If you’ve ever said the following: “It feels like there’s a wall there.” “I can’t insert a tampon.” “I can’t have penetrative sex with my husband.” “I was told I need to drink a glass of wine right before sex, but that still doesn’t help.” You might be experiencing vaginismus symptoms. DEFINITION What exactly is vaginismus? Vaginismus, pronounced vaj-uh-niz-muhs, is …
Playing with your sex hormones with Propecia use can play with your sex life
“If you “play with sex steroid hormones” using finasteride (propecia) – the goal of finasteride (propecia) is to reduce the synthesis of the sex steroid hormone – dihydrotestosterone – then you will likely “play with your sex life” – as sexual function is very much related to sex steroid hormone levels”, says sexual medicine expert and urologist Dr. Irwin Goldtsein. Propecia (aka …
Behind the Scenes: A Glimpse of PHRC
Next week, the Pelvic Health and Rehabilitation Center will turn NINE. In 2006, Liz and I wanted to be more involved in the field than our current work situation permitted. So, we quit our jobs, hoped we could pay our mortgages and started the Pelvic Health and Rehabilitation Center. We wanted to provide the highest quality of care to our patients, …
Life After Cancer: The Role of Pelvic Physical and Occupational Therapy
Every year over 70,000 American women are diagnosed with gynecological cancer, according to the CDC. A diagnosis of gynecological cancer can be devastating, but, as medical technology and research advances, more and more women with this diagnosis are becoming cancer survivors. Although surviving cancer is an amazing feat, many of these women are left with a decreased quality of life …
Come Again? An Orgasm Guide
I remember coming of age as a hormonal teen- before the days of google (believe it), hearing whispers about “orgasms”. It was like I went home for summer break with all of my childhood intact and when I came back to school in the fall, my peers were suddenly obsessed. I was bombarded with comments (from both sexes) of orgasms …
Nobody Puts Baby in the Corner! Proper Body Mechanics for Parents
By Melinda Fontaine, DPT Having a baby is like running a marathon with your pelvic floor and pelvic girdle muscles. Did you know that: 65% of women who had low back or pelvic girdle pain during pregnancy reported persitent symptoms 14 months after delivery1 20 -70 % of new moms experience stress urinary incontinence 2 24% of women still experience …
Pudendal Neuralgia Media Wrecking Ball: Why words matter
By Stephanie Prendergast, PHRC Cofounder Most people dealing with the symptoms of Pudendal Neuralgia (PN) will tell you reading about PN, mostly online, can be traumatizing. “Chronic” conditions often translate to gloomy situations for both patients and providers. In recent years, the knowledge of pain science and PN has advanced tremendously. In the medical community there is overwhelming evidence to …
Recurrent Urinary Tract Infections: the proverbial ring of fire
Urinary tract infections (UTI) are considered to be the most common bacterial infection in humans, costing the US health care system about $1.6 billion dollars per year. These infections plague millions of people at some point or another throughout the lifetime. In fact, some research suggests that a female’s lifetime risk of getting one is as high as 1 in …
What is Vulvodynia? The International Consensus Conference on Vulvodynia Nomenclature
By Stephanie Prendergast, PHRC Cofounder What is Vulvodynia? Is it a symptom, a disease, or a syndrome? What does the term ‘Vuvlodynia’ mean to people with vulvar pain, pelvic pain specialists, medical professionals, and the community in general? In a previous blog post I wrote about how in the pelvic pain world, diagnosis does not dictate treatment. Many pelvic pain diagnoses simply …
Is it still Prostatitis if my cultures are negative?
