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.

Our licensed physical therapists specialize in C-section scar recovery, pregnancy & postpartum rehabilitation and providing holistic 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, reach out to us by calling (616)516-4334 or 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.

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.
The second stage is the proliferative stage, when collagen and other cells begin to fill in the defect caused by the incision site.
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.

You may be interested in this information:

How to fix Diastasis Recti without Surgery

Diastasis Recti Abdominis Rehab Program

Can Pelvic Floor Therapy Fix Prolapse?

Tips to Prevent Pelvic Floor Injury During Childbirth

Does Physical Therapy Help Constipation?

How to Help Bladder Leaks

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.

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 2^nd or 3^rd 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.

Why Should I go to Pelvic Floor PT? All of your concerns addressed here!

Author| Dr. Maureen O’Keefe, DPT pelvic health and TM joint disorder physical therapist providing pelvic floor PT and founder of Purple Mountain Physical Therapy

What’s holding you back from getting Pelvic Floor PT? All of your concerns addressed here!

We are Purple Mountain Physical Therapy, a specialty pelvic floor PT and TM joint disorder clinic located in Grand Rapids, Michigan. We treat men, women and kids in-person or via telehealth. We understand that pelvic conditions, by their very nature, are private and you may be hesitant to get the care you need. Our experienced physical therapists provide you discreet, compassionate and holistic physical therapy for your bladder, bowel, intimacy or pelvic pain concerns. If you are interested in learning more about our pelvic physical therapy, call us today to speak with one of our helpful staff members at (616) 516-4334 or contact us here.

We help women, men and kids overcome their pelvic condition, naturally and holistically, without pain medications, so that they can get back to an active life and have a smile on their face again!

Pelvic floor PT can improve your life. Here’s one patient’s feedback:

“Maureen has helped me so much over the past year. I came to see Maureen after having a grade 3 tear during childbirth and she has helped me learn so much about healing, recovery and restoration from this injury and pelvic floor dysfunction. She has been so encouraging. She is extremely professional and knowledgeable about her field of expertise and as that same time kind, empathetic and caring. You’re coming to see a very seasoned and experienced professional therapist and it also feels like you’re coming to see a friend.”

-LV, female coming for postpartum recovery following perineal injury during vaginal delivery.

If you are hesitant to go to pelvic floor PT, you are not alone. Research has found that 80% of people put off getting the pelvic PT that their provider told them would help them!

80% of people, who were diagnosed with a problem and told that pelvic PT would help them, decided not to go to PT! We must do better at taking care of ourselves! This was a study that looked at 662 people who were recommended to complete pelvic floor physical therapy. Guess what? Only 128 of the people (19.4%) did attend pelvic PT. It makes me wonder why we women don’t give our own health the time and attention it needs. Especially since we know that pelvic PT can help you not leak urine, resolve abdominal, back and pelvic pain, improve your bladder function and keep you from experiencing fecal incontinence. Stop putting off what you know you need. Our patients tell us they wish they had found us sooner! If you would like more information about our pelvic physical therapy, to treat your back, tailbone pain, SI joint, abdominal pain, pelvic floor dysfunction, bladder, bowel or intimacy related concerns, contact us here to submit your questions or call us at (616) 516-4334.

“Data on PFPT compliance were available for 662 patients (87.3%). A total of 128 patients (19.4%) were fully compliant. Noncompliant patients were more likely to smoke and to have mental health disease compared with compliant patients (18% vs 8.7%, P = 0.01, and 50.4% vs 37.5%, P = 0.009, respectively). A total of 285 patients (43.1%) returned to their prescribing provider. Noncompliant patients were less likely to return to their provider: 63.4% versus 29.7%, P = <0.0001. Of the patients who returned, 183 (64.2%) were offered second-line treatment.”

-Woodburn, Katherine L. MD^∗; Tran, Misha C. BS^∗; Casas-Puig, Viviana MD^†; Ninivaggio, Cara S. MD^†; Ferrando, Cecile A. MD, MPH^† Compliance With Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy in Patients Diagnosed With High-Tone Pelvic Floor Disorders, Female Pelvic Medicine & Reconstructive Surgery: February 2021 – Volume 27 – Issue 2 – p 94-97

I want to draw your attention to the final line, 64.2% of the people, who didn’t go to pelvic physical therapy, were offered “second-line” treatment.

This means they were now being offered prescriptions or medical procedures, instead of being encouraged, again, to go to pelvic PT. Pelvic PT is natural and takes care of the pelvic problems you are experiencing. Our patients all tell us that they don’t want to be on medications. If you know that you have a problem, stop avoiding the solution! Our licensed physical therapists are here to provide you with compassionate, professional pelvic PT that is holistic (we treat your back, hips, abdomen, posture, balance, strength, fascia and more!) and helps you resolve your problem. If you would like more information about our pelvic physical therapy, to treat your back, tailbone pain, SI joint, abdominal pain, pelvic floor dysfunction, bladder, bowel or intimacy related concerns, contact us here to submit your questions or call us at (616) 516-4334.

Let’s all take a deep breath and get ourselves in the mindset that taking care of ourselves is necessary so we can feel good and take care of others! Our pelvic PTs offer compassionate, private and holistic care that combines manual therapy and exercises so you can get results.

