When I first discussed sharing Tyler’s story on this blog, we talked about why men are not aware of pelvic floor PT. We talked about how most websites list “chronic prostatitis” or “male pelvic pain syndrome” to define his symptoms. He shared with me what men are most likely typing into Google when looking for treatment for symptoms similar to …
Recovery From Vaginismus and Painful Sex: Martha’s Success Story
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 teenage years to later in …
Recovery After Rectocele Repair and How Pelvic Floor Physical and Occupational Therapy Helps
By Sigourney Cross, DPT, PHRC Walnut Creek A rectocele, also known as a posterior wall prolapse, is one of the main types of pelvic organ prolapse (POP). As explained in some of our prior posts, a POP occurs when tissue and muscles can no longer support the pelvic organs and they drop down. For a review of the main types …
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 and Occupational 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 …
Sleep Is Medicine for Pelvic Pain
By: Maryssa Steffen, DPT, PHRC Berkeley If you experience pelvic pain, are you aware of how your sleep quality may play a part? A 2015 national poll by the National Sleep Foundation found that “64% of those suffering chronic pain, and 54% of those with acute pain, report co-occurring poor sleep quality.”1 Everyone needs seven to nine hours asleep in …
Moisturize My Vagina?! What you need to know
By: Shannon Pacella, DPT, PHRC Lexington If you are anything like me, you most likely have a plethora of moisturizers at home (hand lotion, face lotion, body lotion, etc.), but what you probably do not have is a vaginal moisturizer. You might ask, “What is a vaginal moisturizer?” A vaginal moisturizer rehydrates dry mucosal tissue, is absorbed into the skin …
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 …
Motor Vehicle Accidents and Pelvic Pain
By: Courtney Edgecomb, DPT It’s needless to say that getting into a car accident is scary. Adding in any form of injury on top of an accident can be life-changing. I have become more cognisant of such life-changing accidents since I started my physical and occupational therapy career in Los Angeles a few years ago. A large amount of the …
As the Bicycle Turns: Cycling and the Pelvic Floor
By: Kim Buonomo, DPT, PHRC Lexington Who doesn’t love a leisurely bike ride? People with pelvic floor dysfunction! While biking is great cardio, there are a lot of aspects that make it not very pelvic floor friendly. Most of this comes down to blood flow to the pelvic floor, which is what I want to discuss today. Anatomy Review In …
Will a menstrual pad help when urine need?
By Morgan Conner, DPT, PHRC Los Gatos Let’s set the stage here, you just peed your pants. I’ll let you fill in the details of the backstory, but here are a few possibilities. Maybe you just gave birth last week or perhaps six months ago (or six years ago!) and whenever you pick up your little one or laugh when …
What is the Knack and why does it work to prevent urine leakage?
The saying “getting the knack of it” refers to acquiring a skill to perform a specific task. In the world of pelvic floor rehabilitation, the Knack refers to performing a pelvic floor muscle contraction prior to an increase in intra abdominal pressure. This technique is most commonly used to prevent stress urinary incontinence (SUI), such as when a person experiences …
Pudendal Neuralgia Resource List
By Stephanie A. Prendergast, DPT, MPT, Cofounder, PHRC Los Angeles May is Pelvic Pain Awareness Month and at PHRC we want to do our part to help people better understand pelvic pain syndromes and more importantly, help people suffering with these diagnoses get the help they need to recover. Since knowledge is power we created 5 videos and blog posts …
Chronic Pelvic Pain Syndrome/Male Pelvic Pain/’Prostatitis’ Resource List
By Elizabeth Akincilar, Cofounder, PHRC Lexington May is Pelvic Pain Awareness Month and at PHRC we want to do our part to help people better understand pelvic pain syndromes and more importantly, help people suffering with these diagnoses get the help they need to recover. Since knowledge is power we created 5 videos and blog posts that we hope people …
Interstitial Cystitis/Painful Bladder Syndrome Resource List
By Melinda Fontaine, DPT, PT, PHRC Walnut Creek May is Pelvic Pain Awareness Month and at PHRC we want to do our part to help people better understand pelvic pain syndromes and more importantly, help people suffering with these diagnoses get the help they need to recover. Since knowledge is power we created 5 videos and blog posts that we …
Pelvic Pain Explained: Vulvodynia + Resource List
May is Pelvic Pain Awareness Month At PHRC we want to do our part to help people better understand pelvic pain syndromes and more importantly, help people suffering with these diagnoses get the help they need to recover. Since knowledge is power, we created 5 videos and blog posts that we hope people find useful. This week, in our second …
Pelvic Floor Anatomy, Physiology & Physical and Occupational Therapy Resource List
May is Pelvic Pain Awareness Month and at PHRC we want to do our part to help people better understand pelvic pain syndromes and more importantly, help people suffering with these diagnoses get the help they need to recover. Since knowledge is power we created 5 videos and blog posts that we hope people find useful. This week, in our …
5 Easy Exercises to Help Ease Pregnancy Aches and Pains
By Sigourney Cross, DPT, PHRC Walnut Creek Pelvic and low back pain during pregnancy affects up to two-thirds of women and can start anytime from the first trimester to months after giving birth.1 This is due to a couple of reasons. First, there is a change in your hormone levels. Increased levels of the hormones relaxin, estrogen and progesterone begin …
Stress Urinary Incontinence in Athletes: Why You Leak When You Exercise
You may have heard murmurings at practice, the gym, in yoga, or maybe you’ve got your own experiences to share, of people describing incidences of urine loss while exercising. This is called Stress Urinary Incontinence (SUI) and is described as a loss of urine associated with a stress to the body causing increased intra-abdominal pressure, such as running, jumping, lifting, …
Hunting for hernias…are they a common cause of pelvic pain in men?
By: Elizabeth Akincilar, PHRC Cofounder Explaining to someone who has never heard of pelvic floor physical and occupational therapy what type of physical and occupational therapy I practice is always an interesting conversation. People usually assume certain things about my practice. Most assume I primarily treat older women with “bladder issues” and new moms. People are always surprised to find …