By Melinda Fontaine, DPT, PHRC Walnut Creek Symptoms Many families struggle with constipation in children. Maya is a 10 year old who likes to swim, camp, and play with her little brother. She had suffered with constipation and fecal incontinence most of her life. A year ago, an x-ray showed that she had an enlarged colon from chronic constipation, and …
Can TMS help people with Interstitial Cystitis/Painful Bladder Syndrome?
By Jason J. Kutch, PhD and Stephanie Prendergast, MPT, PHRC West Los Angeles Interstitial Cystitis/ Bladder Pain Syndrome (BPS) is a pelvic pain syndrome that is characterized by urgency/frequency and pelvic pain, affecting up to 7.9 million vagina owners and roughly 10% of penis owners in the United States. It is a clinical diagnosis, meaning that there are no diagnostic …
Symptoms of a Hypertonic Pelvic Floor Follow Up Q&A
By Stephanie Prendergast, MPT, Cofounder, PHRC West Los Angeles A while back we asked you for your questions about having a hypertonic pelvic floor. This week we answer all your questions and then some! Q- Hi! I have really tight pelvic floor muscles and pain during sex and I was wondering if you might be able to suggest any …
Is Your Vagina Healthy? How to Tell Healthy from Unhealthy
By Jandra Mueller, DPT, MS, PHRC Encinitas Here is the situation, you have irritation down there, you go to your doctor, she performs her exam and tests, she swabs you, then you get the call… your cultures came back negative. Here is what your GYN may have missed. Many women experiencing pelvic pain, urinary, and sexual dysfunction often have pelvic …
Pelvic Floor Spasm with Q&A
By Stephanie A. Prendergast, DPT, MPT, Cofounder, PHRC Los Angeles What is a pelvic floor spasm? It is the presence of contracted, painful muscles on palpation and elevated resting pressures by vaginal manometry. If the contraction is painful, this is usually described as a cramp. Pelvic floor myalgia (a symptom) may be present without a change in pelvic floor muscle …
IG Live Q/A: Pudendal Neuralgia + Pudendal Nerve Entrapment
By Elizabeth Akincilar, MPT, Cofounder, PHRC Lexington In May we went live on Instagram with Mark Conway, MD, gynecologist and pelvic surgeon specializing in pelvic neuralgias. We compiled a list of questions from social media to answer during our live about your inquiries about Pudendal Neuralgia. So what is Pudendal Neuralgia? It is a treatable pain condition that consists …
Pelvic Floor Physical and Occupational Therapy Helps Pelvic Organ Prolapse
By Jillian Giannini, DPT, PHRC Los Angeles Did you know that Pelvic Organ Prolapse (POP)is more common than you think and that the severity or stage of the prolapse does not always correlate with symptoms? One review found that 41 – 50% of women had POP on examination, though only 3 – 5% of women report symptoms. Many people understand …
Restorative Movement for Reproductive Justice & Fundraising
By Melissa Patrick, PT, DPT, PHRC Merrimack On Wednesday, Saturday, June 26th 9am PDT / 12pm EDT, the Pelvic Health and Rehabilitation Center is hosting a virtual fundraiser via Zoom combining two things we care deeply about: pelvic health and racial justice. PHRC Staff member Melissa Patrick, PT, DPT, RYT will be facilitating a 60 minute movement practice entitled “Restorative …
How Pelvic Floor Physical and Occupational Therapy helps Female Pelvic Pain
By Elizabeth Akincilar, MSPT, Cofounder, PHRC Lexington Did You Know… An estimated sixty-one percent of women with bladder pain syndrome have comorbid chronic pelvic pain, while almost fifty percent of women with endometriosis suffer from chronic pelvic pain.1 Seventy percent of women with a previous diagnosis of endometriosis are diagnosed with chronic pelvic pain.2,3 Women with a past …
Patient Success Story: Dealing with Prolapse and Menopause
By Karah Charette, PT, DPT, RYT When I first met Sara* (name changed for the story), I knew she was going to do well with pelvic floor physical and occupational therapy. She was motivated, curious, and engaged in her healing process. She came in with questions and reflections each session, and was open to learning something new every time …
Gender-Affirming Surgery + Pelvic Floor PT: IG Live w/ Dr. Jun
