Can Physical Therapy Naturally Help Menopause?
The answer is yes! When women experience symptoms of menopause in the pelvic region, such as vulvovaginal changes, bladder control problems, or prolapse, often they have no idea that physical therapy offers safe, natural, and nonsurgical solutions to many pelvic symptoms of menopause.
Below, we explore more about pelvic symptoms of menopause and how you can take action to help preserve your bladder & bowel control, pelvic organ support and overall quality of life, including with intimacy. Because we specialize in pelvic health, including treating the pelvic health symptoms of perimenopause and menopause, at Purple Mountain PT, when you work with our specialist PTs, you will receive answers to what is occurring and a customized treatment plan to rehabilitate the problem.
Purple Mountain Physical Therapy is a specialty clinic focused on successful treatment of pelvic health, spine, and TMJ disorders, including perimenopause and menopause pelvic health, spine and hip problems. We are here to provide you the treatment and results you have been seeking for your pelvic symptoms of perimenopause and menopause. If interested in learning more, call us at (616) 516-4334 or contact us here.
The pelvic symptoms of menopause can be extremely uncomfortable and bothersome, the good news is that pelvic floor physical therapy can improve and ease these. Our pelvic health and spine PTs have advanced post-doctoral training treating the many pelvic and whole body health conditions associated with menopause, including genitourinary syndrome of menopause, urinary incontinence, urinary urgency & frequency, painful intercourse, pelvic floor dysfunction, recurrent urinary tract infections, pelvic pain, atrophic vaginitis, clitoral atrophy, pelvic organ prolapse, bowel problems, osteopenia & osteoporosis and muscle mass loss. We have dedicated our careers to helping women be painfree, fit and confident in their health, focusing on pelvic health, neck and back problems and TMJ disorders.
The bothersome symptoms of menopause including urinary leakage, pelvic organ prolapse pressure, muscle tightness, pelvic floor muscle tension or weakness, stiff joints, pelvic, hip or back pain, impairments in deep core muscles, overactive bladders and painful intimacy can all be improved with our specialized physical therapy treatments, using our whole body framework and including both hands-on manual therapies and corrective exercises.
Our PTs have post-doctoral training and experience providing physical therapy to naturally help menopause and perimenopause women related pelvic health, spine, balance, posture and bone health challenges. By seeking pelvic floor physical therapy, you can naturally help menopause symptoms, by improving your pelvic floor muscles, posture and bladder and bowel function. We are located in Grand Rapids, Michigan and offer in-person visit or online consultations, call (616) 516-4334 to learn more or ask us a question here and we will be in touch.
While Menopause Can Cause Your Pelvic Floor To Become Weaker, It Also Affects Your Overall Strength, Balance, Posture and Flexibility. This Is Why Our PTs Treat You Holistically, So You Experience Meaningful Improvements In Pelvic Floor Health, Movement, Function, Balance, Posture and Strength, and Can Naturally Help Menopause
Our specialist physical therapists use a holistic framework to thoroughly evaluate and treat your diverse symptoms to uncover what needs to be addressed. Your care is customized to your unique findings and contributing factors, rather than focusing solely on one area or diagnosis, such as the pelvic floor muscles. Our comprehensive method ensures that we address and improve all aspects of your condition, from head to toe, including balance, strength, flexibility, posture, pelvic floor muscle dysfunction, movement patterns, myofascial restrictions, stiffness, impaired nerves and more.
Our comprehensive treatment approach leads to more effective and lasting results. Unlike other clinics, who may dabble in pelvic health, specializing in pelvic health is our focus. Other practitioners may take a narrow, diagnosis-based approach and whose treatments are narrow and offer limited results. By working with our licensed, doctors of physical therapy, you are assured that you are receiving holistic treatment and private, 55 minute, one-on-one appointments with the undivided attention of your specialist physical therapist. It makes a difference when your physical therapist specializes in perimenopause, menopause, pregnancy, pelvic health, spine and hip problems! Curious if we can help you? You can speak with a knowledgeable Purple Mountain PT staff member at (616) 516-4334 or ask us a question here and we will be in touch.
How Purple Mountain Physical Therapy Naturally Helps Menopause Symptoms
Did you know that pelvic floor muscle dysfunction is a contributor to the symptoms of genitourinary syndrome of menopause including pelvic organ prolapse, pelvic pain, urinary incontinence and urinary urgency? Pelvic physical therapy for menopause symptoms can help you!
