By Cambria Oetken, DPT, PHRC Westlake Village The Clitoris. We Found it! There is conflicting evidence as to when the clitoris was exactly discovered and studied. It is thought to date back to 400 BC when Hippocrates described the clitoris as a protrusion which functioned to protect the vagina. There was a later time when anatomists denied its …
2024: A Year in Review
By Emily Tran Hello 2025, farewell 2024! It’s been another year full of changes for Pelvic Health and Rehabilitation Center. With the start of the new year, we would like to acknowledge all of the changes that have occurred both virtually and in person. Last year….. Social Media Expansion and Engagement With our ever increasing audience, we wanted …
Acknowledging the Musculoskeletal Syndrome of Menopause
By Cambria Oetken, DPT, PHRC Westlake Village and Stephanie Prendergast, MPT, PHRC Pasadena HOT off the Press: Menopause is finally getting the attention it deserves in recent years with an exponential amount of attention in 2024. This year, Let’s Talk Menopause has considered their advocacy work, heading to Capital Hill and hosting in-person events for women. Tamsen Fadel and …
New Terminology: Myofascial Urinary Frequency Syndrome
By Stephanie Prendergast, MPT, PHRC Pasadena Here at PHRC we help people recover from irritative bladder symptoms with pelvic floor physical and occupational therapy. Bladder symptoms plague millions of people on a daily basis and anyone suffering can explain how much the symptoms compromise their quality of life. Multiple terms and diagnoses have been used to describe bladder symptoms …
Surf Therapy as an Approach to Chronic Pain Management
A Novel Approach using Blue Mind Science By Tracey Chester, LMFT, CCTP Founder and Director of the Pain Trauma Institute In the summer and fall of 2023 an innovative study was born, “Project Stoke” (Surfing Therapy with the Ocean and Kinesthetic Engineering). Project Stoke is a collaboration between the Pain Trauma Institute (PTI) and USC’s Department of Biokinesiology and …
10 Things I Wish I Was Taught About My Period
feature image By PHRC Admin Team Menstruation. The word alone can bring a lot of emotions – confusion, embarrassment, relief, or sometimes just plain annoyance. Despite the fact that it’s a natural part of life for many people, there’s still so much we aren’t taught about our periods and menstrual cycles. Here are ten things I wish I was taught …
Dilators: helpful or harmful for recovering from pelvic pain?
By Stephanie Prendergast, MPT, Cofounder, PHRC Pasadena and Cambria Oetken, DPT, PHRC Westlake Village Spoiler alert: the answer is both. Let us explain. Vaginal dilators are tools used to assist in the treatment of pelvic floor dysfunction, specifically when there are issues with penetration of any kind. Historically, patients have had to direct their own care and may have purchased …
The “Skinny” on Ozempic and Your Pelvic Floor
Slimming Success or Health Setback? Weight Loss Drugs + The Pelvic Floor By Cambria Oetken, DPT, PHRC Westlake Village What is Ozempic? You may be familiar with the name “Ozempic,” “Semaglutide” or even “GLP-1” likely due to their social media presence and celebrity influencers, so what really are these drugs and what do they do in our bodies? Semaglutide …
A Media Mosaic: Articles and Podcasts featuring PHRC
By PHRC Admin Over the course of the years here at Pelvic Health and Rehabilitation Center, we have had numerous opportunities to collaborate with other professionals in the field. This blog is a compilation of the various articles, podcasts and resources we wanted to put in one place for you to be able to check out! Article Reviews ‘Just …
Recovering Postpartum: Pain and Perineal Tears
BY PHRC Admin Team All those who are pregnant and/or postpartum can benefit from pelvic floor physical therapy given the crucial role these muscles play during delivery and how prevalent dysfunction is after birth. Pelvic floor physical therapy reduces the risk of pelvic organ prolapse, urinary, bowel, and sexual dysfunction and pelvic pain. Similar to other diagnoses we treat, many …
How First-Line Therapies for Endometriosis Impacts Your Pelvic Health
