Does Physical Therapy Help Constipation?

Does physical therapy help constipation?  Yes, you can get relief & will learn how to help yourself, also!

If you are struggling with constipation and tired of having no remedies that actually work (like medications & miralax), you should consider seeing our physical therapists.  We are Purple Mountain Physical Therapy, a specialty pelvic health, constipation & TMJ clinic in Grand Rapids, Michigan.  Our licensed, experienced PTs have advanced training to provide physical therapy to help constipation, pelvic floor dysfunction, bladder problems, intimacy related pain, tailbone pain, postpartum recovery problems, spine and TMJ disorders for women and men.  Many of our patients come to us for lifelong constipation, anal fissures, hemorrhoids or IBS and are surprised to learn that physical therapy helps constipation.  Our patients are looking for natural and effective ways to improve their bothersome constipation, instead of taking medications and dealing with uncomfortable, small stools.  If you would like more information about working with our PTs, contact us here or call 616.516.4334 to speak with one of our staff members.

Our physical therapy to help constipation is customized to your needs and goals and includes a holistic approach using physical therapy methods to help improve your bowel movements.  You will receive natural and effective methods to improve constipation including frequency of bowel movements, stool size, ease of passing & exercises you can do on your own to facilitate passage and more.

We offer a combination of natural physical therapy methods to help constipation.

Patients find our specialized abdominal massage techniques gives them tremendous relief from constipation.

This abdominal massage includes visceral mobilization, scar tissue treatment, gentle intestinal massage, rib cage and diaphragmatic treatments and abdominal muscle trigger point release.   We find that our patients who have constipation have an assortment of tension and issues in the abdominal wall, likely from prolonged bouts of constipation.   These gentle, hands-on abdominal massage techniques improve your pain, tension, scar tissues and can promote bowel sounds.  Sometimes during an appointment patients experience the gift of needing to defecate.

Our physical therapy program to help constipation also includes exercises, gentle movements to facilitate digestion, pelvic floor muscle training, myofascial release, neural calming and behavioral changes at home to promote digestion and bowel movements.

When you struggle with constipation, anal fissures, IBS or hemorrhoids, most of our patients struggle silently.  Many have visited their physicians and really don’t receive much advice about how to get your bowels moving more regularly.  This is where physical therapy to help constipation can be a game changer for you.  Our PTs comprehensively treat you, with private, one-on-one appointments that are upto 55 minutes in length, which provides you plenty of time to receive treatment and learn what you can do for yourself.  For example, we will review your posture, breathing and pelvic floor control when defecating.  More often than not, there are multiple changes you can easily make that will help the passage of stool.   Our PTs can teach you what works best for your body.  If you would like information about our PT for constipation, contact us here.

If you are experiencing constipation and are looking for treatments that teach you how to help your constipation so you don’t have daily troubles, our licensed physical therapists are here to help you.

What to expect in physical therapy for constipation.

Our constipation physical therapy treatment is customized to your needs and is always one-on-one with your licensed physical therapist.

  • Appointments are upto 55 minutes in length, are private and with your physical therapist the entire time.
  • Treatments may include gentle manual therapy to the abdomen, lower back, thighs, pelvic floor, hips or other areas
  • We include scar tissue mobilization and myofascial release techniques to promote abdominal health and bowel motility
  • We provide biofeedback and pelvic floor exercises to teach your pelvic floor muscles how to effectively expel stool.
  • Treatment addresses any hip or low back problems, because pain or stiffness in this area contributes to pelvic floor dysfunction and can slow down your intestinal movements.
  • You will complete exercises that are customized to your findings and teach you how to move, stretch, relax and strengthen to reduce constipation.
  • We help you modify your approach to eating, including when you eat, your chewing habits, how you eat, what foods you eat, what you need to eat to help facilitate soft, formed stools and more.
  • We teach you the optimal toileting postures, breathing, pelvic floor control and other factors of how you sit on the toilet and how you pass yoru stool.
  • You will have all of your questions answered and will learn an effective daily routine for self care at home.
  • We include neural calming, heart rate variability training and vagus nerve stimulation to help your intestinal peristalsis.

Because our PTs specialize in this treatment and have advanced training specific to helping constipation, you can expect a higher level of care when working with us.

Most of our patients tell us that no one has ever helped them or advised them for their constipation in the ways we include.

This is what makes your treatment with us unique and effective, because we are taking the time to talk to you about your habits and to assess your body head to toe to determine how we can improve your constipation.  We tap into the ability of your own body and your habits to help you resolve constipation.  Resolving chronic constipation requires a holistic and comprehensive approach and effective daily habits, which our licensed physical therapists provide you.   If you would like information about our PT for constipation, contact us here or call 616.516.4334 to speak with one of our staff members.

You can expect a comprehensive treatment approach that includes numerous physical therapy interventions such as exercises, stretches, self abdominal massage,  scar tissue manual therapy, electric stimulation, neural calming, pelvic floor training, toileting posture & mechanics practice, eating and dietary recommendations and more.  Physical therapy for constipation can help you feel so much better.   To get your questions answered, contact us here or call (616) 516-4334

Our patients tell us that their medical providers have never taught them what we teach them and have not provided them a natural and comprehensive approach for helping their constipation.  We know that you may have been told to take miralax or presciption medications.  We know you often are told to eat more fiber, yet you may not tolerate this.  Our physical therapy treatment for constipation is far more comprehensive than medications and fiber intake.  Because we teach you exercises to promote intestinal motility, self abdominal massage and scar tissue treatment in addition to toileting habits, techniques to pass stool more effectively and eating habits that can help constipation, our patients learn so much more than they have ever known.  We also provide pelvic and spine  treatment, visceral mobilization and instructions on optimizing your bowel habits, techniques for defecating and chewing & diet.  If this sounds like it may help you, call us at 616.516.4334 or contact us here to get your questions answered.

We often have adults or children who come to us for physical therapy with constipation related problems like anal fissures, hemorrhoids, vaginismus, pelvic pain, bloating, incomplete emptying of their bowels, fecal incontinence and abdominal cramping.

If you have recurrent hemorrhoids or anal fissures, did you know that physical therapy can help these?  Our PT for constipation, hemorrhoids and anal fissures has a goal of reducing whatever is going on in your body to cause these problems.

Our licensed physical therapists work with both adults and children who have constipation.

Pediatric constipation treatment is developmentally appropriate, fun for kids and highly effective.

Sometimes kids have a functional gut problem, which means that there is nothing damaged in the tissue of the gut, but they still experience challenges related to digestion, cramping pain, constipation and difficulty defecating.   Our pediatric bladder and bowel specialist physical therapist offers kids (and parents) a proven path forward to help constipation and its associated abdominal bloating, pain and daytime & nighttime incontinence.

Adult constipaton physical therapy helps you to experience ease with passing stools, improvement in size of stools and frequency of defecation and resolves pelvic floor muscle dysfunction contributing to hemorrhoids, anal fissures and constipation.

Adults come to us frustrated and uncertain about where to turn for help.  We love this work and have devoted our careers to figuring out how to best help you have a daily, complete bowel movement without pain or straining.  There is so much you can do to help yourself.  Usually the pelvic floor muscles are part of the problem, as well as your abdomen, breathing and defecatory techniques.   If you are struggling with constipation related problems, working with our doctors of physical therapy, who can provide you a path forward and a more comfortable daily life.  Call us at 616-516-4334 or contact us here to learn more.

Our patients tell us that receiving the hands-on manual therapies and pelvic floor muscle exercise training we provide, such as gentle abdominal massage, Vagus nerve toning treatments, visceral mobilization and scar tissue mobilization helps alleviate pain and improves constipation and bloating.

Our bowel and bladder program, for both adults and children, helps optimize your constipation, pelvic health, posture, toileting habits and techniques and more.  We help patients stop straining on the toilet and reduce hemorrhoids and anal fissures.  If you have questions about cost and availability of our physical therapy, contact us here or call 616-516-4334. 

There is also evidence that vagus nerve stimulation is a good option for helping patients who have Crohn’s disease. We provide numerous techniques for vagus nerve stimulation.

Our PTs provide vagus nerve stimulation techniques for your constipation treatment.  We also teach you numerous self-care methods to stimulate your own vagus nerve and help your constipatin at home.  If you would like more information about our specialized physical therapy to help treat bowel disorders and chronic constipation, call us at 616-516-4334 or contact us here.

“Thus, vagus nerve stimulation provides a new therapeutic option in the treatment of Crohn’s disease”

-Bonaz B, Sinniger V, Pellissier S. Vagus nerve stimulation: a new promising therapeutic tool in inflammatory bowel disease. J Intern Med (2017) 282:46–63.

Physical Therapy for constipation also helps with pelvic floor muscle dysfunction that is making it hard for you to pass stool.

Our PTs treat the pelvic floor muscles, which can be a huge part of why you are constipated.  If your pelvic floor muscles do not know how to lengthen and open the passageway for stool to pass, you can end up with pain and constipation.

One common problem with the pelvic floor muscles is puborectalis dyssynergia and this contributes to constipation; effective PT treatments that we provide can retrain your pelvic floor muscles.

There has been research showing physical therapy works to improve this cause of constipation and one paper was published by Dr. Christina Lewicky-Gaupp back in 2008.

“Successful physical therapy for patients with puborectalis dyssynergia is associated with improvements in constipation-related symptoms and in quality of life.”

Lewicky-Gaupp, C., Morgan, D.M., Chey, W.D. et al. Successful Physical Therapy for Constipation Related to Puborectalis Dyssynergia Improves Symptom Severity and Quality of Life. Dis Colon Rectum 51, 1686–1691 (2008).

Puborectalis dyssynergia is a complicated terminology that means that the pelvic floor muscle that surrounds your rectum and intertwines with your anal sphincter is tightening up when you try to pass a stool.  When this is happening you can experience pain, hemorrhoids, anal fissures, bloating and constipation.  Our PTs will treat this problem and help your muscle learn how to pass stool more easily.

Our founder here at Purple Mountain PT, Dr. Maureen O’Keefe, DPT, worked with Dr. Lewicky-Gaupp, the author of this research article, who now works at Northwestern in Chicago.  They worked together for many years in Chicago.   Dr. Lewicky-Gaupp is a strong advocate for physical therapy for all pelvic floor dysfunction, constipation, urinary incontinence, prolapse and pelvic pain conditions.

Your path to improve your constipation begins with your evaluation with our doctor of physical therapy, who is a licensed physical therapist. Call us at 616-516-4334 or contact us here to learn more.  This is a private appointment, upto 55 minutes in length and will include a complete review of the things you have tried to do to help your constipation, your daily bowel habits, any pelvic issues related to your bladder, bowels, intimacy or pain and your medical history, which includes abdominal surgeries

Our patients tell us that receiving the hands-on manual therapies and pelvic floor muscle exercise training we provide, such as gentle abdominal massage, Vagus nerve toning treatments, visceral mobilization and scar tissue mobilization helps alleviate pain and improves constipation and bloating.

Our bowel and bladder program, for both adults and children, helps optimize your constipation, pelvic health, posture, toileting habits and techniques and more.  We help patients stop straining on the toilet and reduce hemorrhoids and anal fissures.  If you have questions about cost and availability of our physical therapy, contact us here or call 616-516-4334. 

Because kids are prone to constipation, they also experience bladder control problems.  Constipation in children is linked to bedwetting, daytime loss of urine and fecal incontinence.  Our pediatric bladder and bowel physical therapy program helps constipation and pediatric wetting problems.

Constipation in children can cause stretching out of the rectum, which can alter the bladder’s capacity to fill up, store urine and keep your child dry.  If your child is experiencing any unexpected loss of urine, such as nocturnal enuresis (bedwetting), enuresis (daytime bladder leaks), and encopresis (stool leaks or smearing), physical therapy can help you.   All child working with our licensed physical therapist for urinary incontinence will receive a complete assessment of their bowel function and whether they have constipation.

What are the signs that my child is constipated?

Some of the parents of our pediatric patients are not sure if their child is constipated.  There are signs of constipation, including clogging the toilet, not having a daily bowel movement, extra large stools, problems with bladder control, including completely emptying at night, leading to bedwetting, and bloating.  For these kids we know that chewing food more completely, to the consistency of apple sauce, can help their constipation. We provide a complete physical therapy program for pediatric bladder and bowel development and control.  If your child is experiencing challenges related to constipation or bladder function, our licensed physical therapist specializes in providing treatment that helps them.  Call us at 616-516-4334 or contact us here to learn more.

Can physical therapy, such as abdominal massage, vagus nerve toning and pelvic floor muscle training help my constipation?

Yes, these treatments can help your constipation.  Because our licensed PTs specialize in pelvic health, we offer holisitic treatments that have helped patients who have Crohn’s disease, IBS, celiac disease, colorectal cancer and other gut related health problems.  Our therapies are gentle, safe and natural.  Treatment is one-on-one with your PT for upto 55 minutes.  For more information about working with us, contact us here or call us at 616-516-4334. This time allows us to provide you whole body care, such as heart rate variability training, diaphragmatic breathing exercises, pelvic floor muscle training, abdominal massage, scar tissue mobilization and vagus nerve toning treatments.  Each of these interventions is meant to calm your inflammatory state and promote healthy pelvic floor muscle control.  Treatment using abdominal massage in physical therapy for constipation has been around for a number of years and has been shown in case studies to help improve regularity and ease of passing your stools.

“Physical therapy incorporating abdominal massage appeared to be helpful in resolving this patient’s constipation. Unlike medical management of constipation, no known side effects have been identified with abdominal massage.”

-Kendra L Harrington, Esther M Haskvitz, Managing a Patient’s Constipation With Physical Therapy, Physical Therapy, Volume 86, Issue 11, 1 November 2006, Pages 1511–1519.

There is also evidence that vagus nerve stimulation is a good option for helping patients who have Crohn’s disease. We provide numerous techniques for vagus nerve stimulation.

Our PTs provide vagus nerve stimulation techniques for your constipation treatment.  We also teach you numerous self-care methods to stimulate your own vagus nerve and help your constipatin at home.  If you would like more information about our specialized physical therapy to help treat bowel disorders and chronic constipation, call us at 616-516-4334 or contact us here.

“Thus, vagus nerve stimulation provides a new therapeutic option in the treatment of Crohn’s disease”

-Bonaz B, Sinniger V, Pellissier S. Vagus nerve stimulation: a new promising therapeutic tool in inflammatory bowel disease. J Intern Med (2017) 282:46–63.

The Vagus Nerve is often hypoactive when you have constipation and gastroparesis.   Our physical therapy helps constipation by providing numerous treatments to help stimulate your vagus nerve.

The vagus nerve, the 10th cranial nerve, starts in your head and wanders a lengthy path down your neck, midback and abdomen.  This is why we provide whole body physical therapy treatment to help constipation.  We have found that if we can provide gentle hands-on treatments to the head and neck, for example, we can facilitate vagus nerve activation.   Gastroparesis is a condition where food you eat does not move from the stomach into the intestines and is related to low vagus nerve activity.    If you are interested in learning more about how our physical therapy can help constipation, including our Vagus nerve techniques, contact us here or call us at 616.516.4334 

Physical Therapy for constipation also helps with pelvic floor muscle dysfunction that is making it hard for you to pass stool.

Our PTs treat the pelvic floor muscles, which can be a huge part of why you are constipated.  If your pelvic floor muscles do not know how to lengthen and open the passageway for stool to pass, you can end up with pain and constipation.

One common problem with the pelvic floor muscles is puborectalis dyssynergia and this contributes to constipation; effective PT treatments that we provide can retrain your pelvic floor muscles.

There has been research showing physical therapy works to improve this cause of constipation and one paper was published by Dr. Christina Lewicky-Gaupp back in 2008.

“Successful physical therapy for patients with puborectalis dyssynergia is associated with improvements in constipation-related symptoms and in quality of life.”

Lewicky-Gaupp, C., Morgan, D.M., Chey, W.D. et al. Successful Physical Therapy for Constipation Related to Puborectalis Dyssynergia Improves Symptom Severity and Quality of Life. Dis Colon Rectum 51, 1686–1691 (2008).

Puborectalis dyssynergia is a complicated terminology that means that the pelvic floor muscle that surrounds your rectum and intertwines with your anal sphincter is tightening up when you try to pass a stool.  When this is happening you can experience pain, hemorrhoids, anal fissures, bloating and constipation.  Our PTs will treat this problem and help your muscle learn how to pass stool more easily.

Our founder here at Purple Mountain PT, Dr. Maureen O’Keefe, DPT, worked with Dr. Lewicky-Gaupp, the author of this research article, who now works at Northwestern in Chicago.  They worked together for many years in Chicago.   Dr. Lewicky-Gaupp is a strong advocate for physical therapy for all pelvic floor dysfunction, constipation, urinary incontinence, prolapse and pelvic pain conditions.

If you would like to talk with one of our knowledgable staff members about your constipation or pelvic health needs, contact us here or call 616-516-4334.

Because our patients are tired of medical treatments for constipation that don’t work or are expensive or come with side effects, they are looking for natural approaches to help their constipation.  Our pelvic physical therapists will provide you a lengthy list of customized treatments and things you can do for yourself to help constipation, including chewing.

We know how miserable it can feel to struggle with lifelong constipation.  Our physical therapy helps constipation by using comprehensive, gentle treatments that address pelvic floor dysfunction, Vagus nerve tone, myofascial release, scar tissue, toileting habits, breathing, dietary habits and more.

Purple Mountain Physical Therapy is a specialty PT clinic located in Grand Rapids, Michigan.  We love this work and consider it an honor to help people improve their constipation, pelvic pain, pelvic floor dysfunction, TMJ pain and intimacy related problems.   We treat adults and children who have bladder, bowel and pain conditions, including chronic constipation, chronic pelvic pain, TMJ disorders and neck and back pain.   Our PTs are fully trained orthopedic physical therapists, but it is our specialization and many years’ experience working in the field of constipation care, pelvic health, chronic pelvic and TMJ pain that informs the treatment we provide you for constipation.   If you are interested in learning more about our bladder & bowel programs you can speak with one of our knowledgable staff members at (616)516-4334 or contact us here.

Peace,

Dr. Maureen O’Keefe, DPT  founder of Purple Mountain PT and pelvic health, spine and TMJ specialist.  Our team of licensed physical therapists all specialize in treating chronic constipation and are here to help you take control of your body and improve your digestion.

You may be interested in these other articles we’ve written about the services we offer:

Why is My Child’s Poop So Big?

Does Chewing Help Constipation?

Tips to Fix Incontinence Naturally

Why Does Sex Hurt After Having A Baby?

8 Ways Pelvic PT Helps IBS

Why Does My C-Section Scar Hurt Years Later?

Why Can’t I Push Out My Pee?

What is High Tone Pelvic Floor Dysfunction?

Does Physical Therapy Help Endometriosis?

What Can I Do Naturally to Help My TMJ? 8 Tips That Help!

Physical Therapy Can Stop Bedwetting!

References:

Bonaz B, Sinniger V, Pellissier S. Vagus nerve stimulation: a new promising therapeutic tool in inflammatory bowel disease. J Intern Med (2017) 282:46–63. doi:10.1111/joim.12611

Carabotti M, Scirocco A, Maselli MA, Severi C. The gut-brain axis: interactions between enteric microbiota, central and enteric nervous systems. Ann Gastroenterol (2015) 28:203–9.

