By Stephanie Prendergast, MPT, Cofounder, PHRC West Los Angeles Did you know that June is Men’s Health Awareness Month? To follow up that month, we wanted to update the resources we have for Pudendal Neuralgia. Below you will find the latest and greatest information both in blog and video format! We compiled information from guest speakers, Do’s and Don’ts, yoga …
Symptoms of a Hypertonic Pelvic Floor Follow Up Q&A
By Stephanie Prendergast, MPT, Cofounder, PHRC West Los Angeles A while back we asked you for your questions about having a hypertonic pelvic floor. This week we answer all your questions and then some! Q- Hi! I have really tight pelvic floor muscles and pain during sex and I was wondering if you might be able to suggest any …
Why Men Are Given Unnecessary Antibiotics & What to do Instead
By Stephanie Prendergast, MPT and Urology Expert Joshua Gonzalez, MD Most men who develop the symptoms of Chronic Pelvic Pain Syndrome (CPPS) are given unnecessary courses of antibiotics, at least once. How do we know they were unnecessary? Most of our patients have never been properly tested for a prostate infection. Men with CPPS account for up to 97% …
Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy Helps Pelvic Organ Prolapse
By Jillian Giannini, DPT, PHRC Los Angeles Did you know that Pelvic Organ Prolapse (POP)is more common than you think and that the severity or stage of the prolapse does not always correlate with symptoms? One review found that 41 – 50% of women had POP on examination, though only 3 – 5% of women report symptoms. Many people understand …
Success Story Jamie: Pushing Back Against Postpartum Prolapse
By Kim Buonomo, DPT, PHRC Lexington Many women do not realize how common pelvic floor dysfunction is after giving birth. We often hear patients who think it is normal to leak urine or to be unable to exercise after having children. Postpartum pain is common, but not normal, and pelvic floor physical therapy including pelvic floor muscle contraction exercises is …
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 …
Patient Success Story: Dealing with Prolapse and Menopause
By Karah Charette, PT, DPT, RYT When I first met Sara* (name changed for the story), I knew she was going to do well with pelvic floor physical therapy. She was motivated, curious, and engaged in her healing process. She came in with questions and reflections each session, and was open to learning something new every time we met. …
Gender-Affirming Surgery + Pelvic Floor PT: IG Live w/ Dr. Jun
By Stephanie A. Prendergast, DPT, MPT, Cofounder, PHRC Los Angeles Did you catch us last week for our IG Live with Dr. Min Jun? Our cofounder, Elizabeth Akincilar, MSPT, went live with Dr. Min Jun, a genital gender-affirming surgeon. In case you missed it, here is a little about Dr. Jun: Dr. Min Jun trained at four different academic …
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 …
New Perspectives on Endo: Gut-Immune Link & IG Live w/ Dr. Orbuch
By Jandra Mueller, DPT, MS, PHRC Encinitas March is Endometriosis Awareness Month, AND National Nutrition Month – what a great time to talk about how optimal gut health and nutrition impacts endometriosis. Optimal gut health and nutrition play a crucial role in one’s endometriosis journey because having a healthy gut means improving our mental health, optimizing our immune system, …
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 …
How Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy Helps Male Pelvic Pain
By Tiffany Yuen, DPT, PHRC Los Gatos Did you know… Chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CPPS) has a worldwide prevalence between 2% and 16% and is the most common urologic disease in men below 50 years old (Smith et al., 2016) Painful ejaculation has a prevalence between 1% and 10% in the general population, but this may increase …
A bike accident caused vulvar pain. Ally recovered, check out her Success Story!
By Kim Buonomo, DPT, PHRC Lexington Ally is a lovely 64 year old woman that I’ve been working with at PHRC Lexington since April 2019. During the course of her treatment, she read my previous success story and told me how it inspired her and that she believed she would find the same success some day. I’m so happy …
Pelvic Pain Through the Lens of Curiosity: What Can You Learn?
By Karah Charette, DPT, PHRC San Francisco & Berkeley Pain might be one of the most pesky forms of mindfulness. When you are in pain, it is usually all you can think about. It draws you into the present moment whether you want to be or not. In this moment, there also often comes the fear that you have no …
How to Use Mindful Somatic Movement for Pelvic Pain Relief: Video Included!
By Maryssa Steffan, DPT, PHRC Berkeley Pelvic pain can feel like you are stuck in an endless cycle of symptoms. It may feel like you are doomed forever. When your body is tense and your fear is feeding the pain response, moving your body may be the last thing you want to do. You may wonder how you can possibly …
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 …
Summary from IPPS 2019: Chronic Pain in Endometriosis
By: Morgan Conner, DPT, PHRC Los Gatos In October I had the pleasure of attending the International Pelvic Pain Society’s Scientific Meeting with a number of my colleagues here at PHRC. On the second day of the main conference, Catherine Allaire MDCM, FRCSC gave the James E. Carter keynote lecture titled Endometriosis: Towards Prevention of Chronic Pain. There were two …
Battle of The Sexes: Do Gender and Sex influence Pain?
At PHRC, our therapists treat both men and women with pelvic pain conditions. Many of my patients are surprised to hear that men and women have almost the same pelvic floor muscles (with some minor variations). If you were to ask me if I thought there was a big difference between treating women with pelvic pain vs men with …
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 …