As a physical therapist specializing in pelvic floor disorders, specifically pelvic pain, I have noticed a strong correlation between chronic pain, the thyroid, and the endocrine system. I wanted to explore what hormonal imbalances can do to chronic pain. I won’t go into too much detail about persistent pain here, instead please refer to the blog post Pain as the …
Physical Therapy Treatment for Interstitial Cystitis and Chronic Pelvic Pain Syndrome
By Stephanie Prendergast, MPT, Cofounder, PHRC Los Angeles Urinary tract infections hurt. It hurts as your bladder fills, you constantly feel the need to pee and when you do it feels like knives are coming out of your body. You do not experience post-void relief and immediately feel like you need to pee again. Your doctor asks you …
Calling Bull*!@# on Science
By Elizabeth Akincilar-Rummer How many times have you heard a journalist say something like, “Researchers report a significant breakthrough…”, “Groundbreaking research shows… “, or “According to a new scientific study…”? The news constantly bombards us with “research” or “studies” to provoke an emotional response, whether it’s fear, excitement, or surprise. The point is, to catch your attention. Here …
The Blunt Truth About Medicinal Marijuana and Pelvic Pain
By Shannon Pacella, DPT, PHRC Lexington Medical marijuana. You’ve probably heard of it. You’ve maybe even used it. But what you might not know about is the tug-of-war going on between researchers and lawmakers, and how this impacts the ability of this stigmatized substance to be studied – potentially missing out on an alternative treatment option for a multitude …
Great Sex and Orgasms After Prostate Cancer
By Melinda Fontaine, DPT, PHRC Walnut Creek Meet Paul and Ashley. Paul and Ashley have an active sex life. They are taking the time to get to know each other’s bodies and pleasures as well as their own. They are trying new ways of being intimate and using toys. They are having fun and growing closer as a …
Chew on This: Diet and Your Pelvic Floor
When I was younger, the phrase “You are what you eat,” totally confused me. Doughnuts are so delicious and sweet, therefore if I eat a half dozen of glazed old fashioned doesn’t that mean that I would also be sweet and highly desirable? Obviously, I now know that my logic as a kid was inaccurate, otherwise I would still be …
Is Cryotherapy an effective treatment for Pudendal Neuralgia?
People recovering from pudendal neuralgia will tell you there is a lack of understanding about this diagnosis and treatment options in the medical community. Week after week, our blog, How do I know if I have PN or PNE, is one of our most read posts. Recently there has been discussion about cryotherapy treatment for pudendal neuralgia. Sara Saunders, PT, …
Ketamine May Offer Rapid Relief from Persistent Pelvic Pain
By Allison Wells, MD Chronic pelvic pain is at a difficult intersection of anatomical pain generators and mood disorders like depression and anxiety that are coincident with or caused by the pain itself. To effectively relieve chronic pelvic pain you need a treatment that addresses the pain and the mood disorder issues. Ketamine infusions do both. Ketamine …
The Brain Below: The Role Your Gut May Play in Pelvic Pain
By Elizabeth Akincilar-Rummer, MSPT, Cofounder, PHRC Los Angeles When is the last time you heard a little voice inside you that tried to give you advice or warn you of danger? Some describe it as ‘butterflies,’ others a ‘gut feeling.’ That feeling can be attributed to the extremely extensive network of over 100 million neurons that make up …
Letter To The Senator about Medicare
Here at PHRC we are not Medicare providers, for good reasons; you may remember that PHRC published a blog post about them. Still, we receive calls almost daily from Medicare patients enquiring about treatment from us, and unfortunately we have to turn them down: the law says, oddly, that we cannot provide treatment to Medicare patients even if they are …
When Getting It Up Gets You Down: Erectile Dysfunction and Your Pelvic Floor
As many of us reading this blog can attest, pelvic pain can be an issue that leaves us feeling not only physically uncomfortable, but emotionally/mentally drained and isolated. Often, by the time many people get seen by a physical therapist, they have been mismanaged by other providers, leading to increased frustration among other things. Men, in particular, seem to be …
Pain as the Ultimate Protector
By Admin I recently attended a course with pain researcher and clinical neuroscientist, Lorimer Moseley. He, along with his colleague David Butler, have changed the face of pain science and helped many clinicians and patients understand how pain works. If you want to see Lorimer in action, and explain pain better than I ever could, check out his TED …
Meditation for Pelvic Pain Relief
Help!!! My pants are on FIRE!! Wait, what? Well, at least that’s what it feels like to a lot of people with pelvic pain. Because nerve pain can feel just like that – burning, tingling, like fire ants in your pants. In this post we are going to talk about how mediation can help. Why is this sensation so …
PHRC Pelvic Health Career Opportunity!
By: Stephanie Prendergast Physical Therapist Wanted for PHRC Los Angeles! Do you want to become a leader in the field of pelvic floor physical therapy? Do you enjoy working with this patient population but are having a hard time finding mentorship? Do you want a collaborative supportive work environment vs being ‘alone on an island’? If so, PHRC …
MAY you rub? Yes, you may! Let’s Celebrate Masturbation Month
May is Masturbation Month! Now everyone knows that this is the time of year when the Masturbation Fairy delivers sex toys to all the good men and women of the world! It’s a time for giving to yourself instead of to others. A time for goodwill and cheer for your genitals. Well, maybe not, but the month of May has …
Physical Therapy for Male Pelvic Pain: Don’t Let the Penis Come Between Us
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 …
Scrotal Recall: A Case of Male Pelvic Pain
By Melinda Fontaine The physical therapists at PHRC work as a team to help each other figure out the most efficient ways to help our patients. One way we share information is through weekly case studies, where one of our physical therapists describes a patient’s case, why they chose to evaluate the structures they did, how the results of the …
Male Pelvic Pain Explained: Steve’s Success Story
By Elizabeth Akincilar-Rummer I am happy to say that in March we celebrated our one year anniversary in our Boston area office!! In February 2016 we were excited to welcome our new staff, Melissa Hines, DPT, staff physical therapist and Erika Toronto, Administrative Assistant. It has been a crazy year, but I’ve truly enjoyed getting to know new colleagues and …
Exercises for Short /Tight Pelvic Floor Muscles
By Admin Disclaimer: I’m a PT and a Pilates instructor. Often, patients ask if Pilates is the answer for their pelvic floor dysfunction. You know that old saying, “Kegel-ing all day, keeps the urine at bay.” Well, unfortunately, this is not always true. At times Kegel-ing can make actually make your symptoms worse, be it urinary urgency, frequency, incontinence or …
Pelvic Myths: True or False?
By Melinda Fontaine Have you heard these common pelvic rumors? Can you guess which ones are true or false? As a pelvic floor physical therapist, I’ve heard quite a few old wives tales about the pelvis. Test your Pelvic IQ with these 16 true or false statements! T/F Drinking water will make me have to pee more. T/F …
What is Get PT 1st?
By Stephanie Prendergast Last fall, I began seeing the logo you see above, appear in my Twitter feed and on Facebook. As a physical therapist, I was happy to see an organization committing to improving awareness about our field. It’s safe to say that most of the world has no idea what a pelvic floor physical therapist is or …