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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.

Pelvic Floor PT in Grand Rapids!

You Have Found The Best Pelvic Floor PTs in Grand Rapids!

Here at Purple Mountain Physical Therapy we offer advanced and expert pelvic floor PT in Grand Rapids for women, men and children. We understand that when you have a pelvic problem you don’t know where to go to receive your care and you want to make certain that you are getting the best results. Our doctors of physical therapy are uniquely qualified and offer you many years experience and advanced post-doctoral education specific to the challenging needs of pelvic health. To connect, connect us here, or call us at (616) 516-4334.

Pelvic Floor PT Explained!

Some patients tell us “I was skeptical this could help my urinary urgency and frequency, but now I’m a believer because it is so much better.”

We know that pelvic floor PT can be a bit of a mystery. Most of our patients tell us that they had no idea what pelvic PT would do for them. Pelvic floor PT is a specialty field within physical therapy that focuses upon treating bladder, bowel, pain and intimacy related problems for women, men and children. Our pelvic floor PT clinic in Grand Rapids is a place for you to be evaluated and treated with expertise and compassion in a trauma-informed setting that truly elevates the standard of care you should expect to receive from all of your providers. Our Doctors of Physical Therapy are licensed and also have completed extensive post-doctoral training specific to the field of pelvic health, spine and TMJ disorder physical therapy.  It makes a difference when you work with an experienced specialist.  If you are interested in learning more about working with our PTs here at Purple Mountain PT, reach out to us here or call us at (616) 516-4334.

What to Expect at Your First Appointment

It all begins with the first phone call!

First, you will know from your first phone call that you are receiving care from people who truly care about you and who strive to provide you with excellence. Our care is always welcoming, holistic, compassionate and trauma-informed.

Your Pelvic Floor Evaluation Appointment is Holistic and our Whole Body Framework ensures you receive comprehensive insights into the multiple contributions to your condition.

Your first appointment will be an evaluation, where we will go into depth with talking about your pelvic concerns. Some people come to us with focused and specific concerns, such as chronic lower abdominal pain that worsens with a full bladder. Other people come with more general pelvic concerns; for example, they had a child ten years ago and since then they have had some mild, annoying urinary incontinence and intimacy has not been quite the same. Men often present with severe pain that has been frustrating and ongoing. It is common that men have chronic prostatitis pain and/or nerve related problems of the pelvic floor. We are experts in nerve pain, including pain that radiates into the genitalia, perineum, anus and sit bones, as well as sciatic pain and other nerves. Rest assured, we will evaluate and treat every patient for the specifics related to numerous nerve conditions. Contact us for more information or call us at (616) 516-4334 to speak with a knowledgable team member.

Your Pelvic PT Treatment Begins Day 1!   This first visit, it is our goal to begin the process of healing!

During this evaluation we begin treatment right away. This includes advising you on how to optimize bladder, bowel and intimacy function. If your child is our patient, we include the child and parent into all evaluation and treatment methods and all care is age-appropriate and focused upon optimizing the child’s bladder and bowel function. Our examination may include an in-depth assessment of your posture, hip mobility, low back function, thoracic spine and diaphragm. We examine and treat your abdominal wall strength and diastasis recti abdominus. Every adult patient receives a comprehensive myofascial assessment of all tissues from your shoulders to your knees (we check your neck and feet, if warranted, also). It is common that we find trigger points and areas of decreased blood flow in the tissues we evaluate and treat. As we discover items that are contributing to your symptoms, we educate you about our findings, commence treatment and help you understand what you can do to help yourself at home. Call us at (616) 516-4334 to speak with our knowledgeable staff to your questions answered and see about how we can help you!

What is Pelvic Floor Dysfunction?

Broadly speaking, pelvic floor dysfunction refers to the muscles at the base of your pelvis not working quite right. In many cases these muscles have stiffness, tightness and trigger points. In some cases, the muscles are weak. Other times the muscles have adequate strength, but their timing and coordination with other muscles is impaired, leading to urinary or gas leakage or pelvic organ prolapse symptoms. When these muscles are not working properly, because they work in concert with your abdominal wall and low back, they often contribute to pain in the abdomen, hips or back. Some people with pelvic floor dysfunction have considerable pelvic pain. These muscles also provide you control of your bladder and bowel, so if they are dysfunctional you may experience urinary leakage or frequency and urgency. The pelvic floor muscles have both superficial and deep layers; for some of the women and men we treat their primary problem is in the superficial layers. We check all of the layers of your pelvic floor muscles so that you can receive the right treatment to effectively recover your problem. To read more about the benefits of physical therapy, check out this blog we wrote or contact us here!

What does Pelvic Floor PT Involve?

