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 […]
By PHRC Admin Depression, a common and serious medical illness, affects how we feel, think, and handle daily activities. In recent years, there’s been growing concern over the potential link between hormonal birth control and depression. Join us for a review of an article linking Oral contraceptives (OCPs) to depression! We thank Fiona Riddle […]
By PHRC Admin In a world where we’re accustomed to physical discomfort being temporary, it’s hard to imagine what living with chronic pain feels like. It’s not just an ongoing ache or discomfort. It’s a complex, multifaceted experience that can seep into every aspect of life, making even the simplest tasks daunting. Explaining chronic pain […]
By Morgan Conner, DPT, PHRC Los Gatos Sadly, the starting point of this success story is not novel to me as a pelvic floor physical and occupational therapists or for many who struggle with primary vaginismus. However, this story has a happy ending (pun very much intended!) as well as an interesting middle. When Vicki […]
By Jandra Mueller, DPT, MS, PHRC Encinitas Jennifer was referred to PHRC by her urogynecologist who diagnosed her with interstitial cystitis/painful bladder syndrome (IC/PBS). For more information on this condition, check out Melinda’s webinar on IC/PBS. She was diagnosed with IC in 2012/2013 because she had been experiencing significant cramping in her bladder, as well […]
This week, long-time colleague Lorraine Faehnedrich guest blogs for PHRC. Lorraine’s bio and information on her courses can be found at the end of the post. On April 2 Lorraine will be interviewing our own Katie Hunter about how pelvic floor physical and occupational therapy can help women recover from painful sex. Stay tuned to […]
By: Rachel Gelman, DPT Michelle is a 30 year old female referred by her gynecologist to us for pelvic floor physical and occupational therapy following the birth of her first child. Michelle had her son via vaginal delivery and she was roughly five months postpartum at the time of her evaluation with me. She reports […]
By: Shannon Pacella, DPT, PHRC, Lexington Sam came to the Pelvic Health and Rehabilitation Center in the beginning of May this year, after her primary care physician recommended seeing a pelvic floor physical and occupational therapists as she reported having pain with vaginal penetration. Here’s what Sam had to say: “I am 41 years old, […]
By Sigourney Cross, DPT, PHRC Walnut Creek Vaginismus is characterized as an involuntary spasm or contraction of the muscles around the vagina. This makes it very difficult for women to insert tampons, receive pelvic exams by their doctors and can also make sexual intercourse nearly impossible and painful. It can affect women anywhere from their […]
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,” […]
In 2012, The Journal of Sexual Medicine published an article, What we don’t talk about when we don’t talk about sex: results of a national survey of U.S. obstetrician/gynecologists. The results from the survey revealed that though Ob/gyns routinely (63%) assess their patients’ sexual activities, only 40% of them ask their female patients about sexual […]
By Stephanie Prendergast, PHRC Cofounder As many as 28% of women experience painful sex at some point during their reproductive years and that sucks. Knowledge is power and May is Pelvic Pain Awareness Month so we want to provide women with useful information about the three most common diagnoses associated with painful sex: […]
Most people know that I am a fan of sexy science. So when I saw that the World Congress on Pelvic Pain (WCAPP) had an entire section dedicated to sexual dysfunction I was pretty stoked. You may already be imagining some very arousing presentations; or you may think listening to a talk on intercourse […]
Childbirth is no picnic: 85% of women who deliver vaginally experience perineal trauma and a third of those women in the USA and UK require stitches.2 The thought of having another baby after having gone through a traumatic birth can be daunting, to say the least. Returning to sex can also seem like a feat, […]
By Iris Kerin Orbuch, MD Did you know that Gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms are as common as gynecological symptoms in women with endometriosis? Do you suffer from bloating and/or constipation? Endometriosis may be the cause of your bloating and/or constipation. Over 90% of women diagnosed with endometriosis actually present with GI symptoms as their initial symptoms. […]
By Stephanie Prendergast, MPT, Cofounder, PHRC Los Angeles Recently I was asked to write an article about pelvic floor physical and occupational therapy for the treatment of vulvodynia, which will be published later this year as a tool for gynecologists. Since our blog readers are a combination of clinicians and people with pelvic pain […]
By Joshua Gonzalez, MD After reading my last post, Jagged Little Pill, many of you who have had similar suspected OCP-related problems may be thinking there’s no hope. Trust me, you are not doomed if you’ve ever taken an oral birth control and you have symptoms of vulvodynia. My goal this week is […]
By Joshua Gonzalez, MD The advent of oral birth control pills in the 1960s was heralded as a huge victory for women’s rights. Finally, women could take control of their bodies and their fertility. Since then, oral contraceptive pills (OCPs) have become ubiquitous in reproductive aged women with nearly 10 million women today using […]
By Stephanie Prendergast Last week, Gwyneth Paltrow’s popular newsletter featured an article on pelvic floor muscles, which prompted numerous emails and tweets in my direction. Apparently this is a topic that makes my friends and colleagues think of me. While pondering why everyone, except for me, seems to be reading Goop, I took a look. […]
