Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy Arcadia

Within the practice of physical therapy, there are specialty focuses that aim to accurately treat patient symptoms. One of the most important areas of focus is pelvic floor physical therapy, which has been increasingly recognized for its value to patients in many applications. Generally, pelvic floor specialists will apply their focus to the pelvic floor girdle and muscles that cause pain and dysfunction.

When first starting pelvic floor therapy, you can expect an initial evaluation with one of our physical therapists. Your first appointment will be used primarily to collect information about your symptoms, medical history, prior diagnoses, and the treatments that have been attempted to resolve these issues. The pelvic floor specialist will then review their findings with you to create an individualized treatment plan.

While it is unrealistic to expect a total examination in one day, we do cover essential areas to collect necessary information before starting your physical therapy regimen. Your evaluation will include a physical examination of muscles, tissues, nerves, and joint and may include motor control and movement analysis. Common areas we examine during the initial evaluation are the inner thighs, abdomen, buttocks, and bony pelvis. When examining these areas, our specialists look for connective tissue restrictions, tight muscles, myofascial trigger points, joint dysfunction, imbalances from one side to the other, and other impairments surrounding your dysfunction/pain. 

While conducting the internal pelvic floor examination, our experts are observing your trigger points, muscle tone, strength, and motor control. Some of the main symptoms that we look for are pelvic organ prolapse, dermatologic variations, skin lesions, and diastasis recti ( separating of organs in the midsection of your abdomen). We also screen patients for irritability of the peripheral nerves that are located in the pelvis along with the integrity of tissues. Throughout the evaluation, short-term and long-term goals are discussed. Depending on the severity of your dysfunction, physical therapy treatments may last a few weeks, months, or longer. Our pelvic floor specialists apply short-term goals to improve the consistency of progress while working towards the patient’s primary resolution. After the appointment has concluded and the patient is dressed, we review findings to help individuals understand their symptoms and how we can rehabilitate the issue(s). This also allows us to cooperate with any other medical providers in your healthcare team for truly comprehensive care.

During pelvic floor therapy treatments, our specialists will often use manual therapy techniques, including neuromuscular re-education, joint mobilizations, neural mobilizations, connective tissue manipulation, and internal/external trigger point release, based on the individual’s needs at that time. Treatments primarily encompass the pelvic floor muscles and girdle, but daily postures, behaviors, movements, and breathing patterns are incorporated as required. Certain individuals may need a heavier focus on manual therapies, while others will need more assistance with neuromuscular control. Generally speaking, manual therapy is often part of a treatment session for people with pelvic pain whereas coordination and strengthening may be more involved in post-operative rehabilitation or for people with low-tone pelvic floor disorders. However, “hybrid” situations do exist and are treated accordingly.

Each treatment session is customized to benefit the needs of our patients and provide the clearest path to recovery. Our specialists hone in on the primary factors that are contributing to your limitations. This means that one treatment may incorporate more manual therapy while the next treatment may be focused on re-training your habits, postures, and movements. Typically, each treatment session requires some internal manual therapy or manual biofeedback since these conditions almost always produce some form of pelvic floor dysfunction and this is the best way to understand how your pelvic floor muscles are working.

Near the end of each appointment, we review what the patient is working on at home, why these are the areas of focus, and we may add new exercises or changes to their home program.