Our treatment is holistic. This means that we evaluate and treat the numerous things that contribute to your pain, so that you experience excellent results. Our treatment is not cookie-cutter. You get specific care related to your body’s needs. Our care is often hands-on manual therapy that includes myofascial release, trigger point release, and nerve release. We also focus quite a bit on improving blood flow to your tissues because blood flow is the source of life & nutrition for your body, especially your nerves. We also offer treatment that is exercise based and focused upon recovering the coordination and firing of your pelvic floor muscles with your abdominals, low back, hips and knees/feet. For some people’s needs, we include balance training, jumping exercises and dynamic exercises that challenge the pelvic floor muscles so that they begin to fire more appropriately. We will assess and treat your abdominal wall so if you have a diastasis recti abdominus, we will provide very targeted exercises and myofascial work to facilitate recovery of your abdominal wall. Connect with us here to get started.

Why Should I Choose to Come To Purple Mountain Physical Therapy?

Our goal is to provide you excellence in care so that you experience meaningful results. Each appointment is with the same physical therapist, is private and lasts upto 55 minutes. We never bounce you around to a lesser trained person or someone you don’t know. Because we have extensive post-doctoral training and experience treating very challenging pelvic conditions, you can expect an expertise that is difficult to find. You will find that our physical therapists provide trauma informed care in a compassionate setting that is focused upon clinical excellence. We are here to provide you world class pelvic health PT care in Grand Rapids.

Meet Dr. Maureen O’Keefe, DPT Pelvic Health, Spine and TM Joint Disorder Physical Therapist.  Founder of Purple Mountain PT.   Wife, Mother.

Dr. Maureen O’Keefe, DPT is a pelvic health, spine & TM joint physical therapist specialist, serving the West Michigan region. Dr. Maureen O’Keefe, DPT practiced for 20 years in Chicago working with some of the top surgeons and physicians in the country at Northwestern Medicine Chicago, Loyola University Health Centers and Rush University Medical Center. She had patients travel to her from all over the country and world, seeking relief from their pelvic pain and bladder conditions.

Dr. Maureen founded Purple Mountain PT to provide specialized, one-on-one treatment to her patients by giving them the time needed (upto 55 minutes each appointment) and a whole-body framework to properly and holistically treat you.

Dr. Maureen provides pelvic, spine and TMJ treatments to women, men & children who are wanting to improve their condition by accelerating results from working with an experienced specialist.  Dr. Maureen is the leader at Purple Mountain PT and the reason behind our whole body framework that informs all of the treatments you receive.   All of our physical therapists are trained directly by Dr. Maureen, to ensure you receive the specialized excellence that Purple Mountain PT is known for.  Dr. Maureen combines manual therapies with therapeutic exercise, patient education, rehabilitative ultrasound imaging, balance training, deep core retraining and neural calming.   She loves to educate you on what you should be doing and how to help yourself.  If you would like to work with Dr. Maureen, give us a call at (616) 516-4334 or contact us here.  

Dr. Maureen O’Keefe, DPT is proud to be a member of numerous professional societies that are leading organizations in the field of pelvic health and pelvic research.

These include the International Society for the Study of Women’s Sexual Health and the Intl Society for Sexual Medicine, The North American Menopause Society and the American Physical Therapy Association. Dr. Maureen O’Keefe, DPT has even taught physicians, surgeons and other pelvic health physical therapists techniques for evaluating and treating complex pelvic health conditions.   Her more than 25 years’ experience are a culmination of broad post-graduate pelvic health, sexual health and menopause related advanced education including treating chronic pain, pregnancy & postpartum recovery, diastasis recti abdominis healing, male pelvic & bladder conditions and pediatric bladder & bowel development.   Her experience treating individuals with chronic TM joint disorders, cerivcogenic headaches and neck pain provides relief from headaches, neck and jaw pain and difficulty with chewing and yawning. She enjoys working with individuals with challenging TM joint disorders or complex pelvic problems, including painful intercourse, pelvic floor dysfunction and chronic pelvic pain. She has a special heart for women in the pregnant or postpartum recovery stages, as she loves those special times and understands the difficulty it can cause to a women’s body. She herself had a traumatic birth injury and had to recover her body through extensive rehabilitation. She creates a healing environment, in partnership with the patient, to optimize results and address all contributing factors in the pelvic condition. Dr. O’Keefe is committed to providing top level care to her patients and is actively engaged in ongoing advanced education to keep up with the latest research and methods.

How Do I Get Started with Pelvic Floor PT? I Have Some More Questions.

The first step is to call our office at (616) 516-4334 to schedule an evaluation. We like to understand what your needs are, so we can know that we can meet your needs. We love this work and consider it a privilege and honor to help people in such a meaningful way! We look forward to meeting you and helping you to feel like yourself again.

