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, […]
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 […]
We all know one or two of those superhero mamas that REALLY enjoy being pregnant. You know, the ones that can eat anything without feeling nauseous during their first trimester or the ones that are able to run 20 miles a week until they deliver. Yes, pregnancy is a beautiful part of life and yes, […]
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. […]
By Melinda Fontaine, DPT, PHRC Walnut Creek What would men’s health month be without a blog about prostate cancer? One in seven men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in his lifetime. Will this number be affected by the recent change in the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force’s change in recommendations on screening for […]
If you are a male and either currently participate in CrossFit workouts or another form of Olympic weightlifting, and have developed one or more of these symptoms: perineum pain with sitting, lower abdominal pain with intense activity or ejaculation, testicular pain that radiates to the abdomen or the vice versa, and urinary hesitancy with urgency […]
By Admin David was diagnosed with a urinary tract infection and prostatitis. Antibiotics did not help. Did he have an infection or pelvic floor dysfunction? A few initial words from David: “My journey that ended with pelvic health and rehabilitation began with an unfortunate experience that I understand is all too common a […]
By Katie Hunter, DPT Drop, push, bulge, squeeze. These words are used regularly when talking about pelvic floor function but what do they actually mean? We often talk about how the pelvic floor muscles become dysfunctional and can cause daily symptoms of pelvic pain, bladder and bowel urgency and frequency, incontinence, prolapse, […]
By Admin “In all nature structure determines function” – William Herbert Sheldon, father of somatotyping “Form and function are a unity, two sides of a coin” – Ida P. Rolf, biochemist and fascial genius “Conjunction junction, what’s your function?” – Schoolhouse Rock, how us 30+s learnt grammar Structure and function are intricately connected. Our […]
By Elizabeth Akincilar-Rummer For the average person, the words Tarlov cyst mean absolutely nothing. For the average medical professional, they mean little to nothing. So why are we devoting an entire blog post to these cysts that no one seems to care about? Full disclosure, personally, I was curious what the literature had to […]
Everybody poops! I hope that everyone reading this blog accepts this reality. At PHRC, we spend a lot of time talking to our patients about the importance of proper pooping. Often, this discussion is uncomfortable. I get it. No one is keen to bond with their bowel movements. Poop has a bad reputation, which […]
By Shannon Pacella, DPT, PHRC Lexington Unfortunately, the majority of the men we see at PHRC have been through quite a journey with their pelvic pain, before finding pelvic floor physical and occupational therapy. I want to share a recent success story about one of my male patients, Ben (his name has been […]
By Stephanie Prendergast, Cofounder, PHRC Los Angeles Severe menstrual pain is not normal. If you experience severe pain during your period it is possible you are suffering from an underdiagnosed disease called Endometriosis. Endometrial tissue lines the uterus. In response to hormonal influences, the endometrium of a healthy uterus thickens and then […]
Diaphragmatic breathing aka deep belly breathing – how is that an exercise? Many of my patients are surprised when I prescribe and emphasize diaphragmatic breathing in their home exercise programs. Historically, they have associated physical and occupational therapy and/or exercise with strengthening, stretching or the need to get the heart rate up. However, […]
By: Admin If you’ve recently been to your physical and occupational therapists, massage therapist, personal trainer, or body worker and heard the words “fascia” and “manipulation” in the same sentence, you are not alone. Fascia has become quite the buzzword for treating everything from chronic neck pain, ACL repair surgery, plantar fasciitis, […]
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 Stephanie Prendergast and Elizabeth Akincilar-Rummer Tony is one of those people who seem superhuman. In his early 30s, he’s lean and athletic. When he isn’t chasing after one of his three young children or helping to run a successful family business, you can find him surfing, hunting, snowboarding, golfing, swimming, or playing […]
By Rhonda Kotarinos, PT, DPT In this week’s post, guest author and pelvic floor expert Rhonda Kotarinos shares a controversy from the 2016 International Pelvic Pain Society conference. In October I had the privilege of presenting at the International Pelvic Pain Society’s annual meeting. During one of the presentations, a discussion ensued regarding the term contracture. […]
By Admin During pregnancy and the postpartum period, many women suffer from both functional and cosmetic issues caused from the widening of the abdominal wall from stretch and pressure generated from the growing uterus. This stretching can result in a separation of the rectus abdominis muscle, known as a diastasis recti (DR). Diastasis recti […]
By Shannon Pacella, DPT, PHRC Lexington The pelvic floor is a phrase used very frequently here on the blog as well as in our clinics, but to those unfamiliar with this area of the body, it may still be this illusive mystery. I want to break down the pelvic floor into each of the […]
By Admin If you don’t know what or where your coccyx is, count yourself lucky. This little bone can make quite a ruckus when it’s not happy, often called coccydynia. The coccyx, or tailbone, is our little vestigial tail, after eons of evolution. It is often ignored and forgotten by most, but to […]