Chronic Prostatitis! It’s not something discussed at a baseball game or at a family gathering. However, it is estimated that between 2-14% of men worldwide are diagnosed with chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CP/CPPS)1. But what exactly is CP/CPPS? According to the National Institutes of Health, CP/CPPS, also known as category III prostatitis, is characterized by pain in the pelvic …
Ending Kegel Confusion: Here’s What You Need to Know
I recently had the opportunity to get together with a group of moms through the Holistic Moms Network (HMN) in Fremont, CA. I had put together a talk on what I thought were the most common issues moms of any age might be facing, but I wanted to spend some time asking them what they felt they needed more information …
Get to know your Vulva: A Guide to Self Examination
By Rachel Gelman, DPT “ Let’s just start with the word vagina. Vagina. It sounds like an infection at best. Maybe a medical instrument. ‘Hurry, nurse, bring me the vagina.’ Vagina. Vagina. It doesn’t matter how many times you say the word, it never sounds like a word you want to say. ”-Eve Ensler, The Vagina Monologues There are many …
Where’s the Yeast? When pelvic floor dysfunction mimics yeast infections
Vaginal yeast infections aka candidiasis, are an uncomfortable and common issue that many women find themselves dealing with at some point. Three out of four women will experience at least one vaginal yeast infection in their lifetimes-many will experience two or more. If you’ve had one you know that the symptoms can be enough to drive you crazy: -severe vaginal/labia …
Growing Pains: A Story of Sex, Vaginismus, and Clinically Approved Dildos
By Jackie M. White This week writer Jackie White, writer, educator, and creator of the website Sexual Healing, shares her colorful story and essay on pelvic pain. Growing Pains: A Story of Sex, Vaginsmus, & Clinically Approved Dildos Not Just Another Blog Post, Folks… Back in September 2014, the North American chapter of World Sexual Health Day announced that my personal …
Coffee with Lorimer
This week guest blogger and esteemed LA colleague, Julie Weibe, PT talks about her conversation the brilliant Lorimer Moseley, Ph.D., B.App.Sc. Her posts sums up one of the reasons Steph and Liz asked Dr. Moseley to write the forward for their book, Pelvic Pain Explained. Here’s what Julie has to say: November 17th 2014 Well, we didn’t actually have coffee. …
Dairy and Pelvic Pain
By guest blogger Jordan Hoffman Stephanie here: In the late summer and early fall of last year I began experiencing increasingly painful periods. I was bleeding very heavily, taking up to 12 Advil per day without relief, and was very concerned about what was happening in my reproductive tract. Our LA clinic opened in May and therefore I didn’t have a …
Why Stephanie and Liz are Writing a Book
For the past six months, Stephanie and Liz have been busily working on writing a book titled Pelvic Pain Explained: Everything you Need to know to Help you Navigate the Complex Terrain of Pelvic Pain. The book will be published by Rowman & Littlefield. (We don’t have the publication date yet, so stay tuned for that info!) As we’ve watched …
The Case of Post-prostatectomy Urinary Incontinence
Patient History Ted is a 67-year-old male with a primary concern of stress urinary incontinence (SUI) and secondary concerns of erectile dysfunction. Ted reports he was diagnosed with prostate cancer in September 2013 and underwent a “bilateral nerve-sparing radical suprapubic prostatectomy”, a procedure in which the nerves must be cut in order to remove the cancerous tissue, later that fall. …
PHRC’s Boston Office is Opening March 16th!
We’re thrilled to announce that PHRC is opening its Boston-area clinic next month with patient care starting March 16th! Liz, who will be re-relocating to the East Coast, will be spearheading the running of the clinic, the exact location of which is 303 Wyman St., Ste. 369, Waltham, Massachusetts. The clinic is in the greater Boston area, west and slightly …
Pelvic Pain: Why a “Diagnosis” isn’t the Key to Recovery
When symptoms of pelvic pain strike, it’s natural to want to know: What’s my diagnosis? Every patient just beginning his/her journey to recovery from pelvic pain grapples with this question. But more often than not the quest to get that diagnosis leads to frustration and disappointment. On top of that, it can actually cause roadblocks to getting on the …
Our FAVE Pelvic Health Resources, Products!
By Gabriella Chavarin Our FAVE Pelvic Health Resources, Products! It’s that time of year when we all make “New Year’s resolutions.” If you’re anything like us, you’ve probably resolved to sleep longer, be more active, and eat healthier. But what about your pelvic health? One of the questions I’m asked most often at PHRC is: “Do you have any recommendations …