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 Education is Coming to Classrooms
By Stephanie A. Prendergast, DPT, MPT, Cofounder, PHRC Los Angeles “Girls aged 12 to 17 should be taught in school how to do pelvic floor exercises, according to new draft health guidelines.” – BBC News For the past 21 years my career has been focused on advancing the field of pelvic health. Last week the BBC posted an article …
How Pelvic Floor Physical 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 …
Pregnancy Awareness Month- Pregnancy & Postpartum Services
By Stephanie A. Prendergast, DPT, MPT, Cofounder, PHRC Los Angeles With May being Pregnancy Awareness Month, we wanted to share an overview of the pregnancy and postpartum services we offer here at the Pelvic Health and Rehabilitation Center. Along with the overview we will discuss what to expect in your appointment with additional blogs, videos and general pregnancy and postpartum …
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 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 to submit …
How Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy Helps Bowel Dysfunction
By Kim Buonomo, DPT, PHRC Lexington Did You Know…. Surveys have estimated that over four million people in the United States have frequent constipation. This is the most common digestive complaint in the United States and corresponds to a prevalence of about two percent. More Americans suffer from constipation than die from heart disease every year. The impact …
Integrative Health and Nutrition: Michaels’ Success Story
By Jandra Mueller, DPT, MS, PHRC Encinitas Here is the story of a 21 year old male with many GI complaints and pelvic pain, who eagerly wanted to get back to normalcy and achieved that, although still ongoing, through the services offered at PHRC. We will refer to him as “Michael” so that his identity remains anonymous. Michael …
Success Story: Tessa’s Triumph Over Painful Sex
By Shannon Pacella, DPT, PHRC Lexington Do you remember the first time you tried using tampons? Did you have anyone help guide you or were you trying to follow the little paper instructions from inside the box? Once you mustered up the courage to try and insert it, was it painful? Maybe you were not able to get it …
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 …
EmBODYment
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 you get scared or nervous? …
More on Mindfulness for Pelvic Pain Relief
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 first: What is Mindfulness and …
Treating the Whole Person: Trauma-Informed Care Part 2
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 therapist 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 path to healing. In a 2018 …
Treating the Whole Person: Trauma-Informed Care Part 1
By Jillian Giannini, DPT, PHRC Westlake Village Whether you are a clinician, a patient, or someone who wants to learn more about the concept of trauma, learning more about trauma can be beneficial for your life and for others that you encounter in your life. Trauma often plays a role in our lives, even if we are not fully aware …
Behind the Mask: Perspective in the time of COVID
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 masks. Below I share some …
8 Pregnancy Tips from a Pelvic Health Physical Therapist /Mom
By Melinda Fontaine, DPT, PHRC Walnut Creek I recall being eight months pregnant treating other pregnant women or new moms. I would always hear, “How are you still working full time on your feet?” I still think the most honest answer is, “Pure luck”. Every pregnancy is different, and there are a lot of things that are out of …
Nobody Puts Baby in the Corner! Proper Body Mechanics for Parents
By Melinda Fontaine, DPT Having a baby is like running a marathon with your pelvic floor and pelvic girdle muscles. Did you know that: 65% of women who had low back or pelvic girdle pain during pregnancy reported persitent symptoms 14 months after delivery1 20 -70 % of new moms experience stress urinary incontinence 2 24% of women still experience …
Our FAVE Pelvic Health Resources, Products!
By Gabriella Chavarin Our FAVE Pelvic Health Resources, Products! It’s that time of year when we all make “New Year’s resolutions.” If you’re anything like us, you’ve probably resolved to sleep longer, be more active, and eat healthier. But what about your pelvic health? One of the questions I’m asked most often at PHRC is: “Do you have any recommendations …
Pelvic Floor-Friendly Exercise, Diet Advice for the New Year
Like so many of you, my new year’s resolutions include exercising more and eating healthy. As I embarked on my plan for doing both, I got to wondering where my pelvic floor health fell into the mix. “Shouldn’t my exercise plan take my pelvic floor issues into consideration?” I wondered. I certainly didn’t want to start a fitness routine that would …
How to Survive the Holidays with Pelvic Pain
“It’s the most wonderful DREADFUL time of the year!” A few years ago, that’s how I felt about the holidays. It was not always so. Used to be I was the holiday’s biggest fan. As soon as the Halloween candy hit the grocery store shelves, I’d feel a pang of excitement that lasted right up until my hangover on New …
2014 was a Huge HUGE Year for PHRC! Here’s what Happened
Wow. What a year! Each year around this time Liz and I sit back and take stock of the year behind us while looking forward to the year ahead. In this post, I’d like to share some of the exciting happenings that have gone down at PHRC this year. One of the most exciting events of all was the opening …
Helping Couples Cope with Illness and Pain
By Guest Blogger Barbara Kivowitz, co-author (with Roanne Weisman) of: IN SICKNESS AS IN HEALTH: Helping Couples Cope with the Complexities of Illness When we commit to our partner in sickness and in health, chances are we are paying very little attention to the in sickness part of the vow. Yet the CDC estimates that almost one out of …