Stages of Menopause
Perimenopause: The transitional phase, lasting many years, leading up to menopause, during which hormone levels fluctuate irregularly. This stage begins with changes in your menstrual cycle during your Late Reproductive Stage. You will advance to experiencing your cycles being more than 7 days variability between their length, which defines further progression through towards reaching menopause. This phase begins when a woman first notices changes to her period and ends one year after the final menstrual cycle.
Interestingly enough, women aged 40-44 were found to be at highest risk for stress urinary incontinence with running, compared to women ages 20-60 years old. 40-44 is commonly perimenopausal and pelvic floor dysfunction emerges then. This is a good time to be proactive and start pelvic PT.
Menopause: Begins at 12 consecutive months without a menstrual period. During the first few years of what is called “postmenopause” you are continuing to experience declines in hormones. You will have potentially rapid elevation of FSH, reduction in estradiol, for example. It is during this time that vasomotor symptoms of hot flashes may be quite bothersome. About 3-6 years after your menstrual cycle ceases you should experience stability in your hormones, meaning that your FSH remains elevated and your estradiol remains low. The postmenopause stage is said to last 5-8 years. During these years you may experience increasing pain with intimacy, recurrent urinary tract infection, pelvic floor dysfunction, prolapse symptoms, bladder problems and more.
With the skilled guidance of our licensed physical therapists who specialize in pelvic floor dysfunction, pelvic health care, pelvic organ prolapse, perimenopause and menopause treatments, you can experience relief of symptoms.
The treatments we provide are safe and natural ways of helping menopause and have been shown to benefit all women, regardless of age and menopausal status. For example, a study investigated pelvic floor strength training for women at various stages of perimenopause, early menopause and postmenopause. All women, at all stages, showed improvement in pelvic floor muscle strength,
The participants in this study included women in
- Late Reproductive and Early Menopause Stage,
- Late Menopausal and Early Postmenopausal Stage and
- Late Postmenopausal Stage.
The women were divided into 3 research groups, according to their Stage of Reproductive Aging and all were provided pelvic floor muscle strengthening over 12 weeks. They were assessed at the conclusion of the study to determine if their pelvic floor muscles were stronger and working more effectively. They found that all participants, regardless of age or stage of menopause, experienced pelvic floor muscle strength increases. The researchers concluded that increases in pelvic floor strength can be achieved wth pelvic floor muscle training during all stages of menopause. Our PTs will tell you that it is never too late to start! Physical therapy, unlike expensive drugs or surgeries that have side effects, offers a safe and natural approach to helping menopause, alleviating your symptomy by optimizing your body’s strength, posture, pelvic floor, movement patterns and bladder & bowel function.
-Tosun, Özge Çeliker PT, PhD1; Mutlu, Ebru Kaya PT, MSc2; Tosun, Gökhan MD3; et al. Do stages of menopause affect the outcomes of pelvic floor muscle training?. Menopause 22(2):p 175-184, February 2015.
Vaginal Atrophy (Previously Termed Vulvovaginal Atrophy) related to Menopause Can Benefit From Pelvic Health PT.
Vaginal atrophy, also known as atrophic vaginitis or vulvovaginal atrophy, is a condition of genitourinary syndrome of menopause (GSM) that causes painful intimacy, burning and dryness. Vulvovaginal atrophy has been found to reduce quality of life and cause pain during sex, loss of libido, avoidance of intimacy, painful urination, urinary urgency and frequency and recurrent urinary tract infections. If this is unmanaged, these problems can be progressive and debilitating.
We provide various treatments and techniques for vulvovaginal atrophy and genitourinary syndrome of menopause to alleviate discomfort, enhance blood flow, reduce tension on nerves, strengthen pelvic floor muscles and improve the vaginal atrophy condition.
The underlying changes to your pelvic floor muscles, blood flow to the vaginal area, clitoris and vagina include stiffness, weakness and tension that physical therapy can treat. Using our rehabilitative ultrasound imaging we can assess your pelvic floor muscles and ability to empty your bladder and bowels and customize a treatment plan for your needs. Sometimes vaginal dilator therapy can be helpful, if so, our PTs teach you how to safely and effectively implement this at home. Skilled pelvic PT with our licensed doctors of physical therapy alleviates underlying muscle and nerve tension, reduces pain and optimizes your urinary voiding function so you can reduce infections. Our PTs enjoy helping you through this problem and find that our patients experience both physical relief of pain and psychological, knowing that there is help. Call (616) 516-4334 to learn more about working with us, or reach out here and we will be in touch.
