By Karah Charette, DPT, PHRC San Francisco & Berkeley Pain might be one of the most pesky forms of mindfulness. When you are in pain, it is usually all you can think about. It draws you into the present moment whether you want to be or not. In this moment, there also often comes the […]
By Maryssa Steffan, DPT, PHRC Berkeley Pelvic pain can feel like you are stuck in an endless cycle of symptoms. It may feel like you are doomed forever. When your body is tense and your fear is feeding the pain response, moving your body may be the last thing you want to do. You may […]
By Molly Bachmann PT, DPT, PHRC San Francisco When you reflect on major athletic moments or professional accomplishments in your life, you likely remember the days, weeks, months or maybe even years of training your body and mind for that event. The evaluations from medical professionals and coaches helped you identify which drills to run, […]
By Jandra Mueller, DPT, MS, PHRC Encinitas In our third and final post of this series we share hormonal alterations that people may experience. In case you missed it, check out Period Health 101, Part One and Period Health 101, Part Two to best understand this post! Symptoms of Hormonal Alterations Hormonal birth […]
By Jandra Mueller, DPT, MS, PHRC Encinitas In case you missed it, here is Period Health 101: Everything You Should Have Learned in 6th Grade, But Didn’t, Part 1. What are your hormones doing throughout the various phases? To understand this, refer to the chart below. It is actually helpful in understanding the […]
By Maryssa Steffen, DPT, PHRC Berkeley Have you ever noticed the relationship between your feelings and your bodily sensations? For example, have you ever noticed that gut-wrenching feeling you get in the pit of your stomach when you know something is wrong, or you just got bad news? Or your heart rate suddenly increases when […]
By Shannon Pacella, DPT, PHRC Lexington What comes to your mind when you think about the word mindfulness? Perhaps a sense of calmness. Maybe serenity or focus or peacefulness. All of these would apply. Or maybe you have no idea what mindfulness is; if that is the case then check out this blog post […]
By Jillian Giannini, DPT, PHRC Westlake Village Just like it was discussed in our previous post it is not within the scope of practice for a physical and occupational therapists to treat trauma; however, educating yourself on ways to implement trauma-informed care can help you to provide a safe and conducive environment for a patient’s […]
By Kim Buonomo, DPT, PHRC Lexington We are all getting used to a new idea of normal since COVID-19 became more prevalent. Over the past few months, I’ve noticed a few things that I wanted to share. We are doing our parts at PHRC to stay safe and protect ourselves and each other by wearing […]
By Emily Schlaefer, PT, DPT Earlier this year, Emily was going to spend her final clinical rotation of PT school with us here at the Pelvic Health and Rehabilitation Center. Unfortunately, COVID hit and after only one day Emily sadly had to leave the rotation. She shared this blog post regardless about her experience […]
By Courtney Edgecomb, DPT, PHRC Los Angeles Even before gyms and group fitness classes closed for COVID-19, I was a big fan of at-home workouts. Don’t get me wrong, I love the community, atmosphere, and variety of equipment available from gyms and classes, but the price can get high and I run like the wolves […]
It’s a terrifying time and we’ve got you covered. We hope everyone is staying home and healthy as we wait out the current COVID-19 pandemic. The safety of our patients, staff, and the community is important to us. As a result of government directives, our Lexington, MA office is closed until April 6th, our San […]
By Jandra Mueller, DPT, MS, PHRC Encinitas Jennifer was referred to PHRC by her urogynecologist who diagnosed her with interstitial cystitis/painful bladder syndrome (IC/PBS). For more information on this condition, check out Melinda’s webinar on IC/PBS. She was diagnosed with IC in 2012/2013 because she had been experiencing significant cramping in her bladder, as well […]
By Maryssa Steffen, DPT, PHRC Berkeley I am a physical and occupational therapists, but my other life is a dancer. I have danced for almost 33 years and I have no doubt that it fully connects me to myself and strengthens my empathy towards others. After working with patients and delving into the research that […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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, […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
