Pain Science Education for Pelvic Pain: What the Research Really Says By Stephanie Prendergast, MPT, PHRC Pasadena Pain science education (PSE)—sometimes called pain neuroscience education—aims to help people understand what pain is, how it’s produced by the nervous system, and why it can persist even after tissues have healed. In chronic pelvic pain, where biological, psychological, and social factors often …
Manual Therapy for Myofascial Pelvic Pain: Part 2
By Stephanie Prendergast, MPT, PHRC Pasadena In our last blog post we summarized general benefits of manual therapy for myofascial pain. In this post, we are going to take a deeper dive and explore the benefits of manual therapy for myofascial pelvic pain syndromes. This will be a three part series, our next post examines the evidence behind Pain Science …
Manual Therapy for Myofascial Pain: Part 1
By Stephanie Prendergast, MPT, PHRC Pasadena I’m honored to be speaking at PelviCon 2025, an outstanding event created by Nicole Cozean and Jessica Reale for clinicians passionate about pelvic health. Each speaker will be delivering two lectures, and one of mine is titled: “Pain Science Education vs. Manual Therapy: A Practitioner’s Dilemma.” Why is this a dilemma? Research consistently shows …
Female Pelvic Pain: Everything You Need to Know
Table of Contents . What is Female Pelvic Pain? . How Does Pelvic Floor Dysfunction Cause Female Pelvic Pain? . What are the Symptoms of Female Pelvic Pain? . What are the Causes of Female Pelvic Pain? . What is the Treatment for Female Pelvic Pain? . What Conditions are Commonly Linked to Pelvic Pain? . What are the Diagnostic …
Updates On Male Pelvic Pain aka CP/CPPS
By Stephanie Prendergast, MPT, PHRC Pasadena What is Chronic Prostatitis/Chronic Pelvic Pain Syndrome? According to me (Stephanie Prendergast), these terms are outdated and not helpful for the management of the actual syndrome. The term “prostatitis’ is misleading because roughly 97% of men with these symptoms do NOT have prostate pathology. The diagnosis ‘Chronic Pelvic Pain Syndrome” is problematic because the …
Can Psilocybin Help Manage Pelvic Pain?
Exploring a Psychedelic Frontier in Women’s Health By Stephanie Prendergast, MPT, PHRC Pasadena Chronic pelvic pain (CPP) is a debilitating condition affecting millions of individuals—primarily women—worldwide. For many, the journey toward diagnosis and effective treatment is long, frustrating, and often fruitless. But could a centuries-old compound from “magic mushrooms” offer a new path forward? Recent years have seen a resurgence …
Understanding Interstitial Cystitis: What You Need to Know in 2025
By Elizabeth Akincilar, MPT, Cofounder, PHRC Merrimack As pelvic therapists, we work closely with patients experiencing chronic pelvic pain and urinary dysfunction. One of the most challenging and often misunderstood diagnoses we see is Interstitial Cystitis (IC)—also referred to as Bladder Pain Syndrome (BPS). Thanks to recent research, we’re beginning to understand this condition in more depth, especially the distinction …
Understanding Pelvic Neuralgias: What You Need to Know
By Elizabeth Akincilar, MPT, Cofounder, PHRC Merrimack If you’re experiencing sharp, burning, or shooting pain in your pelvis, genitals, or anal/rectal area—especially when sitting, or with urinary, bowel or sexual functioning—it may be due to a pelvic neuralgia. These nerve-related pain conditions are often underdiagnosed and misunderstood, even though they can severely impact daily life. As pelvic therapists, we regularly …
Men’s Health Month: Pelvic Floor Therapy + Sexual Health
June is Men’s Health Month: Let’s Talk About Pelvic Floor Therapy and Male Sexual Health By Jandra Mueller, DPT, MS, PHRC Encinitas June is Men’s Health Month—a time dedicated to raising awareness about preventable health issues and encouraging early detection and treatment of disease among men and boys. While topics like heart disease, prostate cancer, and mental health are often …
Updates on the Process of Care for Orgasm Dysfunction
The Big “O” – Let’s talk Updates in Care By Jandra Mueller, DPT, MS, PHRC Encinitas When people hear the word “orgasm,” most people probably think about ‘pleasure.’ What actually is an orgasm? When it comes to truly understanding this complex physiological and psychological phenomenon—especially in clinical settings—the conversation is much more nuanced. At the 2025 ISSWSH/ISSM Annual Meeting, …
Pelvic Floor Therapy for EDS & Hypermobility
Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome & Hypermobility Spectrum Disorders: How Pelvic Floor Physical and Occupational Therapy Can Help By Jandra Mueller, DPT, MS, PHRC Encinitas SCHEDULE APPOINTMENT Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS) is a group of 13 heritable connective tissue disorders. Genetic changes impact our connective tissue, causing joint hypermobility, skin hyperextensibility, and tissue fragility. Though it’s a multisystemic condition, one of the often-overlooked …
Understanding Mast Cell Mediated Genitopelvic Pain
Emerging Perspectives on Chronic Pelvic Pain and Sexual Health By Jandra Mueller, DPT, MS, PHRC Encinitas SCHEDULE APPOINTMENT Last fall (2024), I attended a mast cell conference where my colleague Alyssa Yee, MD and I were invited to speak about the topic of pelvic pain conditions and the role of mast cells; specifically on the topic of endometriosis and …
Mental Health: A Vital Conversation for Chronic Pain Sufferers
By Emily Tran, AMFT SCHEDULE APPOINTMENT By definition, mental health relates to our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It influences how we think, feel, and behave in everyday life. But what really is mental health? For many of us, mental health might be seen only as a clinical concept; however, it is far deeper and much more personal. It …
Obturator Internus: A Treatable But Often Overlooked Little Beast
By Stephanie Prendergast, MPT, PHRC Pasadena SCHEDULE APPOINTMENT Comprehensive pelvic floor physical and occupational therapy includes much more than examination and treatment of pelvic floor muscles. Many factors contribute to normal and abnormal pelvic floor functioning, this post and series will focus on muscles of the pelvic girdle and how they influence the pelvic floor. The pelvic girdle …
Male Pelvic Floor Dysfunction: Symptoms, Causes & Treatment
Table of Contents . Introduction . Male Pelvic Floor Anatomy and Physiology . Diagnostic Challenges and Categories . Symptoms of Male Pelvic Floor Dysfunction . Urinary . Bowel . Sexual . Pelvic floor, girdle, trunk, and lower extremity pain . Causes of Male Pelvic Floor Dysfunction . Treatment for Male Pelvic Floor Dysfunction . Why PHRC and What To Expect …
Posture and the Pelvic Floor: Why Your Posture Matters!
Why Does Our Posture Matter for Our Pelvic Health? By Jandra Mueller, DPT, MS, PHRC Encinitas SCHEDULE APPOINTMENT When we think about our posture, we often think “mine can be better” and we picture sitting up straight or avoiding slouching to prevent back or neck pain. Usually these corrections last a few minutes until we find ourselves slumped back …
Origins of Our Private Parts: A Fascinating Etymology Lesson
By Elizabeth Akincilar, MSPT, PHRC Lexington SCHEDULE APPOINTMENT At the Pelvic Health and Rehabilitation Center, we talk about the pelvis all day long. But today, instead of focusing on how it works, let’s explore something just as interesting—where our body part names actually come from! If you’ve ever wondered why we call certain body parts what we do, you’re …
Dietary Interventions for Endometriosis: What You Need to Know
By Amanda Stuart, DPT, PHRC Los Angeles SCHEDULE APPOINTMENT Endometriosis is a chronic condition affecting millions of women worldwide, causing severe pelvic pain, painful periods, and even infertility. While medical and surgical interventions exist, many women seek additional ways to manage their symptoms—one of the most promising being dietary changes. Research suggests that diet influences inflammation, hormone levels, and …
Endometriosis Awareness Month: Lessons Learned
Lessons Learned & Future Hopes By Jandra Mueller, DPT, MS, PHRC Encinitas SCHEDULE APPOINTMENT Once a year, in March, individuals – providers, advocates, and patients, dedicate their time to promoting education around increasing awareness about Endometriosis. Though for many of us, we are just becoming louder during this time, hoping our efforts will expand further. We are in a …
How Your Muscles Create the Ultimate Crescendo
The Orgasm Orchestra: Designed by PHRC and explained by Dr. Maria Uloko SCHEDULE APPOINTMENT A little bit about Dr. Uloko before we dive into this blog…Dr. Maria Uloko is a board-certified urologist, researcher, and educator, internationally recognized for her work in sexual health, vulvar anatomy, and disparities in care. She is one of only seven experts globally trained in …
Success Story: How Chris Conquered CPPS
By Alexa Savitz, DPT, PHRC Pasadena SCHEDULE APPOINTMENT At PHRC we are no strangers to working with male pelvic pain patients. About 50% of our case loads at PHRC can be made up of male pelvic pain diagnoses. Research shows that up to 16% of men suffer from Chronic Pelvic Pain Syndrome (CPPS) at some point in their life. …