Peace,

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

Other articles that may be of interest:

Tips to Fix Incontinence Naturally

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

Exercise in Pregnancy: A Physical Therapists Perspective

Physical Therapy for Male Incontinence in Grand Rapids

How Much Bedwetting is Normal?

How Can I Help My TMJ Pain?

How Do You Feel About Your Postpartum Recovery? Would Pelvic PT help you?

Being Pregnant and Postpartum can be an Overwhelming Experience and Definitely Changes Our Body! Pelvic Floor PT is a Key Component of Your Postpartum Recovery.

Each of us will experience our unique emotional reactions to the changes in our body! You don’t have to know all the answers. Expert help from a pelvic floor PT will take your postpartum recovery to the next level!

How do these changes in your postpartum body make you feel? What do you think about your body now? If you are struggling with disappointment in your pregnant or postpartum body, we can help you get back to feeling more like yourself when you join us to complete a postpartum PT recovery program. Pregnancy and the postpartum period carry a risk of low back pain, pelvic girdle pain (such as SI joint pain, pubic bone pain, coccyx pain), painful sex, pelvic floor dysfunction, diastasis recti abdominus and urinary incontinence. This is quite a long list, actually, of unfortunate things that you be experiencing as a result of being pregnant. The good news is that working with us will give you a comprehensive evaluation and treatment program to ensure you get your body back into top form. Pregnancy changes our posture, breathing, abdominal wall, pelvic floor, bladder, bowels and sex life. We can help you recover all of these things! Contact us to start seeing results sooner than later!

What should your postpartum recovery program look like and include? Pelvic floor PT help you get your body back and return to an active life!

  • Check you for a diastasis recti abdominus and develop a program of recovery from this.
  • Evaluate and treat every muscle of your pelvic floor to determine how each one is working and to get each one to come back to function.
  • Teach you how to recover optimal breathing function, which was disrupted when you were pregnant and the baby moved your diaphragm. Recovering breathing is crucial to recovering your pelvic floor function.
  • Take you through a progressive exercise program to restore your pelvic floor strength, coordination, function and speed.
  • Address your posture, especially increased midback hunch, tight shoulders, forward head and tilted pelvis. Pregnancy changes your fascia and postural alignment and we look at this and help you correct it.
  • Optimize your pelvic organ support, a very important part of addressing pelvic organ prolapse.
  • Strengthen your back and abdominals so you can confidently lift your baby and everything else you need to lift.
  • Get you back to higher level activities including jumping, skipping and running.

Research confirms that exercise and hands-on care for pregnant women can help their low back pain

“Exercise (any exercise on land or in water), may reduce pregnancy‐related low‐back pain and any exercise improves functional disability and reduces sick leave more than usual prenatal care. Evidence from single studies suggests that acupuncture or craniosacral therapy improves pregnancy‐related pelvic pain, and osteomanipulative therapy or a multi‐modal intervention (manual therapy, exercise and education) may also be of benefit.”

Liddle SD, Pennick V. Interventions for preventing and treating low‐back and pelvic pain during pregnancy. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2015, Issue 9. Art. No.: CD001139. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD001139.pub4. Accessed 11 July 2022.

Pregnancies and a live baby were hard to come by in my experience.

I was one of the healthiest people I knew. I was fit and active. I was a physical therapist and knew how to help women through their pregnancy. I had a regular cycle and zero clue that becoming a mother would take years of tears, pregnancy losses, hopelessness and digging in. I had to discover holistic ways to facilitate fertility, I had to work on stress/mind/body/spirit. I had to call on my faith to get us through this. I did just about everything under the sun to facilitate becoming a mother. If you have experienced infertility you know what I’m talking about. Yep, I did everything. Everything.

My postpartum experience wasn’t so peachy, either. I had to do extensive pelvic floor PT, abdominal wall recovery and rebuilding my strength and conditioning.

