By Jennifer Keesee, PT, DPT, PHRC Westlake Village Michelle is a 39 year old patient who was referred to PHRC by her pain management specialist for evaluation and treatment of tailbone pain, known as Coccydynia. Her symptoms started one year after giving birth to her second child, and had continued off and on for about three years. Michelle did …
Myofascial Trigger Points: Facts & General Information
By Stephanie A. Prendergast, MPT, Cofounder, PHRC Los Angeles Let’s talk Myofascial Trigger Point (MTrPs) Facts: MTrPs are contracted fibers with a muscle. MTrPs are painful when compressed. Active MTrPs cause pain and/or dysfunction whereas latent MTrPs do not currently cause pain and/or dysfunction but have the potential to. MTrPs can cause pain locally (at the spot of the …
Myofascial Trigger Points – Frequently Asked Questions & Their Answers
By Stephanie A. Prendergast, MPT, Cofounder, PHRC Los Angeles Over the last few week’s, we have received various inquiries about Myofascial Trigger Points. Why do they occur? What are they? How can we fix them? This week we do a deep dive and answer our most frequently asked questions! Q: Never heard of this ! What is this …
Physical and Occupational Therapy Rehab After Gender Affirming Surgeries
By Elizabeth Akincilar, MPT, Cofounder, PHRC Merrimack Although still out of reach for many, gender affirming surgical procedures are becoming more accessible as more surgeons are offering these services and more insurance providers are covering some of the costs associated with these procedures. As more people undergo these surgical procedures the need for rehabilitative services post operatively has increased. …
Hard Flaccid: Causes, Treatments, and Symptoms
By Elizabeth Akincilar, MPT, Cofounder, PHRC Merrimack Although our knowledge is limited with regards to hard-flaccid syndrome, based upon the minimal medical literature dedicated to this syndrome and our own experience at PHRC, hard-flaccid syndrome most commonly occurs secondary to the following: When the PFM, particularly the urogenital diaphragm, or superficial PFM, become too tight or hypertonic, they can …
How PFPT Helped Following a Prostatectomy: Peter’s Story
By Peter and Melinda Fontaine, DPT, PHRC Walnut Creek Pelvic Physical and Occupational Therapy (PPT) has been a wonderfully life changing experience for me following prostate cancer treatment. It has been a nearly three year journey, and I cannot speak highly enough of the benefits of my kind, caring, and immensely skilled PPT therapist. What are these benefits? In short, …
Penile Pain: Frequently Asked Questions and Their Answers
By Elizabeth Akincilar, MPT, Cofounder, PHRC Merrimack Over the last couple of years PHRC has shared many YouTube videos and educational material on Instagram educating our viewers and readers about pelvic health. We have received an overwhelming response to several of our posts discussing male pelvic pain, in particular penile pain. Listed below are some of the most common …
Busting Menopause Myths: How the Women’s Health Initiative Changed Women’s Health Overnight
By Stephanie A. Prendergast, MPT, , Cofounder, PHRC Los Angeles It is common knowledge amongst medical professionals and researchers that it takes an average of 17 years for research evidence to reach clinical practice. In 2002 an event occurred that changed healthcare overnight for menopausal women, affecting over 50 million people at the time. Twenty years later, tremendous confusion …
Postpartum Urinary Incontinence is Common: Here’s How We Can Help
By Lauren Opatrny, PT, DPT, PHRC Berkeley & San Francisco *all names have been changed to maintain patient privacy Background Rachel* is a 32 year old experiencing urinary incontinence after giving birth to her baby in December 2020. When she was eight months postpartum and still experiencing incontinence, her doctor referred her to pelvic physical and occupational therapy. …
May is Mental Health Awareness Month!