Bladder Conditions Associated with Menopause that Our PTs Treat:
-
Urinary incontinence
-
Urinary frequency and urgency
-
Burning sensation while urinating
-
Recurrent Urinary Tract Infections
All of these conditions have underlying problems with how your pelvic floor is function in addition to your bladder muscle.
Our gentle hands-on manual therapies will be directed to your entire spine, hips, abdomen and thighs because these areas have connections to bladder control. We also carefully assess and treat your pelvic floor muscles to optimize bladder control and address pelvic organ support. We combine these therapeutic methods with guided exercises to help you coordinate your low back, abdominals, pelvic floor and bladder and bowel. It is empowering!
Estrogen loss and increased pelvic floor pressure caused by muscle tightness can cause these bladder symptoms. Urinary urgency, discomfort, loss, and recurrent UTIs can be very disruptive and distressing and are treatable with pelvic PT. We will work with your physicians to stop the cycle of repetitive antibiotics, and infections. In the clinic, our PTs will work with you to regain control over your bladder. We know that bladder problems associated with menopause & perimenopause are distressing, reach out to us at (616) 516-4334 to learn more or contact us here and we will be in touch.
Bone Health Improves With Safe and Effective Weightbearing Exercises. Our PTs Can Teach You What You Should Be Doing & Avoiding When Exercising To Improve Bone Density.
Menopause also commonly affects the bone health of women, creating increased risk for osteoporosis, osteopenia, falls, postural changes, constipation and pelvic floor problems.
Osteopenia and osteoporosis are a result of increased bone resorption. Estrogen is a key player in the continuous self-regeneration of bone, called remodeling, which happens through the reabsorption of old bone, and formation of new bone. Low estrogen levels substantially increase bone resorption and the formation of new bone can’t keep up with the increased bone removal, leading to accelerated bone loss. In addition to estrogen-related bone loss, aging also facilitates a transition away from building new bone and towards more net bone loss, this affects men as well. However, informed lifestyle choices and habits can impact bone health and decrease the risk of injury. Physical therapy can naturally help menopause and promote your bone health. Our specialist PTs are located in Grand Rapids, Michigan and can be reached at (616) 516-4334 or submit your question here and we will be in touch with you!
Our specialist PTs will assess your posture, balance, strength and movement patterns in the context of how can we improve your bone density, reduce your risk for falls and minimize fracture risk.
The customized program we provide for women who have osteopenia or osteoporosis will give you the confidence to be active and educates you on safe and appropriate exercises for yourself. Reach out to us at (616) 516-4334 to learn more or submit your question here and we will be in touch with you!
Osteoporotic fractures occur because of bone density deficiency, balance problems, and strength deficits. Physical therapy for balance, posture, strength, and fitness levels can help your bone health. Some of our patients here at Purple Mountain Physical Therapy who come to us for our bone health and menopause treatment program learn from us that some of the exercises they have been doing increase the risk for bone fracture! Our PTs can guide you to safe and effective exercises that help your posture, back strength, pelvic floor muscles, balance, flexibility and movement patterns. To speak with one of our knowledgable team members call us at (616) 516-4334 or submit your question here and we will be in touch with you!
We are a specialized pelvic health physical therapy clinic. Our doctors of physical therapy have postgraduate education and experience in naturally treating symptoms of menopause. If you are wanting relief of your menopause symptoms, including urinary uregncy and frequency, prolapse pressure, pelvic pain, painful intimacy, bone health or incontinence, we are here for you!
You don’t just have to ‘deal’ with your symptoms of menopause. Improve your quality of life, physical therapy can naturally help menopause symptoms.
Contact us at (616) 516-4334 to learn more, or reach out here to ask us a question.
Peace,
Specialist pelvic health, spine and TMJ PT for over 25 years. Founder of Purple Mountain Physical Therapy, the only dedicated pelvic health clinic in West Michigan. Come work with us for comprehensive and effective care with our specialist PTs. I hope this information helps you see that physical therapy can naturally help menopause.
Get on the road to feeling better.
You may be interested in other articles we have written:
Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome and Bladder Problems. What’s Going On?
Vaginismus and Dyspareunia Treatment in Grand Rapids
Tailbone pain and How Pelvic Floor PT Can Help You! Plus Some Self-Care Tips!
Does Pelvic Floor Therapy Work for Prolapse?