Kendra L Harrington, Esther M Haskvitz, Managing a Patient’s Constipation With Physical Therapy, Physical Therapy, Volume 86, Issue 11, 1 November 2006, Pages 1511–1519.

Lewicky-Gaupp, C., Morgan, D.M., Chey, W.D. et al. Successful Physical Therapy for Constipation Related to Puborectalis Dyssynergia Improves Symptom Severity and Quality of Life. Dis Colon Rectum 51, 1686–1691 (2008).

Lu KH, Cao J, Oleson S, Ward MP, Phillips RJ, Powley TL, Liu Z. Vagus nerve stimulation promotes gastric emptying by increasing pyloric opening measured with magnetic resonance imaging. Neurogastroenterol Motil. 2018 Oct;30(10):e13380.

Lu KH, Cao J, Phillips R, Powley TL, Liu Z. Acute effects of vagus nerve stimulation parameters on gastric motility assessed with magnetic resonance imaging. Neurogastroenterol Motil. 2020 Jul;32(7):e13853

Malone JC, Thavamani A. Physiology, Gastrocolic Reflex. [Updated 2022 May 8]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2022 Jan

Zeng Y, Zhang X, Zhou J, Wang X, Jiao R, Liu Z. Efficacy of electroacupuncture compared with transcutaneous electric nerve stimulation for functional constipation: Study protocol for a randomized, controlled trial. Medicine (Baltimore). 2018 May;97(19):e0692.

Physical Therapy for Lichen Sclerosus

Author | Dr. Maureen O’Keefe, DPT pelvic health physical therapist specialist treating lichen sclerosus, pelvic floor dysfunction, pelvic pain, bladder, bowel and intimacy related conditions

How can physical therapy help lichen sclerosus?

At Purple Mountain Physical Therapy our licensed PTs have specialized training to offer physical therapy for lichen sclerosus so you can alleviate the pain and associated problems related to intercourse, painful sex, bladder issues or bowel problems. We understand that lichen sclerosus is a private and painful problem and this can cause despair. Our physical therapy for lichen sclerosus is comprehensive, educational and helps calm pain. In this article we detail some of the key features of what our PTs offer you so that you can experience pain relief, comfortable sex, healthy bladder function and normal bowel movements. If you are interested in learning more about our PT for lichen sclerosus, call us at (616) 516-4334 or contact us here to speak with one of our knowledgeable staff.

Physical Therapy for lichen sclerosus will help your scar tissue

Here at Purple Mountain PT, our licensed physical therapists specialize in treating scar tissue. If you peruse our website and Instagram posts you will find information, we have written about treating c-section scars, for example. We work with any scar that a person has and help it to become more mobile and less painful for them. This is true with lichen sclerosus. By using gentle and specific pelvic floor manual therapy methods we will assess your scar tissue, let you know what we are finding and work with you to get this tissue more pliable. Each appointment is private, in a comfortable treatment room and 55 minutes in length. You will work with your same doctor of physical therapy at every appointment; we never bounce you around to someone else and we don’t leave you alone to exercise by yourself. If you are interested in learning more about our lichen sclerosus scar and comprehensive treatment, contact us here or reach out to us at (616) 516-4334.

If you have scarring around the clitoris or clitoral hood, our pelvic PT can help you

This is a prime area where we help patients. Quite often the clitoral hood is not able to retract and move. We help you identify if this is a problem and using gentle and effective treatment methods, we will help you improve the extensibility of these tissues. If your clitoral hood cannot move, then intimacy is not nearly as pleasurable or sensitive as it should be. Over the course of PT, you can expect to see visible improvement in your clitoral mobility and, over time, we hope that you experience greater sensation in the clitoral region when you are intimate. If you are interested in learning more about our treatment, contact us here or reach out to us at (616) 516-4334.

PT for lichen sclerosus will help your skin and opening of the vaginal canal

The skin of the labia, vulva and vestibule can become fibrotic and tighten up with LS. If the opening of your vaginal canal also becomes restricted, then using tampons, having your annual Gyne exam or trying penetrative sex can be very difficult. “Difficult” is putting it lightly, actually. We’ve worked with women who have severe pain when attempting anything penetrative. We understand your pain and how to help you, very gently, work to improve the restrictions at your vaginal opening and your skin. Our gentle manual therapy methods help to improve the connective tissue of your skin and the tension in your muscles that are contributing to your pelvic pain. To inquire about cost and availability of our pelvic health PTs for your lichen sclerosus or other pelvic health concerns, contact us here or reach out to us at (616) 516-4334.

Our PT for lichen sclerosus helps make the tissue more elastic and increases blood flow to the tissues

Our PTs specialize in providing treatment to lichen sclerosus, lichen planus and pelvic floor dysfunction. If we had to boil down what we do for our patients, whether they have lichen sclerosus or other pain condition, we would say that we improve blood flow to tissues. We use very gentle manual therapy methods to the thighs, abdomen, hips, low back, mid back and pelvic floor (external and internal, when possible) to increase blood flow to these tissues. Nerves require more than their fair share of blood flow. Fibrotic scar tissue of lichen sclerosus benefits from physical therapy to enhance blood flow so that the tissue can receive nutrition and healing. We also provide gentle stretching and massaging of the scar tissue and teach you how to do this at home. With lichen sclerosus, you need to have a very focused and do-able routine at home to manage this condition. If you simply ignore it for five years you risk the tissues becoming more scarred and fibrotic. Our licensed physical therapists will work with you, providing trauma informed and compassionate care, so that you feel safe, supported and effectively empowered to navigate this condition. If you would like to speak with one of our knowledgeable staff members to ask questions about our LS and pelvic floor dysfunction treatment, contact us here or reach out to us at (616) 516-4334.

Lichen sclerosus physical therapy can help painful sex

People who have lichen sclerosus often experience painful sex. While penetrative sex may hurt and sometimes become impossible, sometimes just touching the area is not enjoyable. The tissue may hurt when touched or may lack sensation. When sex is painful, the lichen sclerosus may be causing scar tissue at the opening of your vagina and, if so, some women experience tearing when penetration is attempted. Medical management of this is very important and using topical steroids is the recommended treatment; without using the steroids as prescribed you risk re-fusing of your scars and continual tearing of the tissue. Physical therapy for lichen sclerosus will address this vaginal stiffness and gently work to get your scarring and tissues to be more pliable. However, in addition to the LS causing the pain, usually there is pelvic floor muscle problems, specifically tension and stiffness, causing pain and we treat that as well. If you are interested in learning more about our treatment, contact us here or reach out to us at (616) 516-4334.

Physical Therapy helps calm the pain, spasm, pain cycle that lichen sclerosus may cause.

If every time you attempt intimacy, using a tampon, or a gynecologic exam, you have pain, then this pain may cause more muscle spasms and guarding. You end up with a pain-spasm-pain cycle: you have pain from LS, you try to do something like use a tampon and you experience muscle spasm, the pelvic floor muscle spasms cause more pain. Our pelvic PTs work to stop this cycle of pain and to calm down the muscles, nerves, scar tissue and other contributing factors (such as an imbalanced pelvis or abdominal wall scars from a C-section). Our hope is that, with pelvic PT for lichen sclerosus, and with what you are doing at home (that we will teach you), your body becomes more comfortable and able to receive stimuli and will not perceive it as a threat, therefore, you will not go into spasm and pain. If you would like more information about our pelvic health physical therapy program for lichen sclerosus and pelvic pain problems, contact us here or reach out to us at (616) 516-4334.

Physical Therapy for Lichen Sclerosus helps address pelvic floor dysfunction. 

Our PTs treat both lichen sclerosus and lichen planus. The patients who come to us often find us through google searching, Instagram or word of mouth from one of their friends. Usually, they have not been told that they have pelvic floor dysfunction. But, if you have lichen sclerosus and sex has been painful or using a tampon is a challenge, it is very likely you also have pelvic floor muscle issues. In particular, we find that the superficial muscles, located in the vulva and vestibule region near your vaginal opening, become stiff and restricted. We also sometimes find deep pelvic floor muscle tone and tension; these are the levator ani muscles that you may think need Kegels. In fact, usually Kegels make the problem worse. It is only through an evaluation by our physical therapists that you will learn if you need to be doing Kegels or not. We will teach you the exercises that will best help your pelvic pain, lichen sclerosus and pelvic floor dysfunction. If you are interested in learning more about our treatment, contact us here or reach out to us at (616) 516-4334.

Why your pelvic floor muscles need to relax

The pelvic floor muscles, both the superficial muscles that are near your vaginal opening and the deep muscles lining the base of your pelvis, need to be able to lengthen, relax and have mobility. When someone has lichen sclerosus or lichen planus, it is common that these muscles experience tension, restrictions and stiffness. Physical therapy helps gently improve the flexibility, movement and tone of the pelvic floor muscles and surrounding fascia and nerves. This will help ease your pain. If you have questions about our treatment for lichen sclerosus and pelvic floor dysfunction, contact us here or reach out to us at (616) 516-4334 to speak with one of our knowledgeable staff members.

When you have lichen sclerosus sex may hurt because of scarring and tearing and also because of pelvic floor muscle tension and pain. 

You may think that the only reason you have pain with sex is because of LS (lichen sclerosus), but our patients have found that they have painful sex because of several reasons. They may have LS & also have pelvic floor dysfunction. Or they have LS & also have c-section scar pain. Or they have LS & also have perineal scar tearing pain from prior labor and delivery tearing. Or they have LS & they have endometriosis pain. Or they have LS & also have a hip labral tear issue. The point is that our patients come to us looking for comprehensive treatment and often have multiple things going on that are causing painful sex. We will give you answers and a clear physical therapy treatment plan to address all of the things causing your painful sex.

Our patients receive physical therapy for lichen sclerosus, and are often able to get back to comfortable intimacy, including penetrative sex.  

The comprehensive, whole-body care that we are known for truly does alleviate pain, bladder control problems, defecatory issues and back, SI joint, tailbone and hip issues. The physical therapy we offer to treat lichen sclerosus and lichen planus includes very gentle treatments to the pelvic floor muscles, either completed externally or internally (or both), depending on what your body is able to handle. We also provide exercise-based care, myofascial mobilization and self-care education and instruction. We work with you to develop a comfortable and safe treatment program. If you would like more information about our treatment for painful sex, vaginismus, pelvic floor dysfunction, pelvic pain or lichen sclerosus, contact us here or reach out to us at (616) 516-4334.

Physical Therapy can help Lichen Sclerosus by calming inflammation

For our patients who have lichen sclerosus we want to help you to have a plan to heal autoimmunity, which means we have to reduce inflammation in your body. We work holistically with our patients to develop a comprehensive treatment program to calm down lichen sclerosus. One thing that we help guide is efforts you can make at home to reduce inflammation. We provide you with dietary recommendations, for example. We also help promote optimal digestion and reduce your abdominal wall tension so you can experience better gut health. We work to enhance blood flow through your connective tissue and myofascial tissues so your nerves have optimal blood flow and less nerve pain. In the clinic we use our whole-body vibration machine to get your lymph fluid moving and to help with muscular control. If you are interested in learning more about how we can help you, contact us here or reach out to us at (616) 516-4334.

Our physical therapy treatment for lichen sclerosus is customized to your whole-body findings. 

While lichen sclerosus may be present in the vaginal or anal region, we find that our patients have myofascial and musculoskeletal problems in the abdomen, low back, hips, posture or inner thighs. You can expect us to assess and treat all of these areas so we can optimize all of your systems. This is really important for your care.  For example, many of the nerves that go to your pelvis come out of your thoracic or lumbar spine and traverse your abdomen and hips. Therefore, we treat all of these areas so that you experience less pain, dysfunction and inflammation in the pelvic region. If you are interested in receiving whole-body, natural and comprehensive treatment, contact us here or reach out to us at (616) 516-4334.

Are you recently diagnosed with Lichen Sclerosus? We encourage you to get an experienced pelvic PT on your team as soon as possible to avoid worsening scar tissue and pelvic pain. 

While it is never too late to start pelvic PT treatments for lichen sclerosus (and some of our patients with LS have their first appointment nearly two decades after being diagnosed!), we encourage you to get PT going as early on in the process of your diagnosis as possible. This is because scar tissue, pelvic floor dysfunction, pelvic pain, bladder or bowel challenges may all be developing and our physical therapists can treat these before they become more severe issues. If you are interested in learning more about our physical therapy for lichen sclerosus, pelvic pain, painful sex or pelvic floor dysfunction, contact us here or reach out to us at (616) 516-4334.

We do encourage you to work with a specialist physician who can diagnose and treat your lichen medically and give you clear understanding of the medications you need to use and any other options available to you. This condition does require a devoted self-care routine at home and your physician and pelvic physical therapist will help you determine what you need to be doing.

Why choose Purple Mountain PT for your lichen sclerosus physical therapy treatment?

Purple Mountain PT is a specialty pelvic health and TM joint clinic located in Grand Rapids, Michigan. We treat adults and children in-person or via telehealth. Everything we do here is designed to give our patients hope and true relief from their symptoms. We are known for helping people who have already been to other providers and did not experience relief. Our PTs are specially trained in pelvic health conditions, including treating complex pelvic pain problems, lichen sclerosus, Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, endometriosis, interstitial cystitis and more. If you are looking to work with a pelvic PT, our team pledges to provide you with compassionate and comprehensive treatment in a comfortable, private and therapeutic setting. Each appointment is 55 minutes in length and this time allows us to provide you with whole body care that truly addresses all of your needs. If you are interested in learning more about our treatment, contact us here or reach out to us at (616) 516-4334. We pledge to give you our best effort and methods so that you have the greatest opportunity to experience true recovery!

Peace,

Dr. Maureen O’Keefe, DPT specialist in pelvic health physical therapy for more than two decades. She and the team of PTs at Purple Mountain PT have advanced post-doctoral training specific to treating lichen sclerosus and complex pelvic health conditions.

To learn more about our clinic, you may be interested in these articles we’ve written:

Vulvar Pain and Pelvic Floor Dysfunction go together.

5 Tips To Ease Pelvic Pain that Won’t Go Away!

What is High Tone Pelvic Floor Dysfunction?

Vaginismus and Dyspareunia Treatment in Grand Rapids

Are you looking for Painful Sex Treatment in Grand Rapids?

Is There A Connection Between Diabetes and Incontinence?

Author| Dr. Maureen O’Keefe, DPT pelvic floor specialist

Is there a connection between diabetes and incontinence?

At Purple Mountain PT, we are pelvic floor physical therapists and we help people overcome stress urinary incontinence and any other bladder control problem. Today, we share various details about the connection between diabetes and incontinence. Your blood glucose levels are crucial numbers to know. Just as you should know your blood pressure, you should know your blood glucose levels and be on the look-out for them being too high. We know there is a connection between diabetes and incontinence as well as other diabetic bladder dysfunction (DBD); in fact, up to 50% of diabetics experience DBD. If you are interested in learning more about our physical therapy, or if you have questions about cost and availability, reach out to us at (616) 516-4334 or contact us here

Type I diabetes, Type 2 diabetes and Prediabetes all have higher rates of incontinence. Diabetic bladder dysfunction (DBD) affects up to 50% of all diabetic patients and is well-known in the medical field. 

There have been numerous studies investigating if there is a connection between diabetes or prediabetes and urinary incontinence and the results have consistently shown that the answer to be yes. Diabetic bladder dysfunction is a condition with a broad range of symptoms. The temporal theory of diabetic bladder dysfunction has identified that problems with bladder function begin one way and as time passes and your diabetes advances, your bladder problems will change. In the early phases of diabetes, the bladder may experience urgency, frequency and urge incontinence. In later phases of diabetic bladder dysfunction, a person experiences a sluggish bladder, causing incomplete emptying, loss of an urge to urinate, difficulty voiding and possibly overflow incontinence (literally your bladder is so full, the urine just overflows). Our licensed physical therapists help people who experience any bladder symptoms across the spectrum of problems that diabetic bladder dysfunction causes. Feel free to reach out and ask questions about our services, call us at (616) 516-4334 or contact us here. 

Numerous papers have confirmed that incontinence rates are elevated in women with type 2 diabetes.

Type 1 diabetics and people with prediabetes also have higher rates of urinary incontinence. There is some research that suggests that weight loss may reduce incontinence in women with prediabetes. Also, as a pelvic PT, we know that weight loss helps most people who experience incontinence to reduce their unexpected loss of urine, even when you are non-diabetic. This is because excess weight in the abdomen or trunk places greater strain through the genitourinary system and renders it easier to lose control of urine. If you are struggling with fitness and weight, in part because of bladder control issues, and you also have diabetes or prediabetes, we can help you. Feel free to reach out and ask questions about our services, call us at (616) 516-4334 or contact us here. 

At Purple Mountain PT, we specialize in providing pelvic PT for all bladder function disorders, including diabetic bladder dysfunction, urinary incontinence and painful bladder syndrome

Our licensed physical therapists are specifically trained in rehabilitation for pelvic floor dysfunction, urinary incontinence bladder, bowel and intimacy related pelvic health problems. Our experience includes helping individuals who are prediabetic and diabetic overcome their bladder problems. By providing comprehensive and whole-body therapy to address urinary incontinence and pelvic floor dysfunction, we help you get control over your bladder again. Our post-doctoral training specific to bladder function, optimization and control helps individuals resolve urinary incontinence, neurogenic bladder, urgency and frequency, nocturia and interstitial cystitis (bladder pain syndrome), constant urinary urge, incomplete bladder emptying, post-prostatectomy incontinence and other bladder related disorders. If you would like to learn more about our therapy for people who experience diabetes or prediabetes and also have urinary incontinence or other bladder dysfunction, call us at (616) 516-4334 to have your questions answered or contact us here.

What You Can Do if you have Diabetes and Stress or Urge Urinary Incontinence

First, you must be working diligently on optimizing blood glucose levels. We can provide you recommendations on exercise and diet to help you and we also advise you to work with a dietician, functional medicine practitioner and your physician to get the right medical management in place.

Pelvic floor physical therapy is a proven method of resolving stress and urge urinary incontinence, including in people who are prediabetic or diabetic. In most cases, the cause of the incontinence is more than the diabetes and prediabetes. Our PT works to address all the causes that we commonly find in patients. This may include weak core, diastasis recti abdominis, pelvic organ prolapse, improper breathing patterns, deficient glutes and leg strength, pelvic floor weakness, pelvic floor stiffness, pelvic floor high tone or another pelvic floor dysfunction. Feel free to reach out and ask questions about our services, call us at (616) 516-4334 or contact us here. 

Stress Urinary Incontinence is Associated with Elevated Blood Glucose Levels

Stress Urinary Incontinence affects about half of all women. It may be surprising that it is associated with elevated blood glucose level, but if you think about how diabetes affects everything in your body, it should not be surprising. However, we want to point out that most of our patients who have stress incontinence are not diabetic or prediabetic; there are so many contributions to stress incontinence that have nothing to do with blood glucose. Feel free to reach out and ask questions about our services, call us at (616) 516-4334 or contact us here. 