In my first 30 days postpartum I had emergency surgeries and spent ten hellish days in the hospital. My family was amazing and scared to death for me. It is not an exaggeration to say it looked like I wasn’t going to make it. The will got drawn up in the hospital bed and the priest came. It was a serious and dangerous and God-awful experience. I had two kids under two years old who were not allowed at the hospital. My family and friends were amazing and provided around the clock care for our kids, with my husband shuttling between the hospital and the two locations where our kids were staying. My family wanted to touch base with me or my husband each hour to see how I was doing, because it seemed to change rapidly and would go downhill fast. We were desperate to get me stable, but the roller coaster had begun and it was decidedly out of control. And, remember, I was one of the healthiest people I knew! I was an athlete, super healthy eater, had come to pregnancy after completing years of holistic healing. And. Still. It. All. Went. Wrong. Until it went right! Yay! Eventually I stabilized and got to go home, exhausted and uncertain if I would be able to take care of our two kids. And my body was a wreck. My pelvic floor was a disaster (so many surgeries and my labor and delivery had done a number on me), my abdominal wall had a huge diastasis recti abdominus, all of my body muscles had atrophied. I remember looking at my calves when I was in the hospital and shedding a tear at how atrophied they became. It happened so quickly, over a matter of two weeks. My OBGyne said “well, you’ve lost all of your pregnancy weight and then some.” And I remember replying “It is all atrophy. I will weight lift and get it back.” And I did. It took a long time & a lot of discipline to recover my abdominal wall and pelvic floor and to get strong again. But I did it, with the help of pelvic PT and my clinical background in how to take a woman through a safe and progressive postpartum recovery program.

Now you know a bit about how I got to be the person I am today. I have been through an epic pregnancy and postpartum recovery and found a path forward that is authentically grateful, happy, strong and whole! And we offer this wisdom and understanding to my patients. We know our patient’s pregnancy and postpartum experiences feel like a huge challenge to them. May feel overwhelming. May feel hopeless, like you are stuck with urinary incontinence or a “mommy pooch.” I am proof positive that this is not the case. Get in touch with our knowledgeable and caring staff to see what your plan of care could look like, contact us here.

Working with individuals who are experiencing pregnancy or are postpartum is a calling for us! We love it!

We offer these women an insight, grace, clinical expertise, understanding and joyfulness for their pregnancy. I had to complete intensive postpartum PT recovery. Because of the nature of my labor and delivery and postpartum complications I had serious work to do to recover my pelvic floor, abdominal wall, strength, conditioning and function. I did the hard work. And, I know the commitment it takes to reach your goals. It doesn’t happen overnight and it takes real insight and expertise to provide postpartum pelvic health physical therapy to a woman. It is an honor to work with women who are pregnant and postpartum. Read more about the benefits of pelvic floor PT.

We have advanced training in providing pregnant and postpartum women pelvic floor PT and designing a postpartum recovery fitness program.

And my training dates back to the 1990s! So, I’ve been studying and treating pregnancy and postpartum recovery for more than 2 decades! Many pregnant women come to us experiencing miserable pelvic pain. It might be their SI joint hurts, or their pubic bones are grinding everytime they move their leg, or they cannot roll in bed without back pain. Or it might be that they are experiencing urinary incontinence or pelvic floor muscle spasms or a diastasis recti. We can help all of these conditions! How lucky are we? It is truly an honor to help women during their pregnancy and postpartum periods.

We offer compassionate, patient-focused holistic treatment for people who are suffering from pelvic conditions! Are you interested in addressing your postpartum recovery? Call Today for Information on our Program.

Continue reading →

SI Joint Treatment in Grand Rapids

Do You Need Specialized SI Joint Treatment in Grand Rapids? Are you looking for more than run-of-the-mill care that doesn’t work?

We offer comprehensive SI joint treatment right here in Grand Rapids, so you can finally feel better again.  If you are tired of your SI joint pain and looking to get out of pain with natural and safe treatments, we are here to help you.  To reach out to us with your questions about our SI joint treatment or to learn if we may be able to help you, call us here or submit an inquiry with your questions and we will be in touch with you. We love this work and have experience and dedication to helping people who have SI joint pain.

If you have questions about our SI joint treatment here in Grand Rapids or if you may qualify for a remote consultation, call us at 616-516-4334 to talk to one of our knowledgable team members or ask us a question here and we will be in touch!

We offer comprehensive and specialized whole body care to evaluate and treat your SI joint and pelvic condition so you can experience relief of pain and improved function.  

At Purple Mountain Physical Therapy our licensed physical therapists have specialized training specific to treating stubborn SI joint pain.   Because of our specialty, we have treated countless people who have SIJ pain and provided them with a comprehensive physical therapy rehabilitation program that treats the myriad things that are causing their pain.  If you are wanting help from someone who truly knows how to improve SI joint pain and dysfunction, you have found the right place.  To talk with one of our knowledgable staff members contact us here, you can call us directly or submit an online inquiry about SI joint treatments and we will be in touch with you.

Our SI joint treatments are not limited to just cracking or adjusting your SI joint.  We do balance your pelvis and SI joint through gentle joint mobilization and manual therapies and also broaden our plan of care to include corrective exercises that use the power of your own body to re-coordinate the stability around your SI joint.

