By Emily Tran, PHRC Westlake Village September marks Sexual Health Awareness Month, a time to raise awareness about the importance of sexual health and well-being. One often overlooked aspect of sexual health is the impact of chronic pain on intimacy. Millions of people worldwide suffer from chronic pain, and it can significantly affect their relationships and sex lives. In …
Postpartum Urinary Incontinence is Common: Here’s How We Can Help
By Lauren Opatrny, PT, DPT, PHRC Berkeley & San Francisco *all names have been changed to maintain patient privacy Background Rachel* is a 32 year old experiencing urinary incontinence after giving birth to her baby in December 2020. When she was eight months postpartum and still experiencing incontinence, her doctor referred her to pelvic physical therapy. Six weeks …
Healing Female Sexual Pain, and IG Live with Dr. Irwin Goldstein
By Stephanie A. Prendergast, DPT, MPT, Cofounder, PHRC Los Angeles On February 18th I had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Irwin Goldstein on Instagram Live. Here is a little background on Dr. Goldstein: Dr. Irwin Goldstein is the director of San Diego Sexual Medicine, where he maintains his clinical practice, Director of Sexual Medicine at Alvarado Hospital and Clinical …
Thinking Beyond the Dilators: How Vicki Beat Vaginismus
By Morgan Conner, DPT, PHRC Los Gatos Sadly, the starting point of this success story is not novel to me as a pelvic floor physical therapist or for many who struggle with primary vaginismus. However, this story has a happy ending (pun very much intended!) as well as an interesting middle. When Vicki (not her real name) married her husband …
Enjoying Sex While Healing From Pelvic Pain
This week, long-time colleague Lorraine Faehnedrich guest blogs for PHRC. Lorraine’s bio and information on her courses can be found at the end of the post. On April 2 Lorraine will be interviewing our own Katie Hunter about how pelvic floor physical therapy can help women recover from painful sex. Stay tuned to our social media for more details! From …
Recovery From Vaginismus and Painful Sex: Martha’s Success Story
By Sigourney Cross, DPT, PHRC Walnut Creek Vaginismus is characterized as an involuntary spasm or contraction of the muscles around the vagina. This makes it very difficult for women to insert tampons, receive pelvic exams by their doctors and can also make sexual intercourse nearly impossible and painful. It can affect women anywhere from their teenage years to later in …
Hormonal Changes in Menopause and What You Can Do About It
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 home to all of the …
The 4th Trimester: Postpartum Pain is Common but not Normal, Part 2
By Courtney Edgecomb, DPT In Part 2 of my 2-part post I will cover different therapeutic strategies for postpartum pain. As a new mom, self-care and appropriate medical attention is critical to ensure you stay as healthy as possible for your little one. I am sure it is daunting to find time for yourself at the moment, but it will …
The 4th Trimester: Postpartum Pelvic Pain is Common but Not Normal
By: Courtney Edgecomb, DPT Postpartum Pelvic Floor Physical 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 it is hard to tease out …
Moisturize My Vagina?! What you need to know
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, is absorbed into the skin …
Off the Press! The Pink Pill and Other News
By Stephanie Prendergast It has been an eventful few weeks in pelvic health news! We’ve summarized the top stories and included our commentary. “Pelvic pain may be common among reproductive-age women, NIH study finds.” From the National Institute of Health Article summary: Pain reports were highest for women with endometriosis, however ⅓ of those without any pelvic condition also reported …
Gwyneth’s Goop and the Pelvic Floor: What They Missed
By Stephanie Prendergast Last week, Gwyneth Paltrow’s popular newsletter featured an article on pelvic floor muscles, which prompted numerous emails and tweets in my direction. Apparently this is a topic that makes my friends and colleagues think of me. While pondering why everyone, except for me, seems to be reading Goop, I took a look. I am glad to see …
Vagi-what? A rough guide to Vaginismus
If you’ve ever said the following: “It feels like there’s a wall there.” “I can’t insert a tampon.” “I can’t have penetrative sex with my husband.” “I was told I need to drink a glass of wine right before sex, but that still doesn’t help.” You might be experiencing vaginismus symptoms. DEFINITION What exactly is vaginismus? Vaginismus, pronounced vaj-uh-niz-muhs, is …
Five Steps to Overcoming Anxiety Around Intercourse
By Guest Blogger: Lorraine Faehndrich “How will I ever be able to have intercourse?” If you’ve struggled with pelvic pain it’s likely that this question is very familiar to you. (Unless of course you’ve been pushing all thoughts of sex and intimacy out of your mind since your symptoms began.) The idea of intercourse or any type of penetration …
Here’s what’s Wrong with the ‘kGoal’
By Stephanie Prendergast There’s a new Kegel aid poised to hit the market called the “kGoal,” and enthusiasts are touting it as “the new FitBit for the vagina”. But, while kGoal has been generating a ton of press, there are problems with the device and how its being marketed. Before I go any further with the issues I have with this …
Pelvic Pain and Sex: Not Great Bedfellows
By Liz Rummer Akincilar Chronic pain can put a damper on anyone’s sex life no matter the location of the pain, but pelvic pain impacts a patient’s sex life on another level. The reason for this is that the pelvic floor plays a major role in sexual functioning. For instance, if you have vulvar burning or post-ejaculatory pain, you’ll understandably …
The Case of Male Pelvic Pain, Painful Sex
History Ben is a 32-year-old male whose chief complaints are: right testicle ascension and sometimes associated pain, which started after he began using the hip adductor machine at the gym. His symptoms are worse post ejaculation or with strenuous activity, such as biking or playing tennis and remain for 20 to 30 minutes. He has a history of constipation and …
Molly’s Pelvic Pain Success Story
One month after my thirty-second birthday, I woke up in excruciating pain—it was as if someone had set me on fire while I was asleep—the focal point of my pain was the left side of my vulva but I also had extreme vaginal and urethral burning. My first thought was that I had either a yeast or bladder infection; I …
Shedding Light on Male Pelvic Pain and Sexual Dysfunction
Guest blogger Dr. Jeannette Potts, of Vista Urology and Pelvic Pain Partners, has a great deal of experience treating male pelvic pain. In this post, she sheds some light on sexual dysfunction associated with male pelvic pain. The continued misuse of the generic diagnosis, “prostatitis,” remains a disservice to the vast majority of patients suffering from pelvic and genital pain …
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 …
Stephanie talks to New York Times about Male Pelvic Pain Issue
On Sept. 12, the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ABOG) posted a new rule on its website prohibiting gynecologists from treating men. A few conditions were listed as exceptions; however, pelvic pain was not one of them. So writes the New York Times in an article published Dec. 10 titled “Men with Pelvic Pain find a Path to Treatment …
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