In a 2022 study, completed by Ying, et al, they examined stress urinary incontinence rates in 10,771 women and also monitored their blood glucose. 

They found that people who experience weekly stress urinary incontinence had blood glucose levels that were consistently higher than the blood glucose levels of people who had less stress incontinence, experience it just monthly (not weekly).

The participants were divided into 3 groups, based on blood glucose:

*<86 mg/dl

*>86 to 98 mg/dl

*>98 mg/dl

What they found was the higher the blood glucose, the more prevalent stress incontinence was. 

In fact, the people in the group >98 mg/dl had a 15.2% higher risk of stress urinary incontinence (SUI) being present and also a 12.5% higher risk of the stress urinary incontinence happening more frequently than the people whose blood glucose was <86 mg/dl. This is one more reason to better manage your blood glucose levels. Exercise is one pathway to improving your blood glucose. The more muscle you have in your body, the better your blood glucose can be. Our licensed physical therapists can help you start and develop a safe, effective workout routine if you are diabetic or prediabetic and if you have any bladder issues, including incontinence. Feel free to reach out and ask questions about our services, call us at (616) 516-4334 or contact us here. 

Stress incontinence is the involuntary loss of urine when you laugh, cough, sneeze, jump or otherwise perform an action or movement that strains your bladder and causes unwanted leakage of urine. 

In women, stress incontinence is known to be multifactorial in nature, so don’t assume you have diabetes or prediabetes if you experience stress incontinence. Contributions to developing stress incontinence include:

  • The anatomy of the bladder and urethra render it more difficult for women to generate force closure pressure to stop the involuntary loss of urine
  • The urethral closure mechanism often is defective, even when your bladder (detrusor muscle) is not contracting. Thus, your bladder muscle may be appropriately quiet, but your urethra is open, instead of closed and you leak urine.
  • The loss of support of the urethra or neuromuscular defects in the urethra are thought to contribute to stress incontinence.
  • Pelvic floor dysfunction characterized by insufficient strength, length, timing and coordination of the pelvic floor muscles when necessary to stop the loss of urine.
  • Diabetes and prediabetes are risk factors for developing stress urinary incontinence.
  • Pregnancy and number of pregnancies is a risk factor for developing stress incontinence.
  • Girth of your abdomen is a risk factor for developing incontinence.

If you have urinary incontinence and would like to get care from our licensed physical therapists who specialize in pelvic health and resolving urinary incontinence, we are here to help you. Feel free to reach out and ask questions about our services, call us at (616) 516-4334 or contact us here.

The connection between diabetes and incontinence is clear when you look at the rates of incontinence within the diabetic community.

Just a glance at the rates of incontinence within the diabetic community across 3 studies illustrates the point:

  • 50.5% of women who were diabetic reported urinary incontinence.
  • 38% of American women who have diabetes mellitus were found to have urinary incontinence.
  • 28.8% of Norwegian women who are diabetic were found to also experience stress incontinence.

In diabetics, stress incontinence has a higher rate of problems than other types of incontinence (urge incontinence, for example). We also know that people can experience stress incontinence and have normal blood sugar levels. So, while there is a connection between diabetes and incontinence, you should not assume that if you are having incontinence, that you have elevated blood glucose levels. We work with people who have incontinence, whether you have diabetes or excellent blood sugar control. If you would like to ask questions about our services, call us at (616) 516-4334 or contact us here. 

23% of diabetics have reduced detrusor (bladder muscle) contractility, consistent with diabetic bladder dysfunction (DBD).

A person who experiences diabetic cystopathy has a gradual change in the urinary patterns and development of a decreased need to urinate. When the bladder muscle doesn’t contract and generate a signal that you need to urinate, you may go long hours without feeling an urge to urinate. When this is the case, a person may experience trouble starting their urinary stream or keeping the urine flowing to fully empty their bladder. The natural reflexes that should be occurring to allow for healthy urination are sluggish and urinary retention occurs. If a person is not emptying their bladder regularly, they may develop overflow urinary incontinence, another connection between diabetes and incontinence. If you are experiencing bladder control issues that you suspect are related to your prediabetes or diabetes, we are here to help you. Feel free to reach out and ask questions about our services, call us at (616) 516-4334 or contact us here. 

The Unique Risks that Women Experience Related to Blood Glucose

As women progress through perimenopause, their hormones change and insulin resistance tends to occur. Women who have PCOS are also found to have insulin resistance and high blood sugar. Unfortunately, diabetes effects women in ways that are truly dangerous.

How’s Your Glycemic Control? Ask your doctor for bloodwork

Worsening glycemic control is associated with an increased risk for stress incontinence for women with relatively controlled diabetes. For those either below the diagnostic threshold or with poorly controlled diabetes, the risk may be driven by other factors. Further prospective investigation of HbA1c as a modifiable risk factor may motivate measures to improve continence in women with diabetes.

-Quote from Wang, Rui BA et al Diabetes, Glycemic Control, and Urinary Incontinence in Women, Female Pelvic Medicine & Reconstructive Surgery: September/October 2015 – Volume 21 – Issue 5 – p 293-297

See your doctor and ask for blood work, at the minimum, for Hemoglobin A1C and fasting blood glucose.

This is the minimum blood work, because a comprehensive panel should also look into your triglycerides, cholesterol and fasting insulin. You may also benefit from labs to look into your female hormone levels and thyroid levels. We also recommend that you discuss your urinary incontinence with your medical provider, especially because there is a connection between diabetes and incontinence.

We also help people who experience pelvic pain, including diabetic neuropathy

At Purple Mountain PT we are known for helping individuals overcome complex pelvic pain conditions. We recognize that individuals who have diabetes or prediabetes may also experience chronic pelvic pain as a result of the changes that can occur in the nerves of the pelvis. Our licensed physical therapists have experience and training specific to rehabilitating the neuroanatomy of the abdomen and pelvis. We have written about our PT for pelvic pain here and welcome you to call us at (616) 516-4334 or contact us here for more information.

If You Are Interested in Improving Your Urinary Incontinence and Blood Glucose Levels, we are Here to Help!

Our licensed physical therapists have advanced training specific to exercise rehabilitation for urinary incontinence, blood glucose optimization and bone health. As pelvic floor physical therapists, we commonly help women overcome bladder control problems at all stages of their life. We know there is a connection between diabetes and incontinence. We also know there is a strong connection between bladder problems, including urinary incontinence and a weak core, pelvic floor muscle dysfunction, hip and gluteal deficiencies, improper breathing patterns, postural mal-alignment and more. If we can help you to build more muscle, to strengthen your entire core and to optimize your posture and breathing strategies, your incontinence and diabetes can both improve. We work in partnership with you to identify the numerous causes of your incontinence and help you to resolve these. If you are looking for expert help for your urinary incontinence, blood sugar control problems, bone health, back pain, hip pain or postpartum recovery, call us at (616) 516-4334 to get your questions answered or reach out to us here and we will be happy to connect!

Peace,

Dr. Maureen O’Keefe, DPT

Founder of Purple Mountain Physical Therapy. Specialist in pelvic floor dysfunction, voiding dysfunction, bowel disorders, pregnancy and postpartum recovery, intimacy pain, TM joint disorders, perimenopause and menopause health, bone health, neck, back and hip problems.

Citations:

Birnbaum H, Leong S, Kabra A. Lifetime medical costs for women: cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and stress urinary incontinence. Womens Health Issues. 2003 Nov-Dec;13(6):204-13. doi: 10.1016/j.whi.2003.07.001. PMID: 14675789.

Brown, J. S., Wessells, H., Chancellor, M. B., Howards, S. S., Stamm, W. E., Stapleton, A. E., Steers, W. D., Van Den Eeden, S. K., and McVary, K. T. (2005). Urologic complications of diabetes. Diabetes Care 28, 177–185

Daneshgari, F., Liu, G., Birder, L., Hanna-Mitchell, A. T., & Chacko, S. (2009). Diabetic bladder dysfunction: current translational knowledge. The Journal of urology182(6 Suppl), S18–S26. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.juro.2009.08.070

Fedele, D. (2005). Therapy insight: sexual and bladder dysfunction associated with diabetes mellitus. Nat. Clin. Pract. Urol. 2, 282–290

Golbidi, Saeid, and Ismail Laher. “Bladder dysfunction in diabetes mellitus.” Frontiers in pharmacology vol. 1 136. 16 Nov. 2010, doi:10.3389/fphar.2010.00136

Klee Nicole S., McCarthy Cameron G., Lewis Steven, McKenzie Jaine L., Vincent Julie E., Webb R. Clinton Urothelial Senescence in the Pathophysiology of Diabetic Bladder Dysfunction—A Novel Hypothesis. Frontiers in Surgery VOL. 5, 2018.

Manning, J., Korda, A., Benness, C., and Solomon, M. (2003). The association of obstructive defecation, lower urinary tract dysfunction and the benign joint hypermobility syndrome: a case control study. Int. Urogynecol. J. Pelvic Floor Dysfunct. 14, 128–132.

Moore, K. N., Saltmarche, B., and Query, A. (2003). Urinary incontinence. Non-surgical management by family physicians. Canadian Family Physician 49, 602–610.

Phelan S, Grodstein F, Brown JS. Clinical research in diabetes and urinary incontinence: what we know and need to know. J Urol. 2009;182(6 Suppl):S14-S17. doi:10.1016/j.juro.2009.07.087

Van Poppel, H., Stessens, R., Van Damme, B., Carton, H., and Baert, L. (1998). Diabetic cystopathy: neuropathological examination of urinary bladder biopsies. Eur. Urol. 15, 128–131

Wang, Rui BA; Lefevre, Roger MD; Hacker, Michele R. ScD, MSPH; Golen, Toni H. MD Diabetes, Glycemic Control, and Urinary Incontinence in Women, Female Pelvic Medicine & Reconstructive Surgery: September/October 2015 – Volume 21 – Issue 5 – p 293-297

Ying, Youyou BS; Xu, Linlin BS; Huang, Ruofei BS; Chen, Tianxi BS; Wang, Xinghong BS; Li, Ke BS; Tang, Lixia BS Relationship Between Blood Glucose Level and Prevalence and Frequency of Stress Urinary Incontinence in Women, Female Pelvic Medicine & Reconstructive Surgery: May 2022 – Volume 28 – Issue 5 – p 304-310 doi: 10.1097/SPV.0000000000001112

Yoshimura, N., Chancellor, M. B., Andersson, K. E., and Christ, G. J. (2005). Recent advances in understanding the biology of diabetes-associated bladder complications and novel therapy. BJU Int. 95, 733–738

 

What Can Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy Help With?

Authors| Dr. Maureen O’Keefe, DPT

What can pelvic floor physical therapy help with?

Here at Purple Mountain Physical Therapy, we specialize in pelvic floor PT and often are asked what we actually help treat. Many people are familiar with pelvic floor PT to help stress incontinence that some women experience after giving birth, such as leaking urine while doing jumping jacks or running after your toddler. Yes, we do help that, but we also do so much more! If you are looking for a solution to bladder control, postpartum recovery, pelvic pain, endometriosis pain, interstitial cystitis, overactive bladder, pediatric constipation or enuresis, we are here to help you. Reach out to us at 616-516-4334 to speak with one of our knowledgeable staff members or submit your questions here.

Pelvic floor PT helps treat back, hip, pelvic, groin, bladder, pelvic organ prolapse, bowel, intimacy and abdominal conditions

While you may know that pelvic PT can help with bladder control, such as the involuntary loss of urine when laughing (stress urinary incontinence), people are often less aware that our physical therapists at Purple Mountain PT also treat back and hip problems, neck pain, headaches, abdominal conditions, pregnancy and postpartum pain and recovery, overactive bladder, endometriosis, interstitial cystitis, male pelvic pain (penis pain, testicular pain) and intimacy related pain or problems. To inquire if we can help you, call us at 616-516-4334 or contact us here.

At Purple Mountain PT our licensed physical therapists are doctors of physical therapy. In addition to our graduate education in the field of physical therapy rehabilitation, we also have post-graduate education specific to pelvic floor dysfunction, pelvic pain, orthopedic injuries, neck, back and hip problems.

Our physical therapists help people overcome a wide variety of pelvic conditions including:

Bladder conditions: we treat all urinary incontinence conditions, urinary urgency and frequency, overactive bladder syndrome. urinary retention, interstitial cystitis, urge incontinence, stress incontinence, pelvic organ prolapse related bladder control issues, neurogenic bladder, enuresis (pediatric incontinence), nocturnal enuresis (bedwetting) and dysuria.

Pelvic Pain conditions: we treat all abdominal, pelvic, hip and low back pain conditions. These include chronic pelvic pain, myofascial pain, pelvic organ prolapse pain, painful constipation, abdominal pain, endometriosis, chronic prostatitis pain syndrome, testicular pain (Orchialgia), pudendal neuralgia, coccydynia (tailbone pain), SPD (pubic pain), sciatica, herniated disc, low back pain, degenerative disc disease, hip labral tear, hip pain, hip bursitis, gluteal tendinopathy, testicular pain, vaginismus, dyspareunia, vulvodynia, provoked vestibulodynia, abdominal surgery scar pain, pregnant or postpartum pain, SI joint pain, C-section pain and more. If you have a rare condition, chances are we have treated it before. We’ve been doing this for a long time and pledge to offer you our best.

Bowel conditions: we treat a variety of bowel conditions including chronic constipation, hemorrhoids and anal fissures from constipation, rectocele, fecal incontinence, encopresis, flatulence incontinence, visceral adhesions, bowel obstructions, congenital anorectal defects, bloating related to constipation, irritable bowel and associated pain and gut motility issues. If you have a bowel issues and wonder if our pelvic physical therapists can help you, contact us here or call 616-516-4334 to speak with our knowledgeable staff to get your questions answered.

Pregnancy and Postpartum conditions: we have post-graduate education and years of experience working with all pregnancy and postpartum conditions including SPD (pubic pain), SI joint dysfunction, hip pain in pregnancy or postpartum, low back pain, diastasis recti abdominis, traumatic birth injury recovery, vulvar swelling and more. We’ve written some information about exercise in pregnancy here. 

Childhood bladder and bowel problemsenuresis, encopresis, constipation, congenital anorectal defects, bedwetting, bloating, regression in potty training and more.

Pelvic Organ Prolapse: we work with all varieties of prolapse and help enhance your pelvic organ support while also addressing any bladder, bowel, pain or intimacy problems associated with prolapse. You may be interested to read this blog we wrote about our prolapse treatment.

Post-Operative rehabilitation: we help individuals following hysterectomy, cesarean birth, endometriosis excision surgery, pelvic organ prolapse reconstructive surgery, prostatectomy procedures, hernia repair, lumbar discectomy, lumbar fusion surgery, hip labral repair and more. We wrote an article with some tips for c-section recovery, you can check it out here.

Chronic Pelvic Pain conditions: we have a soft spot for people who experience chronic pain, such as chronic prostatitis pain syndrome, endometriosis, pudendal neuralgia, persistent genital arousal disorder, chronic testicular pain (orchialgia), interstitial cystitis (painful bladder syndrome) and more. Our comprehensive and whole body care brings relief when our patients feel hopeless. We’ve been doing this work for a long time and our patients tell us that the insights and treatments they receive alleviate their pain, improve their ability to enjoy life and give them hope again. We’ve written some tips that may help you ease your pelvic pain. If you have chronic back, hip or pelvic pain and would like to know if our pelvic floor, hip and spine physical therapists can help you, contact us here or call 616-516-4334 to speak with our knowledgeable staff to get your questions answered.

Intimacy related conditions: our physical therapists help women and men who experience pain related to intimacy. This includes vaginismus, dyspareunia, vulvodynia, persistent genital arousal disorder, post-intimacy pain flare ups, pelvic floor spasm, inability to have penetrative sex and other issues.

We help resolve pelvic floor dysfunction and we also treat sciatica, pinched nerves, scoliosis, degenerative disc disease, spinal stenosis, post-operative low back and neck surgeries, femoral acetabular impingement syndrome, hip labral tears, hip osteoarthritis and more. Did you know that most of these conditions also have pelvic floor dysfunction happening?

Our patients tell us that our treatment is more comprehensive than they have received elsewhere. This may be due to the fact that at Purple Mountain PT we provide whole body care because we know that your entire body works as a system and problems far away from your problem can contribute to your issues. We also hear that our private, 55 minute appointments with your doctor of physical therapy give you more time and one-on-one care from your PT than you receive elsewhere. If you have questions about cost and availability of our therapists, contact us here or call 616-516-4334 to speak with our knowledgeable staff who can help you determine if we may be able to help you.

If you have hip and back problems, you also have pelvic floor dysfunction. We help find lasting relief from hip and back pain by including pelvic floor treatment in your care. This is often neglected and one reason why your pain may become chronic.

Research has found that people with chronic low back pain typically also have pelvic floor dysfunction. It makes sense when you consider that the “core muscles” we know to be so important for helping back pain, include the back muscles, abdominals, breathing muscles and the pelvic floor. Because our therapists treat your pelvic floor while you rehabilitate your low back, we are often able to help people finally resolve chronic back pain, even when other therapies haven’t helped. If you have questions about our care and your condition, reach out to us at 616-516-4334 or contact us here

Pelvic floor physical therapy helps you to function, move and enjoy life without pelvic pain, urinary incontinence, fecal incontinence, prolapse and intimacy challenges.

Pelvic floor physical therapy focuses on optimizing your bowel, bladder, organ support, core muscles and sexual health. This often includes working with your entire body to optimize your posture, alignment, fascia, joint mobility, muscular coordination, breathing or scar tissue. It is common that a person who comes to us has pelvic floor dysfunction, so we provide treatment to these pelvic floor muscles to promote adequate mobility, function, and strength. If you have questions about cost and availability of our therapists, contact us here or call 616-516-4334 to speak with our knowledgeable staff who can help you determine if we may be able to help you.

Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy helps you exercise without urinary incontinence

One of our areas of speciality is helping women with postpartum recovery. We all know that it is very common for women to be unable to run, jump, do jumping jacks, use a trampoline, cough, perform double unders or sneeze without losing urine. If you are looking for a solution to this stress incontinence problem so that you can exercise without leakage, we are here to help you. Our treatments are natural and comprehensive. Solving stress incontinence takes a whole lot more than doing Kegels. We will work on your posture, breathing, core activation, glutes, lifting techniques, balance and pelvic floor function. The pelvic floor exercises we complete target pelvic floor muscle activation, timing, speed of firing, lengthening, relaxing and activating. If you have questions about our services to help your bladder control problems call us at 616-516-4334 or submit a question to us here. We over treatment in-person in Grand Rapids and via telehealth, for those who qualify.

What are the Pelvic Floor Muscles?

Your pelvic floor muscles and fascia line the basin of the bones of your pelvis and similar to the shape of a hammock, they form the bottom of your pelvic bowl. The pelvic floor actually includes arteries, veins, nerves, ligaments, fascia, and muscles. Therefore, pelvic floor physical therapy works to optimize all of these structures, to enhance your circulation, ease tension on nerves, resolve restrictions in all the tissues, restore mobility and improve strength. Pelvic floor physical therapy can help with optimizing nerve mobility, blood flow, and balance within the fascial system in addition to helping your pelvic floor muscles. If you have questions about cost and availability of our therapists, contact us here or call 616-516-4334 to speak with our knowledgeable staff who can help you determine if we may be able to help you.

