By: Shannon Pacella, DPT, PHRC Lexington As you may know, us pelvic floor physical and occupational therapistss tend to talk about the pelvic floor muscles quite a lot. However, we also assess and treat many other muscles surrounding the trunk, pelvis, hips, and thighs, that influence pelvic health and various pelvic floor muscle dysfunctions. If […]
Vulvodynia can affect up to 25% of women in their lifetime.1 The vulva is the anatomical term for the external genitalia in women that includes the clitoris, labia, mons pubis, and vestibule (vaginal opening). Vulvodynia has received specific diagnostic terminology as we now know there are various causes and presentations of symptoms that can be […]
The holiday season tends to be a stressful time for many people. It’s not uncommon for people to feel their bodies tense up as the levels of stress and anxiety rise – and every year we see an increase in patient numbers as a result. In December, I had the opportunity to evaluate a male […]
By: Sigourney Cross, DPT, PHRC Walnut Creek If you’re anything like me, you’ve probably spent the last couple of months eating everything in sight. With Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s back to back, it’s hard to say no to all those delicious side dishes and homemade desserts. But now that the holidays have come to […]
By: Guest Blogger – Kristen Herlihy On January 16, 2019 at 1:30pm EST PHRC Cofounder Elizabeth Akincilar and Baby Boot Camp instructor Kristen Herlihy will be discussing postpartum fitness! For information on how to tune in and listen, please visit their Facebook page. In the spirit of this talk, Kristen wanted to share her thoughts […]
By: Stephanie Prendergast, PHRC Cofounder January is often the time to reflect on the past year and set goals for the future. So, in that spirit, we thought it would be fun to dedicate this post to a few top Pelvic Health and Rehabilitation Center events of 2018….and a peak forward to 2019. In no […]
Asking patients about pain is a major component of an initial evaluation as well as with follow-up treatments. Monitoring changes in pain behavior, the intensity and the location can help gauge treatment success and progress. However, not a lot of people are aware of a major source of pain which is visceral pain. Kevin Hellman, […]
By: Elizabeth Akincilar, PHRC Cofounder For some of you reading this, October conjures images of autumn leaves, Halloween, and pumpkin spiced…everything. For me, there’s one additional thing that I associate with October. The Annual International Pelvic Pain Society Scientific Meeting. Every October, for the past 13 years, I’ve attended and participated in this meeting. […]
Pelvic floor dysfunction can lead to symptoms like pain with sex or urinary incontinence, which can have a negative impact on someone’s quality of life. Many patients seen at The Pelvic Health and Rehabilitation Center report pain with gynecological visits, primarily pelvic exams and pap smears. While few people jump for joy at the idea […]
Remember our earlier post on fascia? Simply put, fascia is a continuous sheath of connective tissues that lines everything in our body – the organs, bones, muscles, blood vessels, nerves etc. Healthy fascia is fluid and mobile. It allows everything in the body to slide and glide promoting healthy and balanced movement. Restrictions in fascia […]
Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is considered a functional gastrointestinal disorder. The Rome Foundation defines IBS as when a person has chronic abdominal pain at least one day per week in the last three months combined with at least two of the following: abdominal pain related to having a bowel movement; abdominal pain onset is associated […]
By: Shannon Pacella, DPT, PHRC Lexington With Halloween just occuring, I had been seeing skeleton decorations everywhere and it got me thinking about anatomy. Cue the ‘Dem Bones’ song we sang as kids – “the knee bones connected to the thigh bone, the thigh bones connected to the hip bone,” the ankle bones connected to […]
By: Kim Buonomo, PT, DPT, PHRC Lexington At the International Pelvic Pain Society’s annual meeting I had the great opportunity to listen to two presenters discuss the role of medications in managing pelvic pain. In this blog, I’ll be talking about Dr. Stephen Ziegler PhD, JD from Purdue University’s lecture regarding the opioid epidemic […]
By: Kim Buonomo, DPT, Lexington Don’t hold your breath! What do you do when you poo? It sounds like something from Dr. Seuss. It’s a strange question, and some of our patients don’t know how to answer it. Next time you have a bowel movement, try to think about the specifics. How are your feet […]
By: Jandra Mueller, DPT, MS, PHRC Encinitas If you are a female reader of our blog, have experienced painful intercourse, and happened to have come to the Pelvic Health and Rehabilitation Center (PHRC) for treatment, then you are probably familiar with our talk about how systemic birth control like oral contraceptives (OCPs) or “The Pill,” […]
Introduction by Melinda Fontaine, article by guest bloggers Eloise Theisen, AGPCNP-BC and Timothy Byars From Melinda: For years, I have seen my patients using cannabis to treat a variety of conditions. A common complaint is the lack of guidance to do so. Recently, I found a medical professional who is not afraid to make specific […]
Last week, in Part 1 of What is a good pelvic PT session like, we described what a pelvic floor physical therapy evaluation consists of and how we go about developing an assessment and setting goals to help our patients get better. This week we dive deeper into pelvic floor physical and occupational therapy treatment […]
Pelvic Health and Rehabilitation Center is proud to announce that we now have eight locations across the country. Our newest locations include Walnut Creek, CA, Bedford, NH and Westlake Village, CA. We pride ourselves on our constant commitment to give the best possible care for our patients. Patients suffering from long-standing pelvic conditions are often […]
In the age of social media and WebMD, often times I will have a patient who has gained information from all sorts of sources all over the internet. It takes a lot of effort to weed through the information that the patient has “learned” and separate fact from fiction. One of the best and most […]
By Jandra Mueller Here at PHRC we talk a lot about birth control. Primarily, hormonal oral contraceptives, but there are so many other options. This post will take an in-depth look at one of our favorite contraceptives: condoms. HISTORY Yes, jimmy hats, rubbers, french letters. They have been called many names, but at the end […]
By: Elizabeth Akincilar Last week, Shannon Pacella, DPT, taught us how physical and occupational therapy can benefit transgender individuals prior to gender affirming surgery and for those who choose not to undergo gender affirming surgery. You can read her blog here. This week, I present Part two, where I will explain why physical and occupational […]
