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Gotta Go Right Now: Urinary Urgency Explained

In Bladder Dysfunction by Melinda FontaineLeave a Comment

By: Melinda Fontaine, DPT, PHRC Walnut Creek You know that feeling when you just drank the equivalent to a big gulp and you haven’t had a bathroom break in over four hours. That sensation of your body telling you to get to the bathroom ASAP is called “urgency.” In case you wonder if urgency and the frequent need to urinate …

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Thrive with Age: Menopause Solutions

In Menopause/Perimenopause by Stephanie PrendergastLeave a Comment

“It’s NOT all downhill from here! When you learn how to find balance in your life and in your hormones, it’s really possible to feel vital through perimenopause, menopause and beyond.” DR. AMY DAY, FOUNDER, THE WOMEN’S VITALITY CENTER IN BERKELEY, CA Too many women are silently struggling through bothersome symptoms of perimenopause and menopause on their own. Women often …

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Muscles Affecting Pelvic Health: It’s Not Just The Pelvic Floor

In Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy by Shannon Pacella5 Comments

By: Shannon Pacella, DPT, PHRC Lexington As you may know, us pelvic floor physical therapists tend to talk about the pelvic floor muscles quite a lot. However, we also assess and treat many other muscles surrounding the trunk, pelvis, hips, and thighs, that influence pelvic health and various pelvic floor muscle dysfunctions. If you’d like to learn about pelvic floor …

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What’s new in research and clinical care for “Prostatitis” aka male Chronic Pelvic Pain Syndrome (CPPS)?

In Interstitial Cystitis by Stephanie Prendergast5 Comments

By Stephanie Prendergast, Cofounder, PHRC Los Angeles   If you are a man suffering from what feels like ‘prostatitis’, this blog and our upcoming informational event is for you.   Did you know?…   10% of men experience prostatitis-like symptoms at some point in their lives. 97% of these men do not have a prostate or bladder infection yet are …

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The Most Proven IC Treatment: Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy

In Interstitial Cystitis by Stephanie Prendergast4 Comments

  By Guest Blogger Nicole Cozean, PT, DPT, WCS and author of The Interstitial Cystitis Solution   Pelvic floor physical therapy is the most proven treatment for interstitial cystitis. It’s the only therapy given an evidence grade of ‘A’ by the American Urological Association and recommended in the first line of medical treatment. But patients often wonder how does treating …

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Beating Interstitial Cystitis

In Interstitial Cystitis by Stephanie Prendergast4 Comments

  By Stephanie Prendergast   “Thousands of people with Interstitial Cystitis live healthy, pain-free lives and so can you.” – The Interstitial Cystitis Solution, Nicole Cozean PT, DPT, WCS   In honor of Bladder Health Month this week’s blog is dedicated to Interstitial Cystitis/ Painful Bladder Syndrome. IC/PBS is a treatable pelvic pain syndrome affecting roughly 3 million men and 9 …

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Male Pelvic Pain and Chronic Nonbacterial Prostatitis: A Story of Hope and Determination

In Male Pelvic Pain by Shannon Pacella6 Comments

  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 therapy. I want to share a recent success story about one of my male patients, Ben (his name has been changed for anonymity). My hope by sharing …

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Your pelvic floor: what is it good for?

In Bladder Dysfunction by Shannon Pacella9 Comments

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 muscles it is comprised of, …

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Jagged Little Pill: Part Two

In Female Pelvic Pain by Joshua Gonzalez, MD7 Comments

  By Joshua Gonzalez, MD   After reading my last post, Jagged Little Pill, many of you who have had similar suspected OCP-related problems may be thinking there’s no hope.  Trust me, you are not doomed if you’ve ever taken an oral birth control and you have symptoms of vulvodynia.  My goal this week is to reassure you that you’re …

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Jagged Little Pill: How Oral Contraceptives Wreak Havoc on the Female Body

In Female Pelvic Pain by Joshua Gonzalez, MD9 Comments

By Joshua Gonzalez, MD   The advent of oral birth control pills in the 1960s was heralded as a huge victory for women’s rights.  Finally, women could take control of their bodies and their fertility.  Since then, oral contraceptive pills (OCPs) have become ubiquitous in reproductive aged women with nearly 10 million women today using The Pill as their primary …

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Physical Therapy for Male Pelvic Pain: Don’t Let the Penis Come Between Us

In Male Pelvic Pain by Stephanie Prendergast26 Comments

  By Stephanie Prendergast, MPT, Cofounder, PHRC Los Angeles The Situation Room: Why do men have to see Women’s Health Physical Therapists?   The facts:   15% of adult men worldwide suffer from pelvic pain. 1   8.2% of men will experience prostatitis-like symptoms at some point in their lives, and greater than 90% of those men will have symptoms …