Who does Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy Help?

We help women, men and kids who experience all ranges of pelvic conditions. Our doctors of physical therapy have post-graduate training specific to the pelvic health needs of all populations. This is one thing that sets us apart; we have taken the time and established our clinical interest & experience in learning male pelvic health, female pelvic health and child & adolescent pelvic health. Each population has unique needs and we are prepared to help treat any pelvic conditions for all of these individuals. While we are specialists in rehabilitating pelvic floor dysfunction, this specialty also includes a lot more than simple bladder control issues. Some people aren’t sure if they have pelvic floor dysfunction; we’ve written some information about that topic here. If you are wondering if our pelvic physical therapists can help you, contact us here or call 616-516-4334 to speak with our knowledgeable staff to get your questions answered.

Women Experience More Pelvic Floor Issues than Men. Pelvic Floor Therapy Can Help!

Women may benefit from pelvic floor physical therapy at many stages throughout their lifespan including to help with painful periods, promoting fertility, endometriosis, pregnancy care, postpartum recovery, and during the menopause transition to support bone health and vaginal tissue mobility. If you are wondering if our pelvic floor physical therapy can help you, contact us here or call 616-516-4334 to speak with our knowledgeable staff to get your questions answered. Our physical therapists treat men, women and children. Our specialization has required post-graduate training specific to each of these fields; we have not adapted “women’s health physical therapy” to men and children.

Pelvic Floor PT can help with Pelvic Organ Prolapse

Whereas men simply have the rectal opening, women have both the rectum and the vaginal canal. As a result, we are more likely to experience pelvic organ prolapse and pelvic floor dysfunction that results in urinary incontinence or pelvic pain, during our lifespan. Our licensed physical therapists have post-doctoral training and experience helping women improve their pelvic organ prolapse. We offer a comprehensive pelvic PT program that holistically improves prolapse issues, including incontinence, painful sex, pelvic pressure and constipation. If you would like to learn more about our treatment for prolapse, call (616) 516-4334 or contact us here.

Pelvic Floor PT can Help with Urinary Incontinence, Including Adolescent Female Athletes

It is well documented that adolescent female athletes who participate in cutting and jumping sports, such as soccer, basketball, volleyball and gymnastics, experience stress urinary incontinence. A 2021 systematic review of 209 research studies regarding urinary incontinence in female athletes less than 19 years old found

Adolescent female athletes’ urinary incontinence rates average 48.58%! 

The rates of incontinence, across all studies, was between 18% to 80%

The sports with the highest incidence of adolescent urinary incontinence were jumping rope and trampoline sports.

Impact sports also had high prevalence of urinary incontinence.

For any female who has ever experienced urinary incontinence, you understand this problem is private and can be embarrassing.

80% of the athletes in these studies were too embarrassed about their urinary incontinence to tell their coaches. We are here to help you.

We provide discreet and private treatment that is comfortable, trauma informed and customized to your needs. Our athletes can complete sports simulated exercises to retrain their pelvic floor and bladder control, under the guidance of our licensed physical therapist. Keeping silent about urinary incontinence is no way to live! Our goal is to empower women and girls to be their best self and to receive proper and effective pelvic PT to resolve this. The 209 studies also found that the athlete’s quality of life was affected and sports performance could be diminished if an athlete has incontinence.

In our work with adolescent athletes here at Purple Mountain PT, our athletes have told us that they have stopped being as aggressive with going after a ball or have given up certain jumps in their sport.

The 209 studies found that urinary incontinence leads to sport drop-out, also. This breaks our heart, because we want our next generation of females to be strong, fit and capable of living life without restrictions! We know that exercise and sports improve mood and self-esteem. Pelvic PT can help resolve urinary incontinence that occurs in sport. It also can help resolve incontinence that is present when postpartum, perimenopausal or any other time during our lives. If you would like to learn more about our treatment for urinary incontinence and athletes, call (616) 516-4334 or contact us here.

Issues with incontinence do not improve without proper treatment.

Women who are having what they might consider “minor” issues; like small leaks with a cough or sneeze need proper pelvic floor physical therapy now. Do not wait for issues to get worse later. You only get one pelvis in your life. It can heal with the proper care. Our clinical experience and published research have demonstrated that urinary incontinence does not disappear without treatment. We provide customized and holistic care that optimizes your bladder function and control. If you are in need of high-quality pelvic PT for incontinence, call us at (616) 516-4334 to learn more or contact us here.

Men have pelvic floors too! Pelvic floor physical therapy helps men with pelvic pain, chronic prostatitis, urinary problems, intimacy related pain or constipation

The men who find us often have experienced a lengthy and frustrating road to getting the help they deserve. We have worked with many men who have the misconception that pelvic floor exercises are “women’s exercises” or only something “women need after a baby.” Male pelvic floor dysfunction often goes unrecognized and untreated with significant consequences. Men may benefit from pelvic floor physical therapy to address symptoms related to chronic prostatitis, constipation, painful testicles, groin pain, painful bowel movements, hemorrhoids or anal fissures, proctalgia fugax, coccyx and/or sacral pain, abdominal and pelvic pain, and erectile dysfunction. Men preparing for prostate surgery or recovering afterward should seek a properly trained pelvic floor therapist to support their continence and sexual health. If you would like to learn more about our treatment for male pelvic pain and pelvic floor dysfunction, call (616) 516-4334 or contact us here.

Pelvic PT helps with Prostatectomy Recovery, including return of urinary continence and erectile function

Radical prostatectomy surgery causes a male to experience urinary incontinence and erectile dysfunction. Traditionally, rehabilitation has either not be prescribed (after surgery you are told to go home and take it easy and hope for the best to happen over time) or was minimally completed following surgery. It is now known that waiting to begin rehabilitation until after surgery provides fewer benefits than if you begin it before surgery. At Purple Mountain PT, our licensed physical therapists have post-doctoral training and experience specific to the needs related to prostate procedures. We customize our care based on your findings and goals and prefer to meet with you before surgery so we can help you learn how to contract and control your pelvic floor muscles before you’ve had surgery. By educating you on what to expect and what to do in the immediate days post-surgery, you will feel more at ease and less anxious about your recovery. We then continue your care during your postoperative prostatectomy period and provide comprehensive interventions that include exercise-based programs using very specific exercises and techniques that have been found to enhance recovery of urinary continence and erectile function. We also will use resistance training for hip, back and abdominal strengthening because these regions also contribute to urinary continence. Research has found that the weeks you are waiting for surgery are a wonderful time for you to begin your comprehensive pre-habilitation exercise-based pelvic PT treatment and will improve your preparedness for your surgery. If you would like to learn more about our treatment for prostatectomy rehabilitation, call (616) 516-4334 or contact us here.

Pelvic Floor Therapy can help with severe abdominal and pelvic pain, caused by things such as endometriosis or interstitial cystitis. We also help treat unexplained chronic abdominal and pelvic pain.

At Purple Mountain PT, we have spent our life’s work devoted to helping overcome chronic abdominal and pelvic pain. Often our patients have experienced a lengthy and frustrating amount of doctor’s appointments and testing that has not uncovered their exact cause of pain. We consider this work an honor and we pledge to give you our best effort to help ease your pain. It is our greatest joy to help you recover from severe pelvic pain. We love to receive updates from patients, hearing about your full lives without pain! If you would like to read more about our PT for chronic pelvic pain, we wrote about it here. Or you can reach out to us here or call (616) 516-4334 to inquire about cost and availability and to get your questions answered.

Pelvic PT helps nerves, fascia and blood flow in addition to muscles, scar tissue and your spine and hips.

Regardless of age or gender your pelvis houses vital structures including your rectum, anus, bladder, and sexual organs. All of the structures in the pelvis have fascia, nerves and blood vessels that can become part of your pain. Muscles, nerves and organs require adequate blood flow and mobility to function properly. For a variety of reasons including: injury, cancer treatment, surgery, pregnancy and delivery, hormonal changes, endometriosis, stress, trauma, chronic constipation, postural changes and more the tissues in your pelvis can lose mobility, strength, and blood flow. Our goal for your therapy is to begin treatment on the first day so that we can begin to address any of these things that are contributing to your pain. Call us at (616) 516-4334 to ask us questions about our chronic pelvic pain PT treatment or reach out to us here.

Pelvic floor physical therapy can help with your pelvic, hip, abdominal, SI joint, pubic, and/or coccyx pain.

Because of the density of arteries, veins, nerves, ligaments, fascia, and muscles in the pelvis impaired tissue mobility can cause significant pain in the coccyx, sacrum, lower abdomen, groin, inner thigh, and low back. It is common to hear in pelvic floor physical therapy that a patient reports “no one has ever been able to touch my pain before.” Often, patients with chronic pelvic, hip, abdominal, sacral or coccyx pain have seen multiple providers without getting relief. Tailbone pain (coccydynia) is a very common problem that we treat here at Purple Mountain PT. Because the pelvic floor muscles attach to the tailbone, our skills at treating tailbone pain truly help alleviate your pain and improve your ability to sit, stand, get up from sitting and feel comfortable. Skilled pelvic floor physical therapists are able to identify nerve, connective tissue, muscle, and fascial restrictions that are pain generators. These areas are often missed during standard physical exams and may be difficult or impossible to detect on imaging. Call us at (616) 516-4334 to ask us questions about our chronic pelvic pain PT treatment or reach out to us here.

We treat holistically and comprehensively so that the many contributions to your chronic pelvic pain are addressed

We find that our patients often experience chronic pelvic pain that includes a constellation of contributions to their pain. These things can include a bunch of things, such as myofascial pain syndrome, scar tissue adhesions, endometriosis lesions, ovarian cysts, pelvic organ prolapse, sciatica, degenerative disc disease, hip labral tears, high tone pelvic floor, vaginismus, provoked vestibulodynia, femoral acetabular impingement syndrome, pudendal neuralgia, posterior femoral cutaneous neuropathy, sports hernia or more. Our licensed PTs have experience helping all of these conditions and providing meaningful relief from your pain. It is common that our patients have tried other therapies and tell us that our treatment has made all the difference in their life. If you would like to learn more about our methods, contact us here or call (616) 516-4334.

Pelvic floor physical therapy uses a combination of manual therapy and exercise to optimize your healing and improve your quality of life.

Our doctors of physical therapy have experience helping the most challenging of cases. We love this work and are devoted to providing you with holistic and comprehensive care that truly meets your needs. You deserve a life that is pain-free, with regular and predictable bathroom trips, efficient and regular stooling (daily and less than 5 minutes), minimal abdominal bloating, and intimacy that is enjoyable and not painful. If you are having issues in any of these areas, then pelvic floor physical therapy will likely be beneficial for you! If you would like to learn more about our methods, contact us here or call (616) 516-4334.

Pelvic Floor PT helps Low Back Pain!

We know that people who have chronic low back pain also usually have pelvic floor muscle dysfunction. This is why we recommend that if your low back pain won’t improve, you would benefit from care that includes treatment to your pelvis and pelvic floor muscles; these muscles are part of your core and work in concert with your back muscles.

Your pelvic floor is a critical part of your deep core which stabilizes your trunk. This is vital for balance, posture, and stability at the hip, knee, foot, and ankle. It is quite common that while working with someone who has pelvic floor dysfunction, we identify chronic problems away from the pelvis that have not responded to typical care including: knee pain, Achilles tendinitis, groin pain, sacroiliac joint pain, low back pain, neck and shoulder tension, jaw pain, and headaches. When past treatment has failed or not offered the desired amount of relief, then these areas often respond very well to the orthopedic and pelvic physical therapy we provide here at Purple Mountain PT. If you are curious what to expect in a pelvic PT evaluation, you can read about it here. If you have low back pain that won’t quit, to learn more about our methods, contact us here or call (616) 516-4334.

Pelvic floor physical therapy can help with issues beyond the pelvis.

Your body is not a collection of parts, it is a full system. This is why we provide whole body care for all of our patients. We are fully trained orthopedic physical therapists; this means that we have experience with helping people rehabilitate from foot, ankle, knee, hip, back, neck, shoulder, elbow and wrist injuries. We know how to customize our treatment to best get you results.

When a person has stiffness or restrictions in the fascia, muscles or joints or their ankle, knees, hips, thoracic spine, neck or shoulders, this will influence how the pelvis and pelvic floor muscles function. If the muscles in your pelvis are not functioning properly it alters walking, lifting, sitting, exercise, and other daily activities in ways that increase demands on other areas of your body and may produce pain over time. If you have a condition and wonder if our pelvic floor PT can help you, contact us here or call (616) 516-4334.

We are here to help you pelvic, back, hip, neck and TM joint conditions

Purple Mountain PT is a specialty PT clinic located in Grand Rapids, MI. Our licensed physical therapists are devoted to providing high quality and compassionate care to women, men and kids who experience pelvic organ prolapse, pelvic floor dysfunction, pain, bladder, bowel, neck pain, back pain and TM joint disorders. Our staff are all trained and experienced in general orthopedics, also. If you would like to inquire about cost and availability of our therapists to help you, call us at (616) 516-4334 or contact us here.

Peace,

Dr. Maureen O’Keefe, DPT specialist in pelvic, low back, neck and TM joint recovery.

Other resources that we have written:

*Information about Purple Mountain PT and our pelvic floor PT in Grand Rapids.

*More about our pediatric bladder and bowel physical therapy. 

*PT for postpartum recovery.

*Physical Therapy for Male Incontinence in Grand Rapids

*Information about our physical therapy for neck pain and headaches. 

*Do I have pelvic floor dysfunction?

Tailbone pain and How Pelvic Floor PT Can Help You! Plus Some Self-Care Tips!

 

Does Pelvic Floor Therapy Work for Prolapse?

Author| Dr. Maureen O’Keefe, DPT pelvic health PT specialist

Does Pelvic Floor Therapy Work for Prolapse?

Here at Purple Mountain PT, our doctors of physical therapy have helped countless women overcome their bothersome prolapse issues. If you are wondering does pelvic floor therapy work for prolapse, the answer is yes. With our prolapse pelvic floor therapy program, you absolutely can improve your prolapse symptoms and reduce the strain that your organs are experiencing. Being told you have a prolapse can be scary and lead to fear and worry that your daily movements, workouts and life will just make it worse; we have worked with patients who have stopped exercising, for example, because they don’t know how to exercise without worsening their prolapse. Our pelvic floor therapy for prolapse does work by improving your movement patterns, pelvic floor dysfunction, organ support and much more. We can assure you that there is so much you can do and you will learn in our prolapse therapy program to help you gain confidence in your body again. If you are interested in learning more about our pelvic physical therapy, contact us here or call (616) 516-4334.

Do you have a pelvic organ prolapse? Do you worry you will need major surgery to repair this?

If you have a prolapse, you are not alone. Research has found that the majority of women have some amount of prolapse:

Stage 1 Prolapse found in 43.4% of women

Stage 2 Prolapse found in 47.4% of women

Stage 3 Prolapse found in 2.6% of women

What these numbers should tell you is that prolapse is very common. You can have a prolapse, have a full life and be able to function without requiring major reconstructive surgery. Our licensed physical therapists have advanced training and clinical experience specifically related to pelvic organ prolapse prevention, rehabilitation, post-operative recovery. We have helped our patients reduce or resolve their prolapse symptoms and avoid surgery.

If you are among the 43% of women who have Stage 1 prolapse, or the 47.7% of women who have Stage 2 prolapse, rest assured that you can optimize your pelvic organ support system and reduce your symptoms. There is not one, easy fix to improve pelvic organ support; this is why we offer comprehensive care that holistically treats you. To learn more about our pelvic floor therapy for prolapse, contact us here or call (616) 516-4334.

It can be scary to be told you have a prolapse. Please don’t live in fear or confusion, we are here to help guide you so you can optimize your pelvic organ support.

So, let’s take back the scary from this diagnosis. There’s a lot that you can do in physical therapy to improve your pelvic organ support. We help women who have rectocele, cystocele, rectal prolapse, vaginal vault prolapse, uterine prolapse, bladder prolapse, enterocele or a combination of these types of prolapse. Pelvic organ prolapse happens when the structures that support your organs, including ligaments, fascia, bones and muscles, no longer effectively support the organs and they can drop down. In physical therapy for prolapse recovery, we work to optimize these structures and to improve your control of intra-abdominal pressure, so you are not causing unnecessary pressure/strain through the organs. Controlling intra-abdominal pressure is one important piece of prolapse support. To learn more about our treatment and pelvic floor therapy for prolapse, contact us here or call (616) 516-4334.

For pelvic floor physical therapy to work for prolapse, our goal is to enhance your pelvic organ support by treating all contributing factors that worsen your pelvic support: muscles, fascia, posture, breathing, etc.

Your pelvic organs are situated within your pelvis and respond, all day long, to your movement, breathing, bladder filling/emptying, bowel filling/emptying and posture. Because of this, we will help you understand how to better manage each of these things so that the prolapse region can have improved support. Optimizing your pelvic organ support requires a multi-dimensional rehabilitation approach that works to improve prolapse problems. To learn more about our treatment, contact us here or call (616) 516-4334.

The therapy we offer for pelvic prolapse is comprehensive because there is not “one” thing to do to resolve prolapse. For example, Kegels alone won’t solve the problem.

Does Pelvic Floor Therapy for Prolapse Work? Yes, it does! We Begin Pelvic Floor Therapy for Prolapse by Checking for Prolapse a Number of Ways:

Your therapy program here at Purple Mountain PT begins with a thorough assessment of your prolapse status. The most common way to check for a prolapse is when you are lying down. However, we also have found that prolapse can change when standing up and gravity occurs. For this reason, we may check for prolapse in a variety of positions, such as lying down and in standing, and sometimes when you complete various movements. If we examine for prolapse while you are moving, this helps you and us better understand how your prolapse is responding to daily movements. In particular, we want to learn if your organs are, in fact, descending more than ideal. Many times we have encouraging news to tell our patients when we complete these examinations. To understand when and how your prolapse is occurring, it requires us partnering with you and learning the patterns in your body. Our pelvic floor therapy for prolapse works because we spend the time with you to rehabilitate your body and help you optimize your pelvic organ support. If you would like to inquire about cost and availability of our pelvic floor therapy program for prolapse, contact us here or call (616) 516-4334.

If prolapse physical therapy works, what does it include?

Our treatment program will help you reduce strain on your pelvic organ prolapse. We include a variety of rehabilitation methods that optimize your body mechanics, breathing and posture so you learn to effectively control your intra-abdominal pressure and discontinue any habits or movements that strain the pelvic organs and contribute to prolapse. We work to restore your core and abdominal muscle integrity, because these muscles are important components of your pelvic support. We also will address pelvic floor dysfunction and get those muscles to work more effectively, so that they can better support your organs. We provide manual therapies that may include a combination of myofascial release, trigger point release, scar tissue work, adhesion reduction and joint mobilization. To learn more about our treatment, contact us here or call (616) 516-4334.