The manual therapies we offer include a variety of methods.  These may include myofascial release, muscle energy technique, strain counterstrain methods, manually resisted exercise, triplanar release, trigger point release and joint mobilization to alleviate your muscle guarding and to improve your stiff joints.  The corrective exercises include functional movement pattern retraining, core stabilization, pelvic stability exercises, balance exercises, postural improvement exercises, breathing, spine & hip mobility, fascia stretching exercises and more.  Everything we do is customized to your needs and findings.  We never work with another patient while you have your appointment, because we don’t think that is right and best for you.  If you are interested in learning more about Purple Mountain Physical Therapy you can contact us here.

We love it when people reach out to us to talk about their SI joint pain to see if we can help you. We are located in Grand Rapids, Michigan and providing SI joint treatment is something we are devoted to doing well.  You get the benefit of receiving comprehensive treatment and working with experienced and specialized physical therapists in a one-on-one setting, with private appointments that are upto 55 minutes in length.

You never work with an aide, for example. And we never leave your side because you need our instructions in how to properly complete your exercises and the new movement patterns we will teach you.  We also often use hands-on manual therapy techniques, such as cupping or myofascial work, while you are moving and exercising.  If this sounds of interest to you, but you still have some questions, give us a call here or submit an online question and we will be in touch with you.

Who benefits from our SI Joint treatment?

We treat adolescents, women and men who have SIJ pain, low back pain, pelvic girdle pain or hip injuries.  We help people who have an acute SI joint injury or episode of pain.  This may be from sports, pregnancy, labor and delivery, heavy lifting or from out of the blue.  We also work with people who have longstanding and chronic issues related to on and off SI joint pain and, often hip or low back pain, also.

While some of our patients come to us with acute SIJ pain that hurts to walk, change positions or sit, other patients have chronic SIJ pain that flares up intermittently.

Many of the people who we provide SIJ treatment for here at our clinic in Grand Rapids, Michigan or via remote consultation (if you qualify) have already tried a lot of things to help their pain and cannot get it to fully resolve.  We have found that our comprehensive SIJ treatments that include the pelvic floor muscles as well as whole body posture, strength and alignment correction are key to helping you get rid of SIJ pain.  Many of our patients are pregnant and worried that they may not be able to walk or function in their third trimester.  Our treatments for pregnancy and postpartum SIJ pain provide genuine pain relief.  Some of the athletes we have treated who have SIJ pain seem to have developed the problem related to the repetitive nature of their sport, such volleyball players who jump and land on one leg often.  Or yoga masters whose stability is lacking.   All of our treatments are safe and natural and use the power of customized corrective exercises and gentle manual therapy to get you feeling better.  If you are interested in learning more about our SI joint pain treatment here in Grand Rapids, Michigan or via remote consultaiton,  give us a call or reach out to us here with your questions and we will be in touch.

You Need Comprehensive SI Joint Treatment that includes pelvic floor treatment because your pelvic floor muscles attach to the inside of your pelvic bones and can contribute to chronic SI joint pain.  Especially if you have “tried everything” and continue to have chronic SI joint pain, we encourage you to get your pelvic floor muscles evaluated and treated, they are often part of the reason why you cannot resolveyour pain.  

Did you know that your piriformis muscle, which many people who have SI Joint problems are familiar with, is part of your pelvic floor and attaches directly to your sacrum?  Tension, weakness or imbalances in your right and left piriformis need to be treated when addressing SI joint pain.   There are additional pelvic floor muscles, also, that influence your SI joint.  Most of the pelvic floor muscles attach directly to your coccyx tailbone.  Because the coccyx has a joint with the sacrum, any pelvic floor muscles (that attach to the coccyx) that may be weak, tense or dysfunctional can pull on the coccyx.  This tension and pulling on the coccyx can  greatly effect the sacrum contribute to SI joint pain.  That’s why our SI joint treatment program will check your pelvic floor muscles and determine if they are problematic. We find that SI joint problems rarely are happening in isolation. We will figure this out with you and develop a customized treatment program for you. Contact us here!

We Provide You A Detailed & Comprehensive SI Joint Evaluation and Treatment Plan That is Probably Different than You’ve Had Before!

SI joint pain can be debilitating and we offer a comprehensive treatment program that helps move you forward.  Our treatment approach to chronic or acute SI joint pain is to assess and treat you comprehensively.  Our licensed physical therapists specialize in treating pelvic floor dysfunction, back, neck and TMJ disorders. We are also fully trained and experienced general orthopedics physical therapists.

Our SI joint treatment approach is customized to each person’s goals, findings and abilities.