By Stephanie A. Prendergast, DPT, MPT, Cofounder, PHRC Los Angeles Did you catch us last week for our IG Live with Dr. Min Jun? Our cofounder, Elizabeth Akincilar, MSPT, went live with Dr. Min Jun, a genital gender-affirming surgeon. In case you missed it, here is a little about Dr. Jun: Dr. Min Jun trained at four different academic …
Q&A Bowel Dysfunction
By Stephanie A. Prendergast, DPT, MPT, Cofounder, PHRC Los Angeles A few weeks ago we published a blog about How Pelvic Floor Physical and Occupational Therapy Helps Bowel Dysfunction. In it we discussed how one might develop a bowel dysfunction, symptoms, associated diagnoses and how pelvic floor PT can help in recovery. This week, we asked our social media audience …
Nutrition Awareness Month: Integrative Health & Nutrition Services
By Jandra Mueller, DPT, MS, PHRC Encinitas March is Nutrition Awareness Month and we’d love to share the services we offer here at PHRC and talk about why nutrition is so important, especially for those with pelvic health conditions. What is Integrative Health and Nutrition? In contrast to conventional medicine, which places emphasis on treating a disease, …
How Pelvic Floor Physical and Occupational Therapy Helps Male Pelvic Pain
By Tiffany Yuen, DPT, PHRC Los Gatos Did you know… Chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CPPS) has a worldwide prevalence between 2% and 16% and is the most common urologic disease in men below 50 years old (Smith et al., 2016) Painful ejaculation has a prevalence between 1% and 10% in the general population, but this may increase …
Healing Female Sexual Pain, and IG Live with Dr. Irwin Goldstein
By Stephanie A. Prendergast, DPT, MPT, Cofounder, PHRC Los Angeles On February 18th I had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Irwin Goldstein on Instagram Live. Here is a little background on Dr. Goldstein: Dr. Irwin Goldstein is the director of San Diego Sexual Medicine, where he maintains his clinical practice, Director of Sexual Medicine at Alvarado Hospital and Clinical …
Vestibulodynia Explained with Follow Up Q&A
By Stephanie Prendergast, MPT, Cofounder, PHRC Los Angeles Do you know the difference between vulvodynia & vestibulodynia? Vulvodynia simply means pain in the vulva, which includes the clitoris, labia, mons pubis, perineum, hymen, and vestibule. Tune into our IG Live about Vestibulodynia with special guest, Doctor Irwin Goldstein at 5:30PM PST, 2/18/2021. Vestibulodynia is pain in the vestibule, a more …
Fiber: What is it and Why is it important?
By Kim Buonomo, DPT, PHRC Lexington What is fiber and why is it important to a pelvic floor physical and occupational therapists? The American Physical and Occupational Therapy Association has stated that diet and nutrition are key components of many conditions managed by physical and occupational therapistss. Nutrition can directly affect recovery and function while an individual is under …
Q&A Pelvic Floor Weakness Causes
By Stephanie Prendergast, MPT, Cofounder, PHRC Los Angeles and Admin In case you missed our latest Q&A about Pelvic Floor Pain/Tightness Causes, you can read it here. If your pelvic floor muscles are weak, your pelvic organs will not have the full support they need! But what is the cause of weakness? Back in October we presented you with numerous …
Goodbye 2020, helloooo 2021 – the year of the pelvis!
By Stephanie Prendergast, MPT, Cofounder, PHRC Los Angeles Last year was a year unlike any other, marked by uncertainty, loss, tragedy, stress and fear. I remember the feeling of shock and panic when I learned we needed to close most of our offices for three full weeks. As a business owner my mind was blown, that seemed like an eternity. …
Lj Powerhouse and Jandra Mueller of PHRC: IG Live Endometriosis Q&A
By Lj Powerhouse & Jandra Mueller, DPT, PHRC Encinitas In December 2020, PHRC physical and occupational therapists, Jandra Mueller joined Lj Powerhouse on Instagram for a LIVE Q&A. It was awesome to answer all of the questions you asked and we were bummed we couldn’t get to all of them! Here is a re-cap as well as answers to many …
Q&A For Pelvic Pain/Tightness Causes
By Stephanie Prendergast, PHRC Cofounder, Los Angeles If you have been a long time follower of As the Pelvic Turns, then you might remember the Q&A we did years ago about Pelvic Floor Drops, Weak and Tight Muscles, Tilted Pelvis and More. As the years go by, new research, information and overall growth in the field occurs. With this, we …