changes
• Increase Fiber
• Pelvic Floor Therapy
Characteristics of Constipation:
• Straining, hard , thin stools
• Less than 2 bowel movements per week
• Sensation of incomplete evacuation
• Sensation of pushing against a blockage
Fecal Incontinence
There are many conditions that can cause Fecal Incontinence - vaginal childbirth, constipation, muscle or nerve damage, aging, diseases, and anal surgery.
Pelvic Floor Therapy uses devices to help you learn how to do exercises to strengthen the muscles in your anus, pelvic floor and rectum. It can also help you:
• Sense when stool is filling your rectum
• Control strong sensations of urgency
Painful Intercourse
There are many conditions that can cause Dyspareunia - Hi-tone muscles, Prolapse, and atrophy are just a few.
One of the primary goals of Pelvic Floor Therapy is to retrain the pelvic floor muscles to relax. The muscles become overly contracted which perpetuates this painful condition and creates a guarding response that must be unlearned.
Interstitial Cystitis
IC is a condition of urinary urgency, frequency, bladder Inflamation, and pelvic pain of which dyspareunia is often a feature. Interstitial cystitis is also called painful bladder syndrome.
It is a chronic condition in which a person experiences bladder pressure, bladder pain and sometimes pelvic pain, ranging from mild discomfort to severe pain.
Pelvic Floor Therapy can eliminate the pelvic floor component of IC symptoms. This can be the primary cause of symptoms in some patients. Releasing tension in the pelvic floor allows the entire region, including the bladder, to relax and begin to function normally again.
Pelvic floor physical therapy is among the most-studied and most- proven treatments for interstitial cystitis—in fact, it’s suggested as a first-line medical treatment by the American Urological Association.
Vulvodynia
Vulvodynia, of which Vestibulitis is a subset, refers to vulvar pain, which is often chronic and unremitting and without an identifiable cause. The location, constancy and severity varies among women. The most common reported symptom is burning, while others report “knife-like” pain.
Pelvic Floor Therapy helps relax tissues in the pelvic floor and release tension in muscles and joints. This therapy also trains a person to strengthen the pelvic floor muscles. Strengthening these muscles may help lessen the pain. Electrical stimulation is also used to help relieve pain and promote healthy blood flow to the tissues.
Vaginismus
Vaginismus is defined whereby vaginal penetration is prevented by “spasm of the outer two thirds of the vagina” or “painful spasmodic contraction of the vagina” in response to physical contraction or pressure. It is a tightening of the vaginal muscle at penetration.
Pelvic Floor Therapy provides a customized exercise plan to strengthen the pelvic floor and to help stretch and relax the muscles. Electrical Stimulation may also be used to help relax the pelvic floor and release spastic muscles. The Pelvic Floor Specialist will establish a personalized, comprehensive treatment program based on specific needs.