  • We treat issues such as your posture and your head being forward because this posture influences the position of your lumbar spine and SI joint.
  • We also look at your feet and angles of your knees and hips because these influence your SI joint.
  • If you have weakness, tightness or movement patterns that are not optimal, we customize your treatments to include corrective exercises for these areas so your SI joint can experience relief.
  • Some people with SI joint dysfunction also experience prolapse, uterine related pain (due to the uterosacral ligament), hip pain or bladder control problems and we provide treatment to these issues as part of your SI joint treatment plan.
  • We’ve found some of our patients have gluteal tendinopathy, a separate tendinitis condition in the glutes that is quite painful and alters your pelvic stability and strength.

Our comprehensive care includes assessment and treatment of the SI joint, hips, pubic bones, low back and all associated muscles, nerves, tendons and ligaments, including the pelvic floor muscles. Pregnant women, we’ve got you covered! We know how to help you navigate SI joint dysfunction, pelvic girdle pain and low back pain. Call us at 616.516.4334 or contact us here to ask us a question or to get started.

Your natural and effective SI Joint Treatment will include assessment and treatment of your entire core

When we are developing your SI joint treatment plan, we customize our program to your needs and findings.  In particular, you will be pleased to see that we evaluate and treat all of the muscles attached to your pelvis.

We also consider all of the muscles above (such as your abdominals, hip flexors, lower back, mid back, diaphragm & ribcage and others) and below the pelvis (such as your hamstrings, adductors, calves and feet) and how they may contribute to SI joint dysfunction and pain.  This means that our SI joint treatment at our clinic in Grand Rapids or via a remote consultation will include a large variety of corrective exercises directed to rehabilitating your abdominals, breathing, lower back, scapula stabilizers, glutes, inner thighs, pelvic floor, hamstrings and calves.  When we work with you in-person we also include manual therapies such as myofasical release, trigger point release, pelvic and lumbar spine joint mobilization, hip stretching and others.  If you would like more information about our SI joint treatment, please reach out to us here to speak with a knowledgable member of our staff.  We love to answer your questions and determine if we may be able to help you.

The Importance of a Proper SI Joint Evaluation

We have set up our clinic procedures, including your evaluation, to provide you a welcoming environment with 55 minute appointment times to ensure we have the time to properly evaluate your SI joint problem.  Research and years of experience have taught us that there are specific tests and measures that need to be done to evaluate an individual with SI joint dysfunction. We will evaluate your joints and your muscles, as well as your ligaments, fascia and nerves.  If you have any other chronic pain condition such as endometriosis, orchialgia, dyspareunia, interstitial cystitis, pelvic organ prolapse pain or chronic pelvic pain, we have effective and safe treatments for these that will be addressed as part of your SI joint treatment.  We look at your posture and alignment, from your feet to your knees and hips up to your shoulders and neck. Let us know what you need help with! 

Your muscle spasms, tightness and misalignment will improve

By providing a combination of specific, graduated exercises and advanced manual therapy methods to optimize alignment, reduce trigger points and muscle guarding we help you feel better. We don’t just tell you to stretch it out! In fact, many of our patients have been told to stretch their problem, which can aggravate an SI joint condition when not done carefully. By restoring your boney alignment, using methods that balance your pelvis and SI joint, you will feel things are in place again! Addressing underlying pelvic floor muscular problems is sadly often overlooked, but is necessary to recover from SI joint dysfunction. A typical patient with SI Joint Dysfunction comes to us with a considerable amount of pelvic floor dysfunction. Once we treat these muscles, in conjunction with everything else provided, the condition will begin to heal. To chat with our knowledgeable staff, contact us here!

Patients tell us that their evaluation and treatment plan is so much more detailed than anything they’ve had before. If you are looking for true results for your SI joint pain, we are your physical therapists!

We love this work and getting to know you.  We are the type of physical therapists who read about SI joint pain just for fun!  You will be working with a physical therapist who has devoted herself to developing clinical skills to best help you.  That is the difference.  The one on one treatments, where we never leave your side, will give you everything you need to have the best opportunity to improve your SI joint pain.  If you are suffering from SIJ syndrome and are frustrated with lack of progress or just worried that this will never go away, come give us a try. We want to make sure we are a good fit for you, so call us or ask us a question here online.  You can reach us at 616-516-4334 to get your questions answered. We promise to give you specialized, compassionate care that is designed to help you feel better!

Peace,

Dr. Maureen O’Keefe, DPT

You may also be interested in these other articles we have written:

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

Sciatica Treatment in Grand Rapids

Does Physical Therapy Help Endometriosis?

What Does TMJ Physical Therapy Help?

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

 

 

Postpartum Pelvic Floor PT in Grand Rapids

Postpartum Pelvic Floor PT in Grand Rapids

What does Postpartum Pelvic Floor PT Treat?