For Pelvic Floor Therapy for Prolapse to Work, We Must Optimize Your Bowel and Bladder Habits, Especially if They Are Contributing to Your Pelvic Organ Prolapse

If you have non-optimal strategies when urinating or defecating, you may be pushing your pee or stool out. When a person strains or pushes, they are creating a descent on the pelvic organs that can contribute to pelvic organ prolapse. In fact, some people have caused their rectal prolapse or rectocele from lifelong issues with constipation and straining.

To Improve Your Prolapse, We Will Help You to be able to Urinate & Defecate Without Straining Your Organs

Our care will teach you how to urinate and defecate with optimal strategies, so you don’t strain your organs. Our licensed, doctors of physical therapy have post-doctoral education specific to how to optimize your bladder and bowel function so that pelvic organ prolapse issues can be minimized or resolved. When you complete pelvic physical therapy for pelvic organ prolapse, it works by addressing your muscles, in addition to fascia, scar tissue, visceral mobility, posture and breathing strategies. To learn more about our treatment, contact us here or call (616) 516-4334.

If constipation is an ongoing problem, you will need to improve that. We help you discover a variety of ways to improve constipation that include movement, exercise, self massage, dietary recommendations, breathing techniques and posture on the toilet. We also will help you learn how to urinate to ensure you do not push your pee out. Pushing your pee, even a little bit, is applying excess force through your organs. When you consider the daily and repetitive actions of urinating and defecating, it is important to optimize your technique with these functions so you do not consistently strain or push. Quite often, pelvic floor dysfunction is contributing to the need to push or strain. We also see that people have simply learned to push, instead of learning to let it go. Whatever is going on for you, we are here to help you optimize your urinary and bowel mechanics.

Our pelvic floor therapy for prolapse works by improving your posture, movement patterns, pelvic floor dysfunction, abdominal wall, low back, hips and breathing muscular coordination and strength.

If you have a diastasis recti abdominis, we will help you resolve this, which will help prolapse.

Our physical therapy for prolapse will retrain your pelvic floor muscles, abdominal muscles, low back and hips. We have found that sometimes people who have pelvic organ prolapse also have a diastasis recti abdominis. Our PTs will assess you for this condition and resolving a DRA is a key component of helping your prolapse. We have found that pelvic PT for prolapse works best when we fully address and restore the integrity of your abdominal wall.

When pelvic floor dysfunction is present, the muscles are not able to support the organs optimally. We will help resolve your pelvic floor dysfunction and enhance pelvic organ support.

We also will assess and treat your pelvic floor muscle strength, tone, tension, stiffness, timing, coordination and more. Commonly with pelvic organ prolapse we find that the muscles have gone into overdrive called high tone pelvic floor dysfunction. When this is the case, the pelvic floor muscles are failing to support the organs that rest on top of the muscles, resulting in worsening prolapse. By assessing and treating your pelvic floor muscle tone, strength, coordination and activation, prolapse symptoms can improve.

The way you move contributes to prolapse symptoms.

Some people who have prolapse may have movement patterns that include breath holding or straining through the abdominal wall, low back and pelvis, worsening pressure through the pelvis and prolapse symptoms. Our pelvic floor therapy for prolapse works when you can learn to retrain your movement patterns and breathing strategies. At Purple Mountain PT we customize your treatment program to your body’s findings. Our prolapse therapy program addresses your body mechanics so you aren’t continually straining your organs, re-aligns your posture so your organs are nestled nicely inside the bones of the pelvis, enhances your core strength so your abdominals, back and hip muscles can do what is needed, thereby taking the strain off of the organs. To learn more about our treatment, contact us here or call (616) 516-4334.

Our Physical Therapy for Pelvic Organ Prolapse Works in Many Ways. One Thing Patients Tell Us is That They aren’t as Fearful of Their Prolapse after Completing PT with Us.

When you come to us, you are choosing to work with a team of doctors of physical therapy who will partner with you, address your symptoms and bring clarity to your status. Most often, our patients tell us they are relieved, that they finally feel like they know what they can do about their prolapse. One of the most common questions we get is “will I need to have surgery?” and “will my prolapse just progressively worsen as I age?” Because we have many years’ experience working with women who have been able to avoid surgery, we know that with our pelvic physical therapy for prolapse, we can give you the best opportunity to avoid surgery. We also have worked with many women post-operatively to provide pelvic floor therapy for prolapse reconstructive surgery. For these women, we help improve strength, bladder and bowel function, intimacy issues and we guide their post-reconstructive surgery rehabilitation. One important piece of our pelvic floor therapy for women who have had prolapse surgery is our educating you in the specifics of body mechanics and how to lift and move without straining your surgical area. Our experience informs the care you receive and we can help you better navigate your circumstances. If you would like to talk with one of our staff members to learn more, contact us here or call (616) 516-4334.

Prolapse Symptoms Vary. Pelvic Floor Therapy for Prolapse can Help Bladder, Bowel, Intimacy, Pelvic Pain and Pressure Symptoms

Pelvic organ prolapse symptoms vary and can include pelvic pressure, urinary stream that is not normal, urinary frequency, urinary incontinence, pelvic pain, painful intimacy, urinary urgency, post-void dribbling and more. In our pelvic floor therapy program for prolapse, it works when we help you optimize your body so that these symptoms are reduced or fully resolved. We will also treat underlying causative factors associated with your symptoms.

Prolapse Physical Therapy Works by Holistically Treating You

There is so much we can do to alleviate prolapse symptoms. Please, if you are wondering, like so many other people, “does pelvic floor therapy for prolapse work”, rest assured that you can improve prolapse with high quality pelvic PT. If you would like to talk with one of our staff members to learn more about prolapse physical therapy, contact us here or call (616) 516-4334. Your physical therapy for pelvic organ prolapse may include:

*Manual therapy such as myofascial release, adhesion work, visceral mobilization, joint mobilization, trigger point release, fascial flow techniques.
*Correcting muscle imbalances including resolving pelvic floor dysfunction, weak hips & glutes, non-optimal breathing strategies and more.
*Restore movement patterns so you don’t strain the pelvic organs.
*Core muscle retraining, including coordination exercises, breathing, strength and conditioning
*Diastasis recti abdominis recovery program
*Scar tissue manual therapy
*Postural correction to restore your alignment of your spine, pelvis, hips and feet. This is one important reason why our PT for prolapse works: we help restore the orientation of the bones of your pelvis so that your organs have the proper house to support them, instead of falling down through your vagina.

Purple Mountain Physical Therapy, located in Grand Rapids, Michigan, is a specialty pelvic health physical therapy clinic. Our licensed, doctors of physical therapy have post-graduate education specific to the needs of rehabilitating pelvic organ prolapse. Our PT methods work by holistically caring for you, optimizing your pelvic organ support, educating you on your condition and what you can do to help yourself and alleviating strain through your organs. We help pelvic organ prolapse so you can get back to living an active life, without fear. Many of our patients come to us frustrated by prolapse symptoms of chronic pelvic pain. You may be interested in reading this blog we wrote about PT for pelvic pain. Our therapists are exclusively focused on pelvic health. If you are wondering if we may be able to help you, call 616-516-4334 to learn more or contact us here. 

Peace,

Dr. Maureen O’Keefe, DPT

Purple Mountain PT is a specialty PT clinic located in Grand Rapids, MI. Our licensed physical therapists are devoted to providing high quality and compassionate care to our patients who experience pelvic organ prolapse, pelvic floor dysfunction, pain, bladder, bowel and intimacy problems. Our staff are all trained in orthopedics, also. We also treat TM joint disorders, neck and back pain and myofascial pain syndrome. If you would like to inquire about cost and availability of our therapists to help you, call us at (616) 516-4334 or contact us here.

Why Does My C-Section Scar Hurt Years Later?

Author| Dr. Maureen O’Keefe, DPT pelvic health, pregnancy and postpartum specialist

Why does my c-section scar hurt years later?

Here at Purple Mountain PT in Grand Rapids, MI, we routinely help people who have c-section scars that hurt. Our clinical specialization in pregnancy, postpartum recovery and pelvic floor physical therapy gives us unique insights into those pesky c-sections scars that hurt. We work with individuals in person in our clinic and online via telehealth. Our patients comes to us throughout the lifespan and some of our patients, whose kids are no longer babies, still have C-section scars that hurt. After your healing is complete following your cesarean delivery, your scar should not hurt you, but the truth is that anywhere between 7-18% of women develop chronic scar pain from their c-section. The good news is that you are not stuck with this painful scar tissue. We are licensed physical therapists who specialize in postpartum recovery, scar tissue mobilization and developing treatment plans that optimize your healing process, calm down your pain and enhance your scar mobility. Our specialty in pelvic health, pregnancy and postpartum care, c-section recovery, visceral mobilization, bladder, bowel and pelvic organ prolapse gives us unique insights into c-section scars that hurt. If you would like to learn more about our treatment methods to alleviate scar pain, contact us here.

What can you do for a cesarean scar that hurts years later?

Cesarean scars that hurt for years can still benefit from physical therapy that provides specialized scar tissue treatments and abdominal wall and pelvic floor recovery care. We commonly work with women who have developed scar adhesions and can recollect pain in their scar for years. Our clinical experience, patient feedback, and published research have all found that using advanced fascial and visceral release techniques to old, painful cesarean scars (and any other scar) can help resolve pain, improve function and optimize bladder, bowel and pelvic organ function. We provide physical therapy for women following cesarean and vaginal delivery to optimize postpartum recovery, even if you gave birth years ago. Our treatment plans include scar tissue and fascial recovery, to facilitate improved movement of your scar, viscera and muscles. While we all expect that a cesarean delivery is a painful medical procedure, none of us are expecting to have chronic c-section scar pain; if you fall into the 7-18% of women who do experience chronic c-section scar pain, please reach out to us. To inquire about cost and availability of our services, contact us here or call 616-516-4334 to learn more.

If you experience challenges with your c-section recovery, our licensed physical therapists are here for you! We provide you a treatment plan that includes pelvic floor PT and helps resolve your chronic scar tissue pain.

We have found that our patients tell us that the care they’ve received with us has improved their healing process, even when their cesarean delivery was decades ago. Improving the trigger points and fascial restrictions in and around the scar and also in areas far away from the scar can alleviate your pain and improve your function. Our licensed physical therapists have post-graduate training specific to chronic abdominal and pelvic pain, chronic c-section and other surgical scar treatment and pelvic floor dysfunction. We offer treatments, such as visceral mobilization, scar mobilization, trigger point release, pelvic floor dysfunction recovery, diastasis recti abdominis rehabilitation and more to help overcome the pain that a c-section scar can cause. To learn more about these treatments, contact us here or call 616-516-4334.

How many women experience C-section scar pain?

One paper examined the prevalence of c-section scar pain found the following:

18.3% of women at 3 months post-birth

11.3% at 6 months postpartum

6.8% at 12 months postpartum.

That’s a lot of people! Nearly 7 women out of 100 who have a cesarean delivery will have pain a year later! Flip these numbers and you’ll notice that nearly 82% of women have NO PAIN by 3 months after giving birth.

We recommend starting physical therapy before 3 months postpartum, especially if you are having pain. But, it is never too late to start! Some of our moms have adult children and are grateful to finally get the care they have needed for decades.

Our treatment plan for every patient, regardless of the age of their scars and adhesions, includes scar tissue work. We work with scars that are decades old and are able to meaningful improve these so there is less pain, adhesions and symptoms, like bladder urgency, related to scar issues. If you are reading this and wondering “should my c-section scar still hurt?”, chances are that, no, you should not be having ongoing pain and that physical therapy can help you. To learn more about cost and availability of our licensed physical therapists to help you during your old c-section scar that still hurts, contact us here or call 616-516-4334.

Our licensed physical therapists perform fascial release techniques that have been shown to help alleviate cesarean scar pain

One study provided fascial release techniques and scar tissue manual therapy to women who had chronic cesarean scar pain for 6-9 years following their cesarean delivery. In this study, the women reported high pain levels in the premenstrual period, with bowel movements and with any pressure on their scar. One woman also reported pain when she was trying to move around in her bed. Our physical therapists have advanced training in manual therapy methods, including fascial release techniques, to treat scars. The women in this study experienced resolution of their pain! This is huge. Their pain rating scale was 0 out of 10 after they completed treatment. Using these fascial release techniques, the scars were measured and their mobility and tolerance to pressure both improved. If you are interested in learning more about our treatment plan that comprehensively helps address old c-section scars that hurt, call our office at 616-516-4334 or contact us here.

In one study about c-section scar pain, women reported it hurt when:

*At Rest: Most women reported mild pain when at rest.

*They move: Moderate to severe pain with movement was present at 3 months and tended to decrease for some, but not all women, by 12 months.

*With Activities of Daily Living: Because your c-section scar hurts, this study found your activities of daily living were compromised.

Characteristics of chronic C-section scar pain

The women we work with who have chronic cesarean scar pain describe to us a lengthy list of what it feels like to have c-section scar pain. While this is by no means a complete list, any pain you experience in or around your cesarean scar is a valid experience. Some things our patients report vary and include:

  • My c-section scar feels tight
  • My c-section scar feels pinched
  • I don’t like to touch my abdominal muscles or cesarean scar
  • My c-section scar hurts, it can throb, when something comes in contact with it, like my pants
  • I can’t have a baby or child in my lap, because I may experience sharp pain in my lower abdomen and scar.
  • My cesarean incision always hurt, from day one! It was a really painful medical procedure, a major surgery! I feel like my healing process was not right from the very beginning.
  • Sometimes I have pain with bowel movements; it can feel sharp in my abdomen.
  • Sometimes when I reach behind me, twist or roll in bed I get a catching feeling, sharp pain or something that says “nope, you shouldn’t move that way.”
  • My cesarean scar looks asymmetric, puckers and pinches.
  • When I try to pull it up or to the side, it just won’t go. It feels very tight and can feel throbby.
  • My c-section scar burns or feels like there’s nerve pain.

Adhesions, tension and stiffness causes chronic c-section scar pain?

As your incision site heals, it goes through 3 stages of developing scar tissue.

  1. The first stage is the inflammatory stage, when beneficial inflammatory factors flood the tissue for the purpose of cleaning up the wound and beginning the process of scar tissue development.
  2. The second stage is the proliferative stage, when collagen and other cells begin to fill in the defect caused by the incision site.
  3. The final stage is remodeling and, in this stage, your new collagen scar tissue becomes more organized and structured, so it is stronger.

When someone experiences chronic pain from a cesarean section or any other surgery, often we find that their healing process may have led to scar tissue that is contracted and stuck to surrounding structures.

In many cases, the person sustained an infection in their postoperative days, but this is not always the case. If you are wondering why does my c-section scar hurt years later, come to an appointment with our licensed physical therapists and you will receive answers. We help you uncover what’s going on and also find a path forward to resolve your c-section scar pain. We find that chronic c-section scar pain has myofascial layers (abdominal muscles, connective tissue, nerves, blood vessels) that often have adhesions and are not able to slide and glide properly. The result is tension and stiffness in the scar tissue and nearby structures. If you have tension and stiffness in nerves and tissues that should be able to easily move when you are going about your daily activities, it is likely you will experience scar pain. In our postpartum recovery physical therapy, we provide skilled treatment to all types of scars, including adhesions, c-section scars, laparotomy scars, robotic scars, perineal tears, episiotomies, keloids and scars that had prior infections.

The physical therapy treatment plans that we provide for individuals who have any abdominal or pelvic pain, especially if it is pain that is related to a cesarean delivery scar, always includes a variety of manual therapy methods, such as visceral mobilization, trigger point release, fascial release to the scar, joint mobilization and massage. Our licensed physical therapists also incorporate exercise, postural correction, movement, stretching and core and gluteal strengthening into a recovery plan for anyone with chronic abdominal and pelvic pain. If you are interested in learning more about our treatment plans to help resolve abdominal, pelvic, back or hip pain, you can call our office at 616-516-4334 or contact us here. 

What are some of the predictors that your C-section scar is going to hurt?

If you have chronic c-section scar pain, please know that you have not done anything wrong. We don’t always know why one person’s c-section scar hurts years later whereas another person experiences no pain. Some of us simply lay down more scar tissue, develop adhesions and experience more nerve pain than others. Our licensed physical therapists are able to help you navigate the complexity of chronic abdominal and pelvic pain. If you are wondering “why is this happening to me?”, we do have some research that investigated risk factors for chronic c-section scar pain.

The risk factors for chronic c-section scar pain:

*How did it feel those first 24 hours? Higher pain intensity with movement within 24 hours of giving birth. This is an important indicator for women because this continued to be the associated with higher pain levels at your baby’s first birthday.

*Did you experience low mood before your C-section? Depression present before the operation was a risk factor for ongoing C-section scar pain.

*Did your operation take a long time? Longer duration of surgery was found to be a predictor of ongoing c-section scar pain.

Could my bladder, bowel or prolapse symptoms be related to my c-section scar tissue?

Because your cesarean scar and incision site penetrates all the layers of tissue in your entire abdominal wall, it can affect how your entire abdominal and pelvic region function. Scar tissue that is altering the ability of your abdominal muscles and pelvic floor to work optimally might contribute to back pain, hip pain, pelvic pain or abdominal pain. Scar tissue might cause non-optimal forces through the abdomen and pelvis, resulting in worsening of pelvic organ prolapse symptoms. Scar tissue might cause pinching or pulling when your bladder or bowel fill up. It is common that our patients have urinary urgency, frequency or incontinence. We also find our patients experience painful bowel movements and sometimes difficulty emptying their bowels. In our work as pelvic health specialists, this is why we examine and treat every scar, even if you don’t have any scar pain. Our experience with providing fascial release and visceral mobilization to all types of scars is because our licensed physical therapists have advanced training in these manual therapies and cesarean recovery. Because we specialize in pelvic pain, we have written a variety of articles, you may be interested to read this. To get your questions answered, you may contact us here or call our office at 616-516-4334.

About Purple Mountain PT’s Treatment for Chronic Pain in C-section Scars

Purple Mountain Physical Therapy is a specialty pelvic health clinic that serves women, men and children in Grand Rapids Michigan. We help kids and adults overcome pelvic conditions, including chronic abdominal and pelvic pain related to old c-section scars that still hurt. If you are looking for solutions for why does your c-section scar still hurt years later, we are here to help you. Our c-section recovery program helps women who are newly postpartum and women who have old c-section scars that still hurt. Our physical therapists focus exclusively on pelvic physical therapy and we’ve written before about chronic c-section scar pain. The treatment plans we provide for c-section scars and other scars that are adhered and cause pain, are comprehensive, effective and offer whole-body care. We have training and techniques specific to ongoing c-section scar pain, pelvic floor rehabilitation and abdominal wall recovery. If your c-section scar still hurts and you know that something doesn’t seem right, give us a call to get help. Our doctors of physical therapy are here to help you feel like yourself again. Give us a call at 616-516-4334 to learn more about cost and availability or contact us here

Peace,

Dr. Maureen O’Keefe, DPT specializing in pelvic floor physical therapy, pregnancy and postpartum recovery for 25 years.

When Do I Need Pelvic Floor PT?

