“It’s NOT all downhill from here! When you learn how to find balance in your life and in your hormones, it’s really possible to feel vital through perimenopause, menopause and beyond.” DR. AMY DAY, FOUNDER, THE WOMEN’S VITALITY CENTER IN BERKELEY, CA Too many women are silently struggling through bothersome symptoms of perimenopause and menopause on their own. Women often …
Hormonal Changes in Menopause and What You Can Do About It
By: Rachel Daof, DPT Los Angeles PHRC members, Stephanie Prendergast, Courtney Edgecomb, and I, Rachel Daof, went to a dinner to discuss Intrarosa with guest speaker Dr. Irwin Goldstein. One of the major points of the night was this: menopause is a chronic progressive, degenerative condition, and it does not improve without treatment. This hit home to all of the …
The 4th Trimester: Postpartum Pain is Common but not Normal, Part 2
By Courtney Edgecomb, DPT In Part 2 of my 2-part post I will cover different therapeutic strategies for postpartum pain. As a new mom, self-care and appropriate medical attention is critical to ensure you stay as healthy as possible for your little one. I am sure it is daunting to find time for yourself at the moment, but it will …
The 4th Trimester: Postpartum Pelvic Pain is Common but Not Normal
By: Courtney Edgecomb, DPT Postpartum Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy is increasingly utilized to help new moms recover from pregnancy and delivery. Is pain normal after giving birth? Of course that is an extremely open-ended question and I would get different answers from almost every single mom (and from each of her pregnancies). But it is hard to tease out what …
What to Know About Your Menstrual Cycle
By: Rachel Daof, DPT Here at PHRC we see conditions that affect that dreaded time of the month: our periods. As we have written before, conditions like endometriosis can directly affect menstruation. Other menstrual related issues include period cramps, nausea, bowel movement issues, headaches, and many other symptoms all driven by our cycle. To many of us, these are things …
Why Your Period Makes You Poop!
Ladies, have you ever felt bloated or backed up the week before your menstrual cycle? What about noticing diarrhea at the start of your menstrual cycle? I know I have. If you’ve been or are pregnant, have you noticed major changes in your digestive system and bathroom behaviors? Below I explore the connection between hormones and changes in your bowel …
Endometriosis: Beyond the lesions
By: Jandra Mueller, DPT, MS, PHRC Encinitas In our second post of our series covering the Third World Congress on Abdominal and Pelvic Pain, I will cover the lecture titled Endometriosis-associated pain, why should we consider the central nervous system? If you missed our first post, click here. This year at the annual meeting of the International Pelvic …
Fertility: The Other F Word
The older I get, the more I realize that there is another ‘F-word.’ For many people it is a harmless word, but for others it carries the same weight as any other profanity. I am talking about fertility. For a portion of people who are sexually active, fertility is a scary word. For some, fertility can mean a pregnancy that …
Make Erections Great Again
By Dr. Joshua Gonzalez As a sexual medicine specialist, I spend a good deal of time talking about erections. Erectile dysfunction (ED) is actually a pretty common problem. Estimates of the prevalence of ED range from 9% to 40% of men by age 40, and generally increase by 10% with each decade thereafter1. ED affects approximately 30 million …
The Liver and Hormone Connection
By Dr. Thalia Farshchian It can be both a beautiful and frustrating thing that the body is so interconnected. In some respects, it is fascinating and comforting and in other ways, it can feel so complicated. The more I study medicine, the more in awe I become of how it all works. As a doctor, I focus on …
Love and Vaginismus: Mary’s story of personal growth
By Melinda Fontaine Mary is an amazing story because in a matter of months, she went from not having any penetrative sex for many years to having unrestricted intercourse with her partner. When Mary was a young woman, she saw a gynecologist for a routine exam. Now, lying on the exam table with your butt almost falling off the …
Midlife Sex Crisis: What Are My Perimenopause Options?
By admin You hit your 40s or 50s and all of the sudden things start spiraling: Your period is out of whack, your undergarments are damp with urine after a one mile walk with your dog, and you can no longer wear your favorite jeans because they’re irritating to your lady parts. As if that wasn’t enough to deal with, …
Method to the Madness? Get to Know the Different Types of IUDs
By Jandra Mueller In my last blog, One and Done: The IUD and the Future of Birth Control, I talked about how the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ACOG) are recommending long acting reversible contraceptives (LARC) as their preferred contraceptive option. The two main forms discussed were the implant and the IUD. In part one I mentioned that …
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 …