If you are postpartum and wondering what postpartum pelvic floor PT in Grand Rapids would do for you, read on! We thought it might help you to hear of one woman’s recovery story with us. If, after reading this, you feel postpartum pelvic floor PT could help you, contact us!

Here’s a story of one woman we helped. Her problems: pelvic and perineal pain, pelvic floor dysfunction with bladder and bowel control problems, postpartum recovery following severe pelvic trauma with labor and delivery and pelvic reconstructive surgery.

Like all new moms, this woman was impressive! She worked full time, was in love with her baby, struggled with sleep deprivation and wanted to get back to being athletic. When we met, she was 6 months postpartum with problems of bladder/bowel control and pelvic instability, pelvic pain, pelvic floor weakness and diastasis recti abdominus (split abdominals). She experienced inner thigh and pubic pain with walking, exercising, moving in and out of positions when picking up her baby and when driving and moving her foot from gas to the brake. This pain was her dominant concern, but she also wasn’t happy to have embarrassing and unexpected loss of gas, problems with bladder control, a weak abdomen and a diastasis recti abdominus (split abdominals) as well as knee pains. Before I met her, when her baby was 4 months old, she had pelvic surgery to correct a serious injury from her labor and delivery. She had been referred to me by her urogynecologist surgeon, but had tried two other pelvic floor PTs prior to her surgery and before finding me. Neither of the prior pelvic health PTs could help her pain and she had been told that she needed to get in shape, but she found herself unable to exercise because of pain.

Her Goals:

  1. Get pregnant again and be healthier before the pregnancy, down the line.
  2. Get the adductor (inner thigh & pubic bone) pain to go away. “It prevents me from doing every other exercise.”
  3. Regain the strength of the pelvic floor and muscle control.

We got to work right away with a comprehensive postpartum pelvic floor physical therapy evaluation. This included a detailed assessment of her:

  • Load transfer ability: This was impaired, she could not shift weight from one leg to another and keep her pelvis and low back in stable.
  • Strength: Poor all around, she was deconditioned, had weakness in her glutes, pelvic floor and abdominals and low back.
  • Abdominal wall integrity: Disrupted by a diastasis recti abdominus that caused ineffective and abnormal load transfer through her legs, pelvis and core)
  • Pelvic floor integrity & coordination: Integrity of the multiple layers of the pelvic floor was intact, but coordination was impaired and deficient, poor timing and firing of the muscles noted).  This includes looking at pelvic floor strength and pelvic floor dysfunction.
  • Postoperative healing: She was doing well, but the vaginal tissues were fragile and needed to be treated delicately and carefully.

Her Plan of Care Included Hands-On Treatments and Graded, Specific and Careful Exercises to Promote Stability, Strength and Coordination

We worked together at each visit, with a very careful and coordinated plan to progressively help facilitate her recovery.  This person’s treatment included a combination of therapeutic corrective exercises and hands-on manual therapy to her abdomen, low back hips and thighs and internally to her pelvic floor. Together we worked to optimize her muscles and her fascia, to improve her pelvic stability, to advance her strength and conditioning and to restore her pelvic floor, breath and core muscle coordination, timing and strength. If you might benefit from postpartum pelvic floor PT in Grand Rapids, we can offer the same specialized and personalized care for you! Contact us here to ask us a question or call 616.516.4334 to speak with our knowledgeable and caring staff to get started!

At Her 5th postpartum pelvic floor physical therapy appointment, she was feeling better! Less pain! Less Worry! Hope and optimism were born!

She arrived with a smile and noticeably less stressed. She reported this was because she was feeling better and seeing that we were making progress. Her postpartum pelvic floor physical therapy program was different than the other two physical therapists had recommended and it was detailed, systematic and progressive. She was feeling improvements and this gave her confidence that she was getting the help she needed.

By this fifth appointment she reported improvement in her pain:

“every now and again I get twinges of pain in my inner thighs or my abs, but it goes away. It doesn’t happen often. My walking is pretty good. Standing on one leg still hurts a little; I have to sit down to put on shoes and pants. It is unstable and some pain in the proximal adductor.”

Difficulty with standing on one leg is something that women with pelvic instability can experience.

We perform a comprehensive evaluation to determine what are the driving factors with balance, pelvic stability, muscular control and motor coordination. Then, once we know what is causing this pain and problem, we devise a program to systematically address all of the contributions to it. In her case, we provided a postpartum pelvic physical therapy program customized to her post-operative precautions and designed to optimize both her post-operative and her postpartum healing. The results of pelvic floor physical therapy are born from the wisdom and experience of a good pelvic health physical therapist to design an effective and comprehensive treatment program. Contact us today to learn more.