By Alexa Savitz, DPT, PHRC Pasadena Endometriosis is a chronic inflammatory disease that is mediated by estrogen and can present as cyclic/non-cyclic pelvic pain, low back pain, GI and IBS symptoms, painful sex , infertility, painful bladder symptoms, fatigue and chronic pain, to name a few. The gold standard for diagnosis is laparoscopic excision surgery with histological confirmation. …
Let’s Talk Chronic Overlapping Pain Conditions
By Stephanie Prendergast, MPT, Cofounder, PHRC Pasadena Pelvic pain knowledge is improving, but not as quickly as desired by suffering patients. Many of our page followers might have some or all conditions shown. Researchers and NIH now term them Chronic Overlapping Pain Conditions (COPCs). Imagine if these symptoms and diagnoses were interconnected. Endometriosis, diagnosed via surgery biopsy, often overlaps …
Unboxing Menopause
It’s time for the FDA to remove the outdated and misleading boxed warning label on local vaginal estrogen. 75 million women in menopause are being held back by outdated and misleading FDA warnings on local vaginal estrogen—a proven, safe, and effective treatment for GSM symptoms like tissue thinning, painful sex, and recurrent UTIs. Despite overwhelming support from scientific studies, this …
Dry Needling- How It’s Relevant To Pelvic Health
By Elizabeth Akincilar, MSPT, Cofounder, PHRC Merrimack Let’s Talk Dry Needling What is dry needling? If you’ve ever found yourself asking this question, then this is the blog for you! This week we’re diving into dry needling to give you everything you need to know! From definitions, to variations, to the differences between dry needling and acupuncture- We’re covering it …
Interstitial Cystitis/Bladder Pain Syndrome: Diagnosis and Subtypes
By Jandra Mueller, DPT, MS, PHRC Encinitas September is Interstitial Cystitis/Bladder Pain Syndrome (IC/BPS) Awareness Month! This diagnosis deserves attention! Interstitial Cystitis/Bladder Pain Syndrome (IC/BPS), is a chronic pelvic pain condition affecting an estimated 12 million people in the United States, and a diagnosis that we see all too often. Despite its prevalence, the causes of Interstitial Cystitis/Bladder Pain Syndrome …
A Guide to Relaxing Your Pelvic Floor
By Cambria Oetken, DPT, PHRC Westlake Village What is the Pelvic Floor? The pelvic floor is a group of muscles and connective tissues that form a supportive “sling” at the base of your pelvis. They help control the collection of and release of urine, feces, and gas, they support pelvic organs, and the muscles contribute to sexual function. Just …
Success Story: Overcoming Perineal and Testicular Pain
By Amanda Stuart, DPT, PHRC Los Angeles Did you know that September is Chronic Pelvic Pain Awareness Month? Whether you have pelvic pain or need to treat pelvic pain, this blog will be following the success of one our patients and their time in pelvic floor physical therapy. Fact: Research shows that up to 16% of men suffer from …
Understanding Pelvic Venous Disorders: A Common Cause of Pelvic Pain
By Jandra Mueller, DPT, PHRC Encinitas & Guest Author Julie Baron, DPT, CSCS, PCES Having been a pelvic floor physical therapist for over twelve years, I can count on one hand the amount of times I have seen this diagnosis; yet, some sources say it is the second leading cause of chronic pelvic pain. Of the patients I have seen …
Neuropathic Pain in Pelvis: Q&A
By PHRC Team Several different nerves that supply the pelvis can cause neuropathic pain (nerve pain). We’re going to review a bit of what is involved with neuropathic pain, how to treat neuropathic pain, and follow up with all the questions we received on the topic! The pudendal nerve is probably the most common nerve that causes neuropathic pain …
Neuropathic Pelvic Pain: Beyond Pudendal Neuralgia
By Stephanie Prendergast, MPT, Cofounder PHRC Pasadena Many people experiencing burning in their pelvis or pain while sitting may google their symptoms and quickly arrive at a diagnosis of Pudendal Neuralgia. The pudendal nerve is an important pelvic nerve, however, the ilioinguinal nerve, the obturator nerve and the genitofemoral nerves can also cause pelvic pain and should not be …
Pelvic Health Products We Love – Part 2
By Jandra Mueller, DPT, MS, PHRC Encinitas We are back with an update on so many more cool products and tools to help you along your pelvic health journey. In case you missed it, part one of this series focused on some fun tools to help with improving pleasure and sexual health. Today we will present you with tools …