Author| Dr. Maureen O’Keefe, DPT specialist in pelvic floor dysfunction and pelvic floor therapy

When do I need pelvic floor PT? We have answers for you!

Pelvic floor therapy, also called pelvic health physical therapy, is a specialty field within physical therapy that provides treatment for men and women (and kids, too!) to overcome all pelvic floor disorders as well as low back, hip, abdominal and pelvic pain, bladder & bowel disorders, intimacy pain, pregnancy and postpartum recovery and pelvic organ prolapse problems. At Purple Mountain PT we are pelvic floor physical therapists who have been focused on providing pelvic PT for over two decades. If you are interested in connecting to discuss your symptoms, reach out to us here or call 616-516-4334 to speak with us to answer your questions.

Your Therapy May Help with Relaxation of the Pelvic Floor Muscles

One thing that surprises our patients is that the pelvic floor muscles react and respond to both physical and emotional experiences. For example, if you sneeze the muscles contract so you don’t have stress incontinence. If you are frightened the muscles also react and respond to that fear by tensing up. While most people think that pelvic floor muscle dysfunction is the muscles being out of shape and weak, the opposite is often occurring. The pelvic floor muscles often become stiff and tense and benefit from pelvic floor therapy that helps with relaxation of the pelvic floor muscles. To resolve things like stress incontinence, painful intercourse, pelvic organ prolapse and pelvic muscle dysfunction you need comprehensive treatment options that assess and treat your whole body and how it is all working together. Your therapist will explain to you the reasoning behind your treatments. If you are interested in learning more about our pelvic PT, call us at 616-516-4334 or contact us here.

What are the pelvic floor muscles?

The pelvic floor muscles are a series of muscles below your pelvic organs and that line the bones of your pelvis. These muscles support the uterus, bladder and bowel. They also help maintain bowel and bladder continence. The muscles serve an important role in sexual function, as well. These muscles must be able to contract, relax and lengthen. For example, during a bowel movement your muscles will lengthen and relax, but if you are unable to do this you may have pain, incomplete emptying or develop a hemorrhoid or an anal fissure. When you come to Purple Mountain PT, your pelvic floor physical therapist will explain pelvic floor dysfunction to you and will specify your treatment options. Do you have a question about treatment options for pelvic floor dysfunction? Contact us here and let’s chat!

What symptoms might I have that let me know I may benefit from physical therapy to the pelvis?

You would benefit from treatment for your pelvic muscle dysfunction if you have any of the following:

Pelvic and abdominal pain: including constant lower abdomen pressure, tip of penis pain, persistent genital arousal disorder, vulvodynia, tailbone pain and more.

Pelvic Organ Prolapse: symptoms of this can vary and may include a feeling of pelvic heaviness, pelvic pain, bladder and bowel issues, such as urinary stream that isn’t easy and/or incomplete urinary emptying, difficulty emptying your bowel, recurrent urinary tract infection and a bulge in the vagina or anus. Improving pelvic organ prolapse is possible with the right care. Our whole body approach will help you optimize support to your organs and will reduce fascia restrictions that may be contributing to your prolapse.

Bladder and Bowel issues such as stress incontinence, urge incontinence, urinary frequency and urgency, incomplete emptying, lack of urge to urinate, pain with a full bladder, recurrent urinary tract infections, nocturia (getting up at night to pee).

Bowel movement challenges such as constipation, fecal incontinence, anal fissures, lack of urge to defecate, incomplete emptying, rectocele or rectal prolapse.

Painful intimacy: is often a result of pelvic floor muscle dysfunction. We can work together to ease these muscles and improve your pain.

Any nerve-like pain, itching, throbbing, sharp pain, or stabbing in the genitals, lower abdomen. These symptoms are common in both men and women.

Pregnancy related pelvic girdle pain, loss of urinary control, vulvar swelling, difficulty walking, symphysis pubic pain (SPD), tailbone pain, SI joint pain, low back pain

Sciatica or Lower back pain, degenerative disc disease, herniated disc, low back muscle spasm

Endometriosis contributes to chronic pelvic pain, which causes pelvic floor dysfunction and hip, abdominal and low back muscle problems also. The women we treat who have endometriosis also usually have myofascial pain that contributes to abdominal and pelvic pain, pelvic floor dysfunction, non-relaxing pelvic floor, painful intercourse, bladder and bowel changes.

Interstitial Cystitis to help treat your pain, urgency, frequency and pelvic floor dysfunction

Childhood bladder and bowel troubles, such as constipation, loss of urinary control, recurrent urinary tract infections, difficulty with potty training

Your Pelvic Treatment Explained

At Purple Mountain PT we provide you a safe, discreet and comfortable location to receive your therapy. We have private treatment rooms and you will have each appointment with the same pelvic floor physical therapist, so you can develop trust and have continuity of care. Together we will review your symptoms, such as troubles with bladder and bowel, stress incontinence, pelvic pain or painful intercourse. To best examine whether you have pelvic floor dysfunction and determine if you are able to accomplish contracting and relaxing the pelvic floor muscles, with your permission, we may perform an internal exam. We educate you about your pelvic muscles, nerves and fascia and what we are finding. You will learn whether your pelvic floor dysfunction would improve with relaxation of your pelvic floor muscles or with strengthening these muscles. We also include assessment and treatment to your spine, abdominal wall, hips and thighs. Physical therapy for your pelvic floor symptoms is treatment that is meant to help you feel better and function at a higher level, without pain or problems. If you would like to learn more about our pelvic therapy treatment, please call 616-516-4334 or reach out to us here.

Our Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy Includes Manual Therapy

We use a variety of manual therapy methods and exercise based treatments to get you feeling better. Our pelvic floor physical therapists have extensive post-graduate training in manual therapy techniques and this is what sets us apart from others. These methods help with relaxation of the pelvic floor muscles and improves your ability to use these muscles, including with contracting and relaxing the pelvic muscles, such as with kegel exercises. Our patients consistently tell us that the treatment, including their internal exam, is beneficial and more detailed than anything they’ve ever experienced.

Your manual therapy treatment options may include:

  • Visceral mobilization, which is a very gentle and helpful treatment to your abdomen. If you experience constipation, uterine cramping, overactive bladder, diastasis recti abdominis or any pelvic pain, you will appreciate the visceral mobilization and how it can help alleviate your problems.
  • Scar tissue treatment: scar tissue from surgeries or adhesions from endometriosis can contribute to pain, bladder and bowel problems and pelvic floor dysfunction.
  • Fascial mobilization: Your fascia is a network of tissue that connects your entire body. Fascia in your feet and neck may be impairing your pelvic floor. Therefore, we will assess and treat anywhere you need. We utilize myofascial release to further ease the tension and strain in your entire system and to improve blood flow and muscle firing.
  • Trigger point release and specific massage methods to reduce your pelvic floor tension, hips, thighs, low back or thoracic spine muscle issues.
  • Joint mobilization to optimize the ability of your spine, hips, knees and feet to move through complete range of motion.

 Your Pelvic Floor PT Can Also Include Exercise

Movement, optimal postural alignment and joint mobility with proper firing patterns of all of your core muscles is necessary to reduce pelvic floor dysfunction symptoms. We will work on your breathing and coordination of all of your core muscles, including your pelvic muscles, hip and low back. We also help to improve your ability to manage your intraabdominal pressure and ability to lift and transfer load/weight through your pelvis, abdomen and spine. Our patients often incorrectly assume that they will be completing kegel exercises as part of their treatment for pelvic muscle dysfunction. If you would benefit from kegels, we will complete these, but often the kegels are not helpful for some types of pelvic floor dysfunction. We use a variety of specific exercise-based treatments to teach your body how to work more effectively and to promote either relaxation of your pelvic floor muscles or strengthening of these muscles. Our goal is to reduce pain, urinary incontinence, abdominal weakness, diastasis recti abdominis, prolapse symptoms, non-optimal posture and more. If you would like to learn more, contact us here.

You Know You Need Pelvic Floor Therapy When Things Either Don’t Feel Right or Don’t Work Right. 

The men and women we treat usually suspect that something isn’t “right down there.” Whether you experience pain, stress incontinence, pelvic organ prolapse, muscle dysfunction or painful intimacy, you know intuitively that something isn’t right. When this is the case, reach out to us to discuss your symptoms and learn about your treatment options. The men and women we work with tell us that the symptoms of their pelvic floor muscles, such as pain, urinary frequency, anal fissures or pelvic organ prolapse, improve with our care. We have a lot of resources on our website regarding pelvic floor dysfunction, pelvic floor PT, pelvic PT for pregnancy and postpartum recovery, and pelvic pain, such as vaginismus and dyspareunia. We’ve also written another article about pelvic pain that may be of interest.

Purple Mountain Physical Therapy is a specialty pelvic health clinic located in Grand Rapids, MI that treats men and women as well as kids. We offer expert care for pelvic floor dysfunction and bladder, bowel or intimacy related problems. Many of our patients come to us frustrated due to chronic pain, whether it is hip pain, back pain or pelvic pain (such as abdominal pain, pubic, SI joint or deep inside), stress incontinence, pelvic organ prolapse, and pelvic floor disorders. We have advanced training and experience helping individuals overcome chronic pain and all pelvic floor disorders. There is not a formula to overcome pelvic pain, pelvic organ prolapse, stress incontinence and muscle dysfunction. Instead, we provide whole body, customized care to help you overcome these problems. Our patients tell us finding our treatment has been the most important thing they’ve done to help their pain! We are honored to help you. 616-516-4334 or contact us here.

Peace,

Dr. Maureen O’Keefe, DPT

Should My C-section Scar Still Hurt?

Author| Dr. Maureen O’Keefe, DPT specialist in pregnancy and postpartum recovery and c-section scars that hurt.

Should My C-section Scar Still Hurt? 

At Purple Mountain PT our patients often ask, “should my c-section scar still hurt?” We are pelvic floor physical therapists specializing in pregnancy and postpartum recovery and we have a special place in our heart for moms who birth via cesarean delivery. We offer a treatment program to optimize your postpartum recovery, take the guesswork out of what you should and should not be doing and to promote effective C-section scar healing and abdominal muscle recovery. A cesarean birth is a painful medical procedure, because it is major surgery. After any major surgery, it is best to work with a licensed physical therapist who specializes in treatment plans and rehabilitation for your particular condition. If your c-section scar still hurts after you would reasonably expect it to be fine, please reach out to get the support and treatment you need. Also, if in the early days of healing, you experience more pain than would be expected, get started with physical therapy right away. If you would like to learn more about our program to help alleviate scar pain for women after cesarean section, contact us here.

About 7 in 100 Women will have chronic C-section scar pain. The good news is that PT can help alleviate this pain.

A cesarean delivery is major surgery and you should be supported with the help of a licensed physical therapist on your c-section recovery journey. Your incision site may be the visible signs of your surgery, but your c-section scar tissue goes much deeper than the layers of skin, muscle and connective tissue. Most of us expect that this painful medical surgery will not be a cake-walk in the early days. But, very few of our patients were told they have a 7% chance of having chronic scar tissue pain after cesarean delivery. This is unacceptable and, we think, women should know that this is a risk factor following cesarean section and that physical therapy can help your pain. If you would like to learn more about our treatment to help alleviate scar pain for women after cesarean section, contact us here.

A C-Section That Has Healed Nicely Should have the Following:

  • Your C-section scar should not hurt you, at rest or when moving
  • You should move freely without pulling or pinching. The layers of skin, connective tissue, muscle, fascia and organ should move easily.
  • The scar should be able to move freely all directions, without restrictions.
  • It should not pucker anywhere along its length
  • The abdominal muscles should contract, relax and be able to maintain non-bloated appearance
  • You should be able to wear pants and all clothing touching it without pain.

Will Physical Therapy Help My Scar Tissue and Postpartum Recovery?

Yes. Our licensed physical therapists help women following their pregnancy and we treat all types of scars, including painful scars, c-section shelf scars, scars with adhesions, scars that underwent revision surgery and tunneling scars. We take the guesswork and uncertainty out of your c-section recovery so you’re not confused when looking at the jumbled layers of skin that are in your incision site. If your c-section scar hurts, it is telling you that something is not right and your healing process would benefit from a licensed physical therapist to develop a treatment plan to ease c-section scar pain. To answer your questions about treatment for c-section scars, contact us here.

C-sections that hurt more than expected in the first 24 hours have a greater risk of long term pain.

For some people, the first 24 hours post-cesarean are miserable. Unfortunately, data suggests that women who experience higher than expected pain levels in the first 24 hours have a higher risk of developing chronic pain from their c-section scar. Your surgeon may have done everything right, but a nerve can get sewn in just-the-wrong-way to cause ongoing pain. Or, perhaps your body experiences high pain levels following any trauma, like a cesarean birth. If you have higher than expected pain levels in the early days of your recovery, don’t delay starting physical therapy.

Your scar tissue is healing and laying down from the very first days after your surgery. If you are having more pain than expected, skilled PT can provide gentle movement based and hands-on based manual therapies to promote more effective healing and calm down your pain. At Purple Mountain PT, our postpartum physical therapists partner with you and provide whole body care that is helps calm down your pain, improve your abdominal wall integrity and strength, restore posture, resolve pelvic floor dysfunction and improve your overall fitness and ability to function. If you are interested in learning more about our physical therapy for postpartum recovery, including c-section scar recovery, call us at (616) 516-4334 or contact us here.

What does a physical therapy treatment plan include for the healing process following cesarean delivery?

We always want to resolve any pain. If your c-section scar hurts, we will alleviate this. We are also fully trained in orthopedic physical therapy and treat all neck, back, hip, leg and feet pain.

Our treatment plans will help you resolve your pain so you can move without difficulty and have greater confidence in your body. We use a variety of treatments to help ease your pain. These will combine exercise with manual therapy. The exercises include a variety of things to enhance strength, muscular coordination, pelvic floor muscle activation, to reduce trigger points and balance your pelvis, abdomen and low back. We also include manual therapies such as specialized joint mobilization, pelvic balancing exercises, manual therapy to address muscle stiffness, scar tissue adhesions, trigger point release or visceral restrictions. If you have questions about your c-section scar, contact us here.

All scars are treated, including c-section scar tissue as well as any scar from prior surgeries or injuries.

Sometimes women who had a cesarean birth are surprised to learn that vaginal deliveries can also result in scars, located in the perineal area whether from episiotomy or tearing. We can help all types of scars by using our hands-on scar mobilization techniques, visceral mobilization and fascial release.

Our manual therapy methods also help with endometriosis related adhesions and pain. We specialize in helping people overcome chronic pelvic pain, including endometriosis. If you had a c-section and also have endometriosis we would recommend getting PT as soon as possible to optimize your visceral mobility, scar tissue healing process and bowel/bladder function. If you have endometriosis and also a c-section and would like to learn more about our treatment for both conditions, call us at (616) 516-4334 or contact us here.

Abdominal muscle and tissue recovery is part of your treatment plan to help alleviate c-section scar pain and improve your ability to function.

We include diastasis recti abdominis and abdominal wall elongation recovery into your treatment plan to address your scar tissue. Our patients tell us that our diastasis recovery program lifts their confidence and demystifies what they should be doing to restore their abdominal wall appearance and function.  Following pregnancy, your abdominal muscles are elongated and often impaired. Additionally, the linea alba connective tissue can have trouble transferring load as your move through daily movement. Part of your treatment plan will include specific and detailed assessment of the integrity of your abdominal wall to determine if you have a diastasis recti abdominis, ongoing abdominal wall elongation (from the pregnancy) and impaired abdominal muscle activity. If you wonder if you have a diastasis recti abdominis, or what is going on with your “c-section shelf” or have general questions about your c-section scar call us at 616-516-4334 or contact us here.

We customize an exercise rehabilitation program to improve your strength. Postpartum moms need to retrain their muscles and body!

To alleviate c-section scar pain, any pelvic girdle or low back pain, neck and TM joint pain, our licensed physical therapists provide whole body care. By properly assessing you and providing private, one-on-one appointments that are upto 55 minutes in length, we give you the time necessary to effectively treat your symptoms. We will also help you improve your hip and glute strength, restore your pelvic floor function and more. If you have questions about our treatment plan for postpartum recovery following cesarean section so you can optimize your healing process, please contact us here or call 616-516-4334 to learn more.

C-section recovery research found postpartum PT with a pregnancy, postpartum and pelvic health licensed PT gets you feeling better.

Do you want less pain, the ability to exercise and higher satisfaction with your c-section recovery? What’s holding you back? 

Physical therapists who specialize in pregnancy and postpartum recovery have been saying for years that all women should be provided with physical therapy after giving birth. Research has shown that postpartum women who receive physical therapy have less pain and better ability to exercise. Being pain-free and physical fit are crucial for our quality of life, the ability to take care of others, to being in a good mood and to having the energy that being a mom demands. If you are interested in our postpartum PT program, call us at (616) 516-4334 or contact us here to have your questions answered.

Which group of women would you want to be in? All of these women had cesarean delivery, they were divided into two groups:

Group 1: These C-section moms completed postpartum physical therapy and were able to get back to exercise, completed a core retraining program (abdominal muscles, low back and more), had less pain and expressed higher satisfaction.

Group 2: These C-section moms did not complete postpartum physical therapy and they had more pain, were less able to exercise, were uncertain about how to get their core to recover and felt overall less satisfaction in their healing process and postpartum recovery.

It’s an easy choice, really. Of course, we all want to be part of Group 1! All you have to do is call us at 616-516-4334 or contact us here to start your postpartum recovery program. This research found that postpartum physical therapy twice a week for six weeks resulted in less pain, higher ability to exercise and higher patient satisfaction. Why wouldn’t you prioritize this for yourself?

Each of us deserves to not have pain, to move and exercise and to feel good about our postpartum recovery.

If you are going through your c-section recovery, our treatment plans will ease your mind and provide you with customized rehabilitation that takes the confusion out of your healing process. Our treatment plans are based on your specific evaluation findings and customized to your body. If you have c-section scar pain, or any pain in your postpartum period, our pelvic physical therapy program will help you resolve pain, improve strength, restore your pelvic floor muscles and get back to the things you love. At Purple Mountain PT we implement the measures that this research found helps you: core retraining, safe and structured stretches, hands-on treatments, education in what to be doing at home. If you have questions about our treatment plan for postpartum recovery following cesarean section so you can optimize your healing process, please contact us here or call 616-516-4334 to learn more.

Our physical therapy provides you scar massage and visceral mobilization to help all of your scar tissue slides and glides better. Scar massage can help collagen remodel in a beneficial way!

Our patients tell us that the hands-on treatments they received eased their c-section scar pain, improved the appearance of their abdomen, alleviated pelvic floor dysfunction symptoms and generally helped them to feel better. We are licensed physical therapists with post-graduate training specific to pregnancy and postpartum recovery, pelvic health and orthopedic physical therapy. We help women who had cesarean section deliveries or vaginal births. You can expect to receive a variety of specialized manual therapy techniques that ease tension, help adhesions, promote normal organ mobility, improve blood flow, resolve muscular trigger points, enhance joint motion and restore postural alignment. If you labored and tried for a vaginal delivery before ultimately having a cesarean delivery, please understand that your body went through a lot of stress and strain, both vaginally to the pelvic floor and ultimately with your major surgery. For c-section scars that hurt, you can expect care directed to your whole-body, because everything is connected and tension, restrictions or tightness in one area can impair the mobility of the layers of tissue in your c-section scar that hurts or is adhered.