By Emily Schwerdtfeger, PHRC Westlake Village May is Mental Health Awareness Month; we wanted to talk about pelvic pain and mental health! When it comes to pelvic pain, it can have a major effect on both your physical and mental health. Did you know about 20% or one in five people experience a mental health disorder at some …
Success Story: Pelvic Floor PT Helped Charli Resolve Postpartum Pain
By Jillian Cerda Ramos, PT, DPT, MFDc *all names have been changed to maintain patient privacy Introduction Pregnancy is truly a life-changing event in more ways than one: bringing a baby into this world is no easy feat, and neither is the recovery process! Just like how each pregnancy is so different, each postpartum experience can be so …
How Pelvic Floor Physical and Occupational Therapy Helped Megan Eliminate Rectal Pain and Bowel Dysfunction
By Kim Buonomo, DPT, PHRC Lexington Introduction Megan (mid-50 year old cisgender female) started seeing me in September 2021. She had a history of bowel dysfunction since giving birth to her daughter in the late 1990’s. She described her symptoms as a pattern of alternating constipation and diarrhea, associated with bloating, hemorrhoids and abdominal discomfort. She thought for a …
A Q&A About Clitoral Pain
By Stephanie Prendergast, MPT, Cofounder, PHRC Los Angeles & Elizabeth Akincilar, MSPT, Cofounder, PHRC Merrimack What are the possible causes of clitoral pain? How can each of these things cause it? There are several possible causes of clitoral pain. This list of causes is not exhaustive, but are the most common causes of clitoral pain. It could be due …
How Pelvic Floor PT Can Help Gynecological Cancer Survivors?
By Elizabeth Akincilar, MSPT, Cofounder, PHRC Merrimack Receiving a gynecological cancer diagnosis is wrought with emotions: fear, grief, confusion, anger, among others. Additionally, the number of medical providers that one will encounter throughout the treatment process is many. One of the important members of your interdisciplinary cancer care team is a pelvic floor physical and occupational therapists. The five …
Pelvic Hip Pain, A Patient Success Story
By Jillian Giannini, DPT, PHRC Pasadena, Jennifer Keesee, DPT, PHRC Westlake Village and Emily Schwerdtfeger, BA, PHRC Westlake Village “I’m the exception, right?” “It could never happen to me.” Emily is a 25 year old female that has had left hip pain for five years now. She describes her hip pain as: Achy or sharp In front of L …
Setting Up for Success after Endometriosis Excision Surgery
By Jennifer Keesee, DPT, PHRC Westlake Village & Jandra Mueller, DPT, MS, PHRC Encinitas Congratulations on taking the next step in your healing journey! You’ve found a great doctor and decided to proceed with endometriosis excision surgery. If you’re like me, after many years of managing endo symptoms, you’re probably excited to address the root cause. If you have …
PT Across the Lifespan: Celebrating International Women’s Day
By Elizabeth Akincilar, MSPT, Cofounder, PHRC Merrimack As we recognize International Women’s Day in March, this is the perfect opportunity to educate our community about how pelvic floor physical and occupational therapy can benefit women and folks with uteruses throughout the different phases of their lives. The truth is, virtually all women and people with uteruses will benefit from …
Endometriosis & Nutrition, How They Work Together, A Success Story
By Jandra Mueller, DPT, MS, PHRC Encinitas and Jennifer Guan, DPT, PHRC Los Gatos Happy Endo Awareness Month! Tracy is a 35 year old patient who was referred to PHRC by her doctor. This is her story: “I was diagnosed with stage four endometriosis through a laparoscopy and excision surgery in 2017. Sadly, my first surgeon didn’t …
Endometriosis: A PT’s Journey to Diagnosis & Treatment
By Jennifer Keesee, DPT, PHRC Westlake Village March is endometriosis awareness month, and here at PHRC we want to help spread the word about this complex disease that is often hidden in plain sight. Endometriosis is a condition that affects approximately 10% of women, which also includes trans-men, and those who do not identify as a woman, but were born …
Lichen Sclerosus: Symptoms, Diagnosis, and Treatment Hope
By Stephanie Prendergast, MPT, Cofounder, PHRC Los Angeles What is Vulvar Lichen Sclerosus? Like so many other pelvic pain diagnoses, Vulvar Lichen Sclerosus (VLS) is riddled with challenges in terms of diagnosis and treatment. Many people with VLS also have pelvic floor dysfunction, and as a result we have seen lots of patients with both. Slight adaptations to …
National Condom Week: History, Facts and Pointers
By Elizabeth Akincilar, MSPT, Cofounder, PHRC Merrimack This week we’re celebrating National Condom Week; which gives us the perfect excuse to educate our community about the correct use of and important precautions to consider when using condoms to prevent sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancies. Condoms, aka male sheath, johnny, rubber, raincoat, cock sock, or the English riding …