I love my job and one of the reasons that I do is because I love seeing RESULTS and there’s not too many times that we don’t see results with what I do. The statement I get from a lot of people is “what exactly do you do?”, which is a valid question being that not many people know what a Pelvic PT is. Most people think I make people do “Kegels” or just talk to patients about their lady parts, but being a Pelvic PT is much more.
Some of the main diagnoses that I treat are Sciatic/SI joint pain in pregnancy, painful intercourse, and urinary incontinence/frequency. I have treated patients that have other diagnoses including constipation, fecal incontinence, and interstitial cystitis as well.
No matter what the diagnosis is, all patients have one thing in common… Pelvic Floor Dysfunction, and this is where I come in.
Pelvic Floor Dysfunction can mean a few different things. It can mean that your pelvic floor is weak, tight, or just having a hard time activating or coordinating with your breathing ( I will talk more about this is a later blog on urinary incontinence). On your first visit, this will be the first thing we need to find out.
Figuring out what is the root cause of your incontinence, pelvic pain, constipation, etc. will help guide us through the process of getting you better.
So, exactly how do we find out what your problem is?
There are a few different ways that we can determine the dysfunction in your pelvic floor. The first is an internal examination. An internal examination will help us know exactly what your pelvic floor is doing. Some of the things we feel for are muscle tone, quality of the tissue, scarring, atrophy, trigger points, and your muscle function. If you are unsure about undergoing a pelvic exam, we can try other options to further assess you.
Another option is biofeedback. With biofeedback, we use a small prob (that does go intervaginally) that can read the electrical activity of your pelvic floor muscle. It can tell us objectively how much you can “squeeze” and “let go”. I love doing biofeedback because, although an internal exam does give me a further understanding of your pelvic floor, you can actually SEE what your pelvic floor is doing.
The third option is to palpate your muscles externally. The pelvic floor muscles can be felt in different positions externally and I can teach you how to feel for that as well.
Whatever way you feel the most comfortable with the exam, the next step is where I educate you on what we found upon our examination. This is where I can help you with instructing you on exercises, relaxation techniques, or manual techniques.
The outcome of every session is for you to feel more confident in returning to doing the things you love. I want you to leave everyday with an understanding of what is actually going on and how we can fix it together.
If you have any questions about anything I discussed in this blog, please feel free to ask me anytime.
The best way to contact me is through email katherine@thriveptla.com
I look forward to being able to get to know you!