If you want a healthy, mobile, unrestricted scar so that you can run, push, pull, lift and move without feeling the scar, give us a call at 616-516-4334 or contact us here. We treat EVERY scar (whether it is cesarean, laparotomy, vaginal birth, hernia, hip surgery, robotic or other scar) to get the scar moving optimally and so that your c-section scar won’t hurt.

Your C-section Scar may be contributing to your bladder control problems.

Cesarean delivery requires an incision site that is very close to your bladder. You will lay down scar tissue right near your bladder. Sometimes this scar tissue causes impairment with bladder filling or emptying or can disrupt the pelvic floor muscles and how they function. You may develop urinary frequency, urgency, urge incontinence, stress incontinence, difficulty emptying or lots of waking up at night to urinate. For women who had vaginal deliveries, it is well known that pelvic floor dysfunction, episiotomies or perineal tearing can also contribute to bladder control troubles when postpartum. Our postpartum recovery treatment plan includes care for your bladder, as well. If you had a c-section and now also have bladder symptoms, such as painful filling of your bladder, urinary urgency and frequency or incontinence, to learn more about our treatment call us at 616-516-4334 or contact us here.

Your C-section scar may be contributing to your Pelvic Organ Prolapse

Because the abdomen, pelvic organs and pelvic floor are so intimately connected, any disruption to the integrity of one of these areas can impair the others. Therefore, it is possible your C-section scar is impairing the support of your pelvis and contributing to prolapse. With pelvic organ prolapse we always work to optimize all of the support structures for your organs and vagina. Scar tissue and scar pain can both lead to pelvic floor muscle dysfunction and impairments in the support of the pelvic organs. For any patient who underwent cesarean or vaginal delivery, we always assess your pelvic floor muscles, organ support structures and look for signs and symptoms of pelvic organ prolapse. Rest assured, there are many things we include in our treatment plan that help improve pelvic pressure, urinary incontinence, c-section scars that hurt, scar tissue adhesions and pelvic organ prolapse symptoms.

Many of our patients live in fear of prolapse. Someone vaguely told them that they have a prolapse, which can be scary to hear, but did not advise them on what to do about it. We will clear your mind and give you a detailed treatment plan to address your prolapse. This is our life’s work and we are happy to share it to help you. Call us at 616-516-4334 to learn more or contact us here.

If your c-section scar hurts, we are here to help you!

We’ve detailed some of the considerations we include in our postpartum recovery treatment plan following cesarean delivery and many of these also apply to vaginal birth. The early days of recovering from this painful medical procedure should be effectively managed with high quality support from your surgeon and associated medical professionals. As you progress through your postpartum recovery, you should expect your c-section scar to begin to hurt less and eventually to have no pain. Our licensed physical therapists have post-graduate training in manual therapy methods to help all types of scars. For anyone who has a c-section scar that hurts on an ongoing basis, please know that it is never too late to get help for this from one of our physical therapists. Chronic c-section scar pain is not something to be ignored. We find many women put themselves on the backburner, prioritizing their children and other people’s needs over their own needs. We also find that women tell us they are frustrated, exhausted and feel ignored when they raise complaints of their c-section scar hurting. A frustrated, tired and ignored mom is not in the best moods and not up for all the things that may be required of her. If you are feeling this way, please reach out to us because we can help you. At Purple Mountain PT, we specialize in postpartum recovery, including cesarean birth healing and vaginal delivery rehabilitation. We provide treatment both in person at our clinic in Grand Rapids, Michigan and virtually via telehealth. Contact us here to learn more about our postpartum recovery treatment plan or call us at (616) 516-4334. We help women who are in pain every day and we can help you, also. We’ve written about PT for pain here and you may be interested to read that information.

Peace,

Dr. Maureen O’Keefe, DPT

The Journal of Women’s Health Physical Therapy published the research that showed that 6 weeks of PT following cesarean section improved pain and ability to exercise. The article is titled: Physical Therapy in addition to standard of care improves patient satisfaction and recovery post-cesarean section.

 

Bladder Physical Therapy Near Grand Rapids

If you are looking for Bladder Physical Therapy near Grand Rapids, you have found the right place.

Are you tired of bladder problems?  Frustrated and uncertain about what is going on and how to get it better?  Have you tried kegels or other at-home solutions and find this problem just doesn’t change?  If this sounds like you, we have natural, effective bladder physical therapy solutions to your issues.  We are Purple Mountain Physical Therapy, a specialty pelvic health, bladder, bowel, pelvic pain and TM joint physical therapy clinic in Grand Rapids, Michigan.  Our PTs offer in-person and remote consultations to men, women and kids who have bladder or bowel problems.   If you are interested to learn more about our PT, call us today at 616-516-4334 to speak with one of our knowledgeable staff or submit your questions here.

Our patients travel from all over Michigan and surrounding states to receive their treatment with us because we have been doing this for years and our comprehensive and advanced treatment methods work.

We enjoy helping people overcome all bladder problems.  When you work with our physical therapists for your bladder PT, you will receive care from providers devoted to understanding how to treat simple to complex bladder conditions.  We have advanced post-doctoral training specific to the needs of pediatric, women’s health and men’s bladder condition.  Each population has unique needs to solve their bladder problems and our PTs will customize your treatment based on what you require.  If you are interested to learn more about our PT, call us today at 616-516-4334 to speak with one of our knowledgeable staff or submit your questions here.

Bladder Physical Therapy is Natural and Works to Improve Your Strength, Bladder Function, Posture, Core Engagement, Breathing and Pelvic Floor Dysfunction

Some of our patients have tried medications for things like overactive bladder and they don’t like the idea of being on a medication; especially one that is costly, may cause memory issues or leads to constant dry mouth or constipation.  Other patients are considering surgery to provide a bladder lift, but they know that surgery is a big deal and may not provide lasting results.  Our patients come to us looking for natural, effective solutions for their problem and most of them understand that physical therapy offers this.  Reach out to us here if you would like to learn more.

In contast to medical options, bladder physical therapy uses natural, non-invasive methods to bring your bladder problem back to a state of homeostasis.

Our natural remedies for bladder incontinence, pain, frequency and urgency and other problems give you long-term results and use the power of your own body to resolve your problems.  The treatment we provide addresses your muscles, fascia, breathing, nervous system, spine and bladder control center to help you.  Most of our patients leave appointments and tell us they feel so much better and more hopeful.  This work is rewarding for us.  If you’d like to connect with our team, call 616-516-4334 or contact us here.

We use pelvic floor muscle training, corrective exercise, movement & posture retraining, manual therapies (to your spine, hips, thighs, abdomen or pelvic floor), heart rate variability training, bladder calming techniques and more to improve your bladder control and function.

If you are interested in natural treatmens for your bladder problems and would like to work with our pelvic PTs for bladder physical therapy treatment (offered in-person in Grand Rapids, with telehealth or a remote consultation for those who quality), call us today at 616-516-4334 to speak with one of our knowledgeable staff or reach out to us here.

Our Bladder Physical Therapists in Grand Rapids or via Telehealth will Provide You Comprehensive, Whole-Body Treatments Designed to Restore Bladder Function and Control.

The whole-body care that we offer is more comprehensive than our patients have received elsewhere.  Because of our advanced training, we understand that the bladder functions within the system of you entire body and treating your entire spine, abdomen, hips, movement patterns, bladder, nervous system and strength is important to recover bladder function.  If you are tired of your bladder problems and are wanting a natural solution, that improves your overall health, strength, back pain, and pelvic floor dysfunction, our bladder physical therapy offers you this.  Getting started is easy:  just call our office to speak with one of our knowledgeable staff members.  During that conversation, we like to learn a bit about what is going on with your bladder to determine if our bladder physical therapy could help you. We also like to answer your questions and explain what to expect in PT.  We offer in-person bladder physical therapy, telehealth visits or remote consultations for those who qualify.  Call 616-516-4334 to have this conversation or submit your questions here.

What Kinds of Bladder Issues does Pelvic Floor Bladder Physical Therapy Help?

Our pelvic PTs treat all ranges and types of bladder problems from simple to complex.  Because we specialize in bladder physical therapy, we have advanced training beyond our doctoral degrees that allows us to provide comprehensive and helpful bladder physical therapy treatments so we can help restore your bladder function.   While some patients come to us with more straight-forward issues such as stress urinary incontinence, many of our patients have combined issues of stress incontinence with urinary frequency and urgency and low back pain.  Our PTs can help you.  Reach out to us here or call 616-516-4334 to learn more.

The bladder should be able to quietly fill up and hold urine until it reaches a point of needing to empty, contract to empty when you are using the toilet and be quiet, without pain between urinations.

Our patients have problems somewhere along that bladder filling, holding, emptying journey.  If you are interested to learn more about our PT, call us today at 616-516-4334 to speak with one of our knowledgeable staff or reach out to us here.   If you are wondering what kind of bladder conditions we treat, here is an abbreviated list:

Nocturia, a problem of waking at night to pee.

Urinary urgency and frequency

Interstitial cystitis (bladder pain syndrome)

Endometriosis-related bladder problems

Stress urinary incontinence (leakage with laugh, cough, movement, jumping or sneez

Post-partum bladder control problems and overactive bladder symptoms.

Pelvic organ prolapse that contributes to bladder problems, such as incontinence, split stream, recurrent urinary tract infections

Recurrent urinary tract infections, especially when related to pelvic floor dysfunction

Post-prostatectomy urinary incontinence.  Or following prostate radiation treatments

Constant urge to urinate, lower abdominal pain or bladder spasms.

Neurogenic bladder and difficulty starting their urinary stream

The kids we treat often have constipation, bedwetting or daytime loss of urine (enuresis).

Does Bladder Physical Therapy Work?

Yes.  There is high quality evidence from a Cochrane Review, the leading organization that looks at all published research and summarizes the findings, that bladder physical therapy that includes pelvic floor muscle training (which our PTs teach you!) helps stress urinary incontinence and other types of urinary incontinence.  Our experience has found that creating the proper treatment program that includes whole-body movement retraining and addresses pelvic floor muscle dysfunction is important to getting you results.  This is why we use exercise, balance retraining, postural correction, biofeedback, hands-on treatments and more to get you results.  If you are interested to learn more about our PT, call us today at 616-516-4334 to speak with one of our knowledgeable staff or submit your questions here.

So, You Offer Bladder Physical Therapy  in Grand Rapids or with a Remote Consultation?  I’ve never head of this type of PT, what makes you different than other physical therapists?

Our physical therapists specificially specialize in treating pelvic health conditions for women, men and kids. We have advanced training and considerable experience in this field.  We treat bladder, bowel, prolapse, pregnancy and postpartum problems, chronic pelvic pain, SIJ pain, coccy pain (tailbone), endometriosis, Pudendal neuralgia, sciatica, all bladder problems, prostate related bladder issues and more.  We are also fully trained and experienced orthopedic physical therapists, which provides us the ability to give you whole-body care.  The pelvic floor muscles line the base of the pelvis and are impacted by all spine and leg movements, which is why we work on your whole body to improve bladder conditions.  For more information about our bladder physical therapy, call us today at 616-516-4334 to speak with one of our knowledgeable staff or reach out to us here.

What we do is commonly called “pelvic floor physical therapy” and the speciality that our PTs have at Purple Mountain PT may be called by a number of terms, such as:

  • Pelvic Floor Physical Therapists
  • Pelvic Health Physical Therapists
  • Bladder Physical Therapists
  • Pelvic Physical Therapist
  • Women’s Health Physical Therapist
  • Specialists in Pelvic Floor Dysfunction
  • Pediatric Bladder and Bowel Physical Therapist

All of these labels simply let you know that we are Doctors of Physical Therapy who have completed advanced post-doctoral training specific to pelvic health, which involves bladder, bowel, intimacy, pain and prolapse related issues.

At Purple Mountain PT because we specialize in bladder physical therapy in-person in Grand Rapids, via telehealth or a  remote consultation, we offer difficult-to-find expertise and treatment methods to help your bladder.   Our clinic provides you a private, comfortable place to receive your one-on-one treatments with your PT. Every visit is upto 55 minutes in length and may include a combination of nervous system calming, pelvic floor therapy, exercises, manual therapy, alignment corrections or other therapeutic methods.  As pelvic health physical therapy specialists, we have knowledge about all the areas of the body.  This is because the pelvic floor, bladder and bowel have connections to the hips, spine, thighs, calves and feet, shoulder blades, diaphragm, rib cage and thoracic spine.  Therefore, a bladder physical therapist is truly an expertly trained orthopedic physical therapist who knows the specifics of how to help your bladder.  If you are interested to learn more about our bladder physical therapy treatment, call us today at 616-516-4334 to speak with one of our knowledgeable staff or ask a question here.

Bladder physical therapy will help optimize your bladder’s ability to fill up, hold urine without leaking, empty and have no pain!

Our patients come to us with problems related to any portion of the bladder function.  Common complaints we treat include

  • Stress  urinary incontinence:  the involuntary loss of urine when laughing, coughing, sneezing or exercising
  • Urge urinary incontinence:  the involuntary loss of urine because you cannot get to the bathroom soon enough
  • Mixed urinary incontinence:  you have loss of urine that might involve both stress and urge incontinence
  • Insensible urinary incontinence:  Loss of urine simply happens, not necessary related to any activities or having a full bladder
  • Urinary retention:  you cannot empty your bladder at all.  Or you can only partially empty your bladder.  You may need to self catheterize
  • Urinary frequency:  You need to urinate more often than every 2-4 hours
  • Urinary urgency:  You experience sudden urges to urinate and cannot hold it long
  • Nocturia:  A person wakes up at night to urinate. This disrupts sleep.
  • Painful urination:  You feel pain anywhere in your abdomen or pelvis before, during or after peeing.
  • Frequent urinary tract infections:  You keep getting infections and don’t know why.  We find you may have incomplete emptying of your bladder that is related to dysfunctional voiding and pelvic floor dysfunction
  • Slow urinary stream:  you hear other people’s urinations in a public restroom and you are jealous, it sounds so much stronger than yours.  Your stream may stop and start.
  • Straining to urinate:  You must push your urine out, it won’t come on its own.
  • Interstitial Cystitis/Painful Bladder Syndrome:  You have a combination of pain and urinary frequency and urgency.
  • Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS) related bladder problems
  • Diabetic bladder.

As Pelvic Health Physical Therapy specialists, we offer insights and treatment techniques that are natural and help you recover bladder function, including resolving bladder pain, incontinence, overactive bladder or other bladder problems.

Our pelvic physical therapists partner with you to identify how we can best optimize your bladder function and to provide you care that is holisitic, compassionate and designed to address your goals and ease your frustration about your bladder.

If you are wondering how does bladder physical therapy help your problem, the easiest way to explain it is that we help restore your bladder and pelvic floor muscles’ ability to function.  We do this using a variety of hands-on treatment directed anywhere from your neck to your toes such as myofascial release, trigger point release, muscle balancing, pelvic and low back gentle mobilizations, hip alignment, visceral mobilization and therapeutic massage.  We may combine these manual therapy techniques with exercise based treatments designed to optimize the coordination and timing of your bladder control, to improve pelvic floor dysfunction and address strength or flexibility imbalances.   We also provide instructions on how to optimize your bladder function at home.  This may include fluid intake, posture, toileting methods, constipation mitigation or other advice to improve your control.  If you are interested to learn more about our bladder physical therapy treatment, call us today at 616-516-4334 to speak with one of our knowledgeable staff or contact us here.

Our evaluation and treatment is holistic and designed to address all contributing factors in your bladder dysfunction.  These may include

  • Pelvic floor dysfunction:  including high tone pelvic floor, weakness, tightness
  • Impaired timing and coordination of the pelvic floor muscles
  • Improper breathing mechanics that strain the bladder
  • Low back and hip contributions to your bladder condition
  • Postural contributions to your bladder condtiion
  • Fascia restrictions in viscerosomatic convergence areas related to your bladder.  These include your thoracic spine, lower back, hips, thighs and abdominal wall.
  • Scar tissue that is impairing  your bladder.  This may be related to prior pelvic surgeries, endometriosis, pregnancy or postpartum injuries or trauma.
  • Food sensitivities
  • Bowel contributions:  an unhealthy bowel can set off a bladder and disrupt optimal bladder control.  This is true of everyone, but for children constipation impairs bladder control possibly more than adults.  For our patients who have diarrhea, IBS, constipation or other bowel condition, we would like to partner with you to address this.
  • Non-optimal habits with exercise/fitness/running/jumping that overload the pelvic floor and overwhelm your bladder control system

Your goals and needs are at the center of our treatment.  We will partner with you and create a pelvic physical therapy plan customized to your body’s needs.

Our patients tell us that this has been the most important thing they have done for themselves.  I founded Purple Mountain Physical Therapy in Grand Rapids to provide bladder physical therapy to our community and beyond.  Having worked in this field for 25 years, most of them in Chicago, I have experience working with some of the top medical centers that treat bladder problems; these include Northwestern, Rush and Loyola.  My goal is to provide patients with compassionate, effective bladder physical therapy treatment in Grand Rapids or via telehealth that is holistic, effective and compassionate.  If you wonder if bladder physical therapy could help you, call us today at 616-516-4334 to speak with one of our knowledgeable staff or ask a question here.

Bladder physical therapy that includes pelvic floor muscle training has been found to improve your quality of life and to improve your bladder symptoms!

As part of our focus on pelvic health, bladder problems and pelvic pain, we are active in professional societies and are mindful of what the research has found, so we can offer you treatment that is effective.  One thing that has consistently been found to help bladder problems is pelvic floor muscle training exercises.  This type of exercises goes well beyond the widely mis-understood concept of a Kegel exercise and includes focused instruction of how to properly coordinate the pelvic floor muscles within your entire bladder control system.  Our PTs include pelvic floor muscle training treatment that incorporates postural correction, diaphragmatic breathing, core muscle strength, hip & low back treatment, coordination of the pelvic floor muscles with the rest of the bladder control system and more.  The treatment we provide is consistent with research that has found that bladder physical therapy, from a pelvic health PT specialist, can improve symptom severity and quality of life.  If you are interested to learn more about our bladder physical therapy treatment, call us today at 616-516-4334 to speak with one of our knowledgeable staff or submit your questions here.

People who have urinary urgency and frequency benefit from the treatment we offer to improve hip strength

Bladder control problems are not straight-forward to resolve.  Our PTs have devoted our careers to learning about bladder function and best ways to reduce issues.  We have included strengthening of your low back, hips and abdominals into the treatment program for some people, depending of their symptoms and findings.  Research has found that urinary urgency and frequency problems also involve weakness of the hip muscles, specifically hip abduction and external rotation.  Our PTs have included strength training exercises for these muscles for years and our clinical experience has found that these are one (of many) thing to be addressed to help urinary frequency and urgency.  If you are interested to learn more about our bladder physical therapy treatment, call us today at 616-516-4334 to speak with one of our knowledgeable staff or submit your questions here.