Not all pelvic health physical therapy is the same!

For this woman we were challenged to develop a pelvic health recovery program that gave a “Goldilocks” effect. You remember the childhood 3 Little Pigs tale, with Goldilocks finding the “just right” bed and porridge? We needed to evaluate and treat her with the “just right” methods of physical therapy. Enough to stimulate pelvic recovery, coordination and strength while also reducing pain and instability. Too fast, too aggressive or the wrong exercises and treatments and she was at risk for a huge flare up and possibly adverse healing. Too little or the wrong exercises and treatments and she was at risk for physical therapy not helping her, having no response and thinking “this doesn’t work and I’m never going to get better.” If you might benefit from postpartum pelvic PT in Grand Rapids, we are here to help you. Contact us today to learn more about our model of care.

We’ve Seen This Before & We Can Help You!

Because the physical therapists at Purple Mountain PT specialize in pelvic health, pregnancy and postpartum recovery and pelvic floor dysfunction, we offer our patients an experienced eye assessing and treating your condition.  We had seen this condition many times over the years.

By working with so many other postpartum women and having advanced training in pregnancy and post-partum pelvic floor physical therapy, our PTs know how to help our patients, even when they have tried other therapies or have complex problems.

This patient benefitted from the specialization our PTs have undertaken.  All of our PTs have their doctor of physical therapy degree & also post-doctoral training specific to pregnancy and postpartum recovery, including in rehabilitation for complicated postpartum conditions, such as chronic pain and traumatic birth injuries.  The pregnancy and postpartum physical therapists at Purple Mountain PT are also avid readers of clinical research and participants in professional education and societies.

We provide our postpartum patients comprehensive and wholistic care, which is what will help them feel better.

By treating the entire person, including the midback, low back, hips, abdominal wall, pelvic floor, balance, posture, strength, flexibility and more, our patients are able to feel better.  In this woman’s case she had a diastasis recti abdominus, which is split abdominal muscles. In the last ten years there has been a lot of research, debate and clarifications on how to best treat this condition. Having kept up with all of this, our PTs are able to provide you current and effective methods to resolve diastasis recti abdominus.  We love to work with women throughout their pregnancy and postpartum journey and find this work to be joyful and rewarding, because we see you get back to being confident in your body!  If you are interested in learning more about our postpartum physical therapy here in Grand Rapids, Michigan or via telehealth for those who qualify, you can speak with one of our team members by reaching out here or calling 616-516-4334. 

At 6 Months After Starting Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy She Was Roller Blading!

To help someone recovering after pregnancy and surgery requires a systematic and progress approach, customized to the person’s needs.

At 6 months after starting physical therapy, this patient returned with happiness reporting

“I’m feeling ok! I feel fine doing my core exercises (this is an improvement!). I went roller blading and felt good. I feel some soreness in my inguinal region, not like it was before, it is mildly sore, same as my abs. My knees and back have felt better. I’m doing all of the exercises you gave me and some extra squats throughout the day and my knees are fine.”

You can see this is a huge advancement in her activity tolerance. Rollerblading? That was absolutely out of the question when I first saw her, she would have had pelvic pain, possibly knee and low back pain also, possibly loss of gas or urine.

And, here she was able to roller blade without anything more than some soreness that was normal post-workout soreness! Her success with roller blading was a huge win and a reflection that all of our pelvic floor physical therapy had correctly addressed her myriad problem. If you would love to get back to doing something you enjoy, contact us to speak with our knowledgeable staff, get your questions answered and make an appointment today!

If you are interested in finding out more about postpartum pelvic floor physical therapy call us at 616-516-4334 or contact us here and we will be in touch!

This story gives you a glimpse into one woman’s experience of postpartum pelvic floor physical therapy. This woman had an unfortunate and complicated case and was able to get back to an active life and achieve her goals. Many women we help are fortunate to have fewer problems. But, most postpartum women do experience some challenges to their recovery. Even when they are feeling fine they don’t know exactly which exercises they should be doing. Or, they may experience some urinary leakage from time to time and don’t know how to get that to go away. If you wonder if postpartum pelvic floor PT in Grand Rapids could help you and have some questions, we are happy to chat to see if our care is a good fit for you.  If you are interested to learn more about working with our pregnancy and postpartum specialist physical therapists, call 616-516-4334 to chat with one of our knowledgable team members who can answer your questions.

Blessings,

Dr. Maureen O’Keefe, DPT

Founder of Purple Mountain Physical Therapy

You may also be interested in these articles we’ve written related to pelvic health conditions

Exercise in Pregnancy: A Physical Therapists Perspective

What Can Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy Help With?

Why Does My C-Section Scar Hurt Years Later?