We understand that sometimes the idea of starting a pelvic physical therapy is overwhelming and you don’t know what to expect.  We’re here to take the anxiety out of this.

Our clinic provides you a private, welcoming place to receive your care.  We focus on pelvic health and TM joint disorders, so everything has been set up here for your comfort, discretion and privacy.  Our PTs enjoy getting to know you and will help you to reach your goals. We begin treatment with an evaluation, which includes you sharing your history and symptoms and an assessment of relevant areas that may be contributing to your bladder issues.   This may include your posture, overall strength, pelvic floor muscle function, breathing, abdominal wall integrity (such as scars, elongation from pregnancy, diastasis recti abdominis), fascia in your thoracic spine, low back, hips, thighs, or other areas specific to your symptoms.   To learn more about our bladder physical therapy treatment, call us today at 616-516-4334 to speak with one of our knowledgeable staff or reach out to us here.

We treat women, men and kids who have bladder problems. And our treatment methods are specific to each person’s needs.  We do NOT simply apply “women’s health” bladder physical therapy treatment to a child or a man.  Our pelvic physical therapists are trained the specific needs of children, men and women.

Women’s bladder needs are unique.  We understand pelvic organ prolapse, pregnancy and postpartum recovery, recurrent urinary tract infections and female specific challenges across the lifespan.

Our pelvic PTs enjoy working with women throughout the lifespan and have post-graduate training and many years’ experience helping women through their college years, pregnancy & postpartum recovery, peri-menopause and menopause years.  Our needs change throughout our lifespan and our PTs offer you what you need for bladder control and other pelvic or TM joint problems at all stages of life.  You will receive customized treatment that addresses your unique needs.  We know that bladder control problems are a risk factor for women needing assisted living in her elderly years.  If you are having incontinence in your younger years, it is important to get that addressed. Why wait for it to worsen?  Help is available today. Call 616-516-4334 to chat with one of our team members or contact us here.  

Male bladder needs are different than female.  Your anatomy is different and while everyone is different, males tends towards pelvic floor, hip and low back stiffness and tension that can cause urinary urgency, frequency, pelvic pain or other bladder issues.

Our male-specific training and experience gives men effective bladder physical therapy that is directed to the unique needs of male anatomy and bladder function.  We work with men at all ages and address all bladder problems that men experience, including tip of penis or testicular pain, constant urge to urinate, post-void dribbling, incontinence, urgency and frequency, chronic prostatitis and post-prostatectomy bladder training.   For more informationn about our bladder physical therapy treatment in Grand Rapids Michigan or via remote consult, call us today at 616-516-4334 to speak with one of our knowledgeable staff or contact us here.

Pediatric bladder needs require specific training for kiddos. We offer that!

Pediatric bladder patients often benefit external treatment methods and exercises that may help them practice and learn how to listen to the signal of their body, address underlying constipation and direct their mindfulness to feeling when they need to urinate.  We use positive, encouraging methods with all of our patients and find our developmentally appropriate methods for little ones creates an uplifting and encouraging experience for them.  If you are interested to learn more about our bladder physical therapy treatment, call us today at 616-516-4334 to speak with one of our knowledgeable staff or submit your questions here.

Bladder physical therapy won’t work if we don’t treat the many things contributing to your symptoms.

At Purple Mountain Physical Therapy, we are devoted to improving pelvic pain and bladder problems, so you get results.  That’s why we offer whole body care and treatments that are compassionate, trauma-informed and effective.  I have established Purple Mountain PT with your needs in mind.  This is why every appointment is private, one-on-one with your licensed physical therapist upto 55 minutes in length.  Our clinical experience has taught us that we must give you a full, complete treatment at each visit to get you the results.  We never have you work with a lesser trained person and we do not leave you to exercise on your own during an appointment. We are by your side, correcting your movement patterns, cuing your muscular coordination and helping you get the most out of each visit.  If you are interested in working with experienced pelvic PTs who focus on providing bladder physical therapy, we are located in Grand Rapids and offer in-person care or remote consults.

If you are interested in learning more, call our office at 616.516.4334.  We are located at 847 Parchment Drive SE Grand Rapids, Michigan; this is near the I-96 and Cascade Road exit.  We have convenient parking and a warm, welcoming staff.  We are here to serve you and meet your needs.

Peace,

Dr. Maureen O’Keefe, DPT physical therapist and founder of Purple Mountain Physical Therapy.  We are specialists in providing bladder physical therapy to men, women and children in Grand Rapids or via remote consultation. For more information about our bladder physical therapy treatments, call us today at 616-516-4334 or submit your questions here.

Other articles we’ve written that may be of interest:

Tips to Fix Incontinence Naturally

Why Can’t I Push Out My Pee?

How do I retrain my bladder after prostate removal?

Physical Therapy after Prostatectomy

Interstitial Cystitis Treatment in Grand Rapids!

Oh no, I am having stress incontinence! What natural treatments can I do?

Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome and Bladder Problems. What’s Going On?

Is There A Connection Between Diabetes and Incontinence?

Why Does My Child Keep Wetting Their Pants?

References:

Boyle R, Hay-Smith EJ, Cody JD, Mørkved S. Pelvic floor muscle training for prevention and treatment of urinary and fecal incontinence in antenatal and postnatal women: a short version Cochrane review. Neurourol Urodyn. 2014 Mar;33(3):269-76. doi: 10.1002/nau.22402. Epub 2013 Apr 24. PMID: 23616292.

Dumoulin C, Hay-Smith J, Habée-Séguin G, Mercier J. Pelvic floor muscle training versus no treatment, or inactive control treatments, for urinary incontinence in women: A short version Cochrane systematic review with meta-analysis. Neurourology And Urodynamics. 2015;34(4):300–308.

Foster, Stefanie N. PT, PhD1; Spitznagle, Theresa M. PT, DPT1,2; Tuttle, Lori J. PT, MPT, PhD3; Sutcliffe, Siobhan PhD, ScM, MHS2,4; Steger-May, Karen MS5; Lowder, Jerry L. MD, MSc2,6; Meister, Melanie R. MD, MSCI2,6; Ghetti, Chiara MD2,6; Wang, Jinli MS5; Mueller, Michael J. PT, PhD1,7; Harris-Hayes, Marcie DPT, MSCI1,8 Hip and Pelvic Floor Muscle Strength in Women With and Without Urgency and Frequency-Predominant Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms, Journal of Women’s Health Physical Therapy: July/September 2021 – Volume 45 – Issue 3 – p 126-134 doi: 10.1097/JWH.0000000000000209

Herderschee R, Hay-Smith EJ, Herbison GP, et al. Feedback or biofeedback to augment pelvic floor muscle training for urinary incontinence in women. Neurourol Urodyn. 2013;32(4):325–329.

Maxwell, C., Soo, A., Hogan, D., Wodchis, W., Gilbart, E., Amuah, J., . . . Strain, L. (2013). Predictors of Nursing Home Placement from Assisted Living Settings in Canada. Canadian Journal on Aging / La Revue Canadienne Du Vieillissement, 32(4), 333-348. doi:10.1017/S0714980813000469

Neville CE, Beneciuk J, Bishop M, Alappattu M. Analysis of Physical Therapy Intervention Outcomes for Urinary Incontinence in Women Older Than 65 Years in Outpatient Clinical Settings. Top Geriatr Rehabil. 2016 Oct-Dec;32(4):251-257. doi: 10.1097/TGR.0000000000000119. PMID: 28484306; PMCID: PMC5418583.

Qaseem A, Dallas P, Forciea M, Starkey M, et al. Nonsurgical management of urinary incontinence in women: a clinical practice guideline from the American College of Physicians. Annals Of Internal Medicine. 2014;161(6):429–440.

Sampselle CM, Harlow SD, Skurnick J, Brubaker L, Bondarenko I. Urinary incontinence predictors and life impact in ethnically diverse perimenopausal women. Obstet Gynecol. 2002;100:1230–1238.

Wein AJ. Re: Pelvic Floor Muscle Training versus no Treatment, or Inactive Control Treatments, for Urinary Incontinence in Women: A Short Version Cochrane Systematic Review with Meta-Analysis. J Urol. 2019 Jun;201(6):1060. doi: 10.1097/01.JU.0000554736.43840.11. PMID: 30883251.

 

5 Tips To Ease Pelvic Pain that Won’t Go Away!

If Your Pelvic Pain Won’t Quit, Read on for 5 Tips to Ease Pelvic Pain!

Here at Purple Mountain PT we have a heart for anyone who is experiencing pelvic pain that just won’t quit. We understand the despair you feel and the lack of answers when you go from provider to provider or experience “random” pains that are unpredictable. Our Doctors of Physical Therapy have many years experience working with people who, unfortunately, have lengthy and frustrating journeys to finding us and getting the real help they need. In fact, at Purple Mountain PT we are known especially for helping people overcome pelvic pain. Our patients tell us that the therapy they receive with us is life changing and the best thing that has ever been done to help them. Here, you’ll find 5 quick tips to ease pelvic pain.

What are Some Common Things That Our Patients Tell Us? Here’s an example.

Sarah’s Story: Do You See Yourself in Her Story? Names have been changed for privacy.

Sarah is a 44 year old female who came to us with lower abdominal pain and vaginal/pelvic pressure that bothered her most days. It had been going on for the last six years or so, and developed around the time her last child was born. In those six years she thought her problem was an ovarian cyst, but when the doctor found a cyst she was told that it should simply be monitored and no further treatment was recommended. She found herself taking ibuprofen more often than she liked and this also caused some issues related to her migraines, rebound headaches. She developed some back pain and went to physical therapy for this; the PT didn’t help. At one appointment they had her sit in a chair and march in place and she thought it was a silly exercise that wouldn’t help her, so she stopped going. The pelvic pressure was worse around her menstrual cycle, but occurred throughout the entire month and was bad enough that she avoided jogging and intimacy.

Review of Sarah’s symptoms:

  • Abdominal pain
  • Vaginal pressure
  • Ovarian cyst present, but not thought to be the cause
  • Ibuprofen usage has increased over the years
  • Migraines
  • Back pain
  • Pelvic Pressure

She found us because one of her friends told her about us, but she had already been to physical therapy for her back and that PT told her that her pelvic floor was fine.

She was skeptical when calling Purple Mountain PT, but when her friend promised her that we were different and more effective, she scheduled an evaluation. At her evaluation, she told us that her pain was her main concern and was occurring nearly everyday and often causing her to feel out of shape and unable to workout to get into shape. Her pain seemed to be random and, therefore, she really felt like there was nothing in particular she could do to make it go away or help it to be better. We also discovered that she experienced urinary leakage and sometimes urinary urgency. Her constipation was an ongoing problem, with bowel movements once every 2nd or 3rd day. Intimacy was not comfortable and was not enjoyable, her libido was gone.

Additional pelvic symptoms we discovered for Sarah:

  • Urinary incontinence
  • Urinary urgency
  • Constipation
  • Painful intimacy & low libido

Our examination found that she had a variety of things that we needed to address to help her pain:

  • Myofascial restrictions in her abdominal wall including trigger points in numerous muscles that were contributing to daily pain. These included tension in her hip flexors and abdominal oblique muscles as well as rectus abdominus.
  • Diastasis Recti Abdominus: Sarah had a problem with the integrity of her abdominal wall, causing her to have a thinning and widening of her linea alba. This places excess stress and strain through the abdominal wall and pelvic floor, contributing to pelvic pain, bladder leakage, lower back pain and pelvic pressure. We specialize in helping women (and men) resolve their DRA. A DRA is a very common finding in our patients and we provide high quality assessment and treatment for this; this is unique to our clinic, as we find that for our patients a DRA is usually not properly addressed until they find us.
  • Tension and muscle guarding and tightness in her hip muscles, inner thighs and low back. These were a major source of her problem and needed to be effectively treated with myofascial release, trigger point release, joint mobilization and pelvic and low back alignment methods. We also included treatment to improve the strength of her hips and core muscles.
  • Pelvic floor dysfunction characterized by high tone pelvic floor, meaning her pelvic floor muscles were stiff and painful. These were a big driver of her pain and her urinary urgency and leakage and likely contributing to her constipation, also. By treating her pelvic floor dysfunction and her abdomen, hips and back, we were able to ease her pelvic pain and bladder symptoms.
  • Misalignment in her pelvis Her SI joint was not happy and we found that her hips and pelvis were not aligned. She also had some postural changes that were making it more difficult on her pelvic floor. We worked with Sarah to optimize her pelvic alignment and posture. By doing this, the stress through the pelvic floor was reduced, thereby lessening her pelvic pain and pressure.
  • The presence of migraines plus the chronic pelvic pain render us suspicious for her having a ramped up nervous system that easily experiences pain. We use a validated questionnaire to find out if this is the case and it was for Sarah. Because of this we use a combination of education, neural calming techniques, heart rate variability training and myofascial release and muscle calming hands-on methods to calm down her sensitized nervous system. Our patients find this treatment to be incredibly beneficial and a key thing we do that is not routinely provided. Our therapists have advanced training specific to calming the nervous system and restoring the bladder and bowel. We offer this because we know it helps our patients to feel better.
  • Inability to exercise is a big problem and something we needed to improve. We found she was quite weak & often tight in many major muscle groups including her glutes, quads, inner thighs, hamstrings, low back, postural stabilizers in her upper back, abdominals and calves. Her weakness was from a combination of being sedentary and also from her condition inhibiting the proper firing of her muscles; we needed to retrain the muscles and restore her capacity to exercises.

At Purple Mountain PT we begin treatment on your very first day. You can expect hands-on treatment methods to include myofascial release, trigger point release, corrective alignment methods, neural calming and lots of education in exercises and things you can do to help yourself. Because Sarah’s case is common and, if you are reading this blog, you likely share some characteristics with Sarah, we can offer five tips to ease pelvic pain to help you today. These are things you can try that we also suggested Sarah begin on her first day of treatment. Give us a call at (616) 516-4334  or contact us here to see if we can help you get back to what you’re missing!

5 Tips To Ease Your Pelvic Pain that Won’t Go Away!

Tip 1: Practice Diaphragmatic Breathing

The diaphragm is a pathway to calming down high tone pelvic floor and chronic pain. Learning to effectively breathe with your diaphragm is a key skill that is usually dysfunctional when someone has chronic pain. This may seem like a simple, useless tip. But, take our word for it and our patients’ word for it: diaphragmatic breathing is an important skill to help nudge your body out of pain.

Tip 2: Lengthen Your Pelvic Floor Muscles

This is tricky to learn and, especially when someone has chronic pelvic pain, usually they have very limited capacity to let go of their pelvic floor muscles because these muscles are stiff and tight. For the most effective results, you truly need hands-on care from one of our Doctors of PT. But, please give this tip a good, solid try. Practice makes perfect, so you’ll have to work on it multiple times a day.

Here’s one way you can learn how to melt your pelvic floor muscles: lie down in a quiet location. Clear your mind. Soften your breathing. Relax your abdomen. Bring your awareness to your pelvic floor area. Relax your glutes. Let go of your tailbone, invite it to float back towards the floor. Soften and open the anus, let go of the back area. Drop your vagina by fully letting go of it. Simulate peeing and invite a release/opening of the area where you pee. Never push these muscles to get them to release.

Tip 3: Optimize your gut health

This is crucial when trying to resolve pelvic pain. You must have daily bowel movements that are well formed and without straining. Look closely at your nutrition and eliminate all foods that might constipate you and/or cause intestinal bloating or distress. Consider seeing a dietician for expert guidance. Aim to eat 30 grams of fiber a day, if you can tolerate fiber.

Tip 4: Optimize your water intake

Because Sarah had some issues with urinary control and urgency, she had slowly reduced her water intake. This actually worsens bladder wellbeing and can contribute to bladder spasms and ongoing pelvic pain. For your bladder to be happy you need optimal water intake. You should be urinating about every 2 to 4 hours and you want your urine color to be light yellow.

Tip 5: Movement is Needed

With chronic pelvic pain we know that movement is needed. You must move. The less you do, the more you hurt. The challenge is figuring out how much movement is well tolerated and which movements to do. In general, it is smart to begin with brisk walking and some light stretching. Think about stretching your hips, low back and legs. Be gentle with your movements, never forcing a stretch.

Bonus Tip 6: Prioritize Sleep, Relaxation and Meditation. 

Sleep is how our body restores itself. You must prioritize sleep, address sleep apnea problems and keep a regular bedtime. By building relaxation and meditation into your daily routine, you will further nudge your nervous system towards a more balanced and less sensitized state and this will, in concert with everything else you are doing, help you have less pain. Research has shown us that individuals who have chronic pelvic pain experience higher rates of anxiety, depression and sleep disorders. We also know that multimodal (meaning a team of providers with various clinical expertise) care is best for you. For more on the benefits of physical therapy, check out this blog we wrote for a fellow PTs site. It is common that your team might consist of a physical therapist, counselor, psychologist, sleep specialist, gynecologist, physiatrist and other providers.

For our patient, Sarah, these 5 simple tips to ease her pelvic pain got her started with a plan for what she could do at home.

With our skilled therapy, which primarily comprised of hands-on treatments from her shoulders to her knees (because pelvic pain and fascia connections extend throughout the body), bladder calming treatments and parasympathetic nervous system activation, Sarah was able to gradually increase her exercise and daily activities and found that the “random” pains were not happening anymore. Once Sarah’s pain went away she told us that she couldn’t believe how long she had lived in pain and she wished she had found us sooner. Contact us today to speak with our knowledgeable and caring staff to learn more about our model of care and how we can help you.

A key feature of our treatment is our expert manual therapy methods and ability to diagnose and treat complex features of pelvic pain.

Of course, we assess and treat pelvic floor dysfunction and this is a hallmark of what we do. We are particularly skilled at identifying whether you have pelvic floor dysfunction. And, to be clear, if you have chronic pelvic pain you need holistic treatment to everything from your shoulders to your knees and maybe even your feet! Our doctors of physical therapy are fully trained in assess and treat all of these areas and provide you expert manual therapy methods + exercises to alleviate your pain. In addition to myofascial mobilization, trigger point release, pelvic balancing and postural corrections, we worked closely with Sarah completing specific exercises to reduce her pain while also building up better strength and function of her muscles, especially her core muscles, hips and thighs. Contact us here or call us at (616) 516-4334 to get your questions answered today.

While these tips to ease pelvic pain have worked for many of our patients, please keep in mind that you are not our patient and, therefore, this is not medical advice for you. Everything here illustrates what worked for Sarah and other patients. Please, if you are having pelvic pain that won’t quit, you deserve to be fully assessed by us. We are here to provide you the care that will give you results. Each appointment is upto 55 minutes long and in a private treatment room, with the same doctor of physical therapy every visit; we never bounce you around amongst lesser trained people. You can give us a call at (616) 516-4334 to learn more or contact us here! We wish you better days ahead. And our main message to you is that you don’t have to live like this! There is hope for you.

Peace,

 

Dr. Maureen O’Keefe, DPT and the Purple Mountain PT Team

 

References:

Clin Obstet Gynecol. 2019 March ; 62(1): 22–36. doi:10.1097/GRF.0000000000000412.