What our patients have told us about why they chose Purple Mountain PT for their pelvic PT:

Patients come to us a little nervous about embarking on pelvic health care. Usually they have searched for an experienced provider and chosen us because we offer the experience and specialty care they want. Many of our patients have tried other things that didn’t resolve their problem and they are pleased to find our PTs focus on pelvic floor PT and TMJ disorders. If you would like more information about our pelvic physical therapy, to treat your back, tailbone pain, SI joint, abdominal pain, pelvic floor dysfunction, bladder, bowel or intimacy related concerns, contact us here to submit your questions or call us at (616) 516-4334.

Are you interested to know some of the reasons other patients chose Purple Mountain Physical Therapy for their pelvic PT needs?

They like that each visit is one-on-one with your same doctor of physical therapy, we never bounce you around amongst our staff or have you exercise alone while we treat another patient.
Visits are up to 55 minutes in length and provide you holistic treatment, that addresses anything contributing to your pelvic problem head to toe.
Patients tell us that they feel better after appointments and this also helped them to have confidence they found the right place for their pelvic health physical therapy.
Patients like our gym space and focus on getting you back to an active life.
Patients tell us that the whole body vibration machine and balance based exercises provided as part of their pelvic floor rehabilitation have helped them in more ways than they expected.
Patients come to us wanting to resolve bladder control problems and thrilled to be able to be dry again, after many years of having problems.
Patients are looking for comprehensive treatment for their postpartum recovery to restore their abdominal wall, posture, pelvic floor and more.
Men want help with prostate related recovery or chronic pelvic pain conditions.
Men and women come to us for specialized care to ease their interstitial cystitis pain and overactive bladder problems.
Parents call us concerned about their child’s incontinence, constipation, TM joint pain or pelvic problems, such as hip pain with adolescent female soccer players.

You want results for your pelvic problem. You feel uncertain about what pelvic floor PT is and, actually a little intimidated by it. You are also hesitant because your problem is personal and you don’t want to waste your time going to someone who doesn’t know how to help you. If you are interested in learning more about our pelvic physical therapy, call us today to speak with one of our helpful staff members at (616) 516-4334 or contact us here.

This is your validation that you deserve to feel better and to get rid of your pelvic problem. And that you have found the right place to receive your pelvic floor PT and help you! What’s holding you back? We help athletes, sedentary adults, new moms, older moms, dads and kids who have pelvic problems.

Why a triathlete and female athlete should come to pelvic PT

We know that female athletes who engage in running, jumping and cutting sports experience stress urinary incontinence and pelvic floor dysfunction. A study of female triathletes found that pelvic floor dysfunction was prevalent at high rates:

Stress urinary incontinence 37.4%
Anal incontinence 28%
Urgency urinary incontinence 16%
Pelvic organ prolapse symptoms 5% (higher rates of prolapse found if you’ve had a baby)
Pelvic girdle pain 18%
Female athlete triad symptoms: 24% of female triathletes screened positive for at least one arm of the female athlete triad.

Our pelvic PTs are here to help athletes of all ages and sports to resolve your bothersome bladder, bowel and pain problems. The best way to get started, to determine if you are a good fit for our pelvic or TM joint physical therapy methods, is to speak with one of our staff members. Call (616) 516-4334 to get your questions answered or contact us here.

If your hesitation is that you don’t know where to go and who can help you. Then. Stop. That. Excuse. Right. Here. You’ve found the right place for your pelvic floor PT.

If you are a CrossFit athlete, our pelvic PTs can improve your ability to control your urine

We know that within the CrossFit community, urinary incontinence is found in 29.95% of athletes. Women who experience urinary incontinence tend to be “older” (33.77 years of age +- 8.03 years than those athletes who don’t have incontinence. Double under and single under are the troublespots that cause incontinence most often. Our pelvic PTs are athletes and love to help you perform at a high level in your sport. If you are experiencing incontinence with sport, the best way to learn more and to determine if you are a good fit for our pelvic or TM joint physical therapy methods, is to speak with one of our staff members. Call (616) 516-4334 to get your questions answered or contact us here.

At Purple Mountain PT we specialize in providing holistic, therapeutic and compassionate care for pelvic floor dysfunction and TM joint disorders. We treat all pelvic conditions and TM joint pain conditions.

When you choose Purple Mountain PT you are choosing to be proactive, to address your nagging problem and to get results. You don’t want to waste your time, going to someone who doesn’t know how to help you. We also understand you might feel nervous because your condition is in a private area and pelvic floor PT sounds a bit intimidating. Rest assured, our patients tell us that their appointments are helpful, comfortable and educational, that they feel heard and understood. In contrast to your fears and anxiety, we can assure you that your time with us will be uplifting, informative and encouraging! Our pelvic floor PT is comprehensive, meaning a lot of our treatment occurs far away from the pelvis, such as at your shoulder blades or your thighs. We also include lifestyle, exercise, nutrition, stress management and other holistic interventions because these help you get results! The best way to get started, to determine if you are a good fit for our pelvic or TM joint physical therapy methods, is to speak with one of our staff members. Call (616) 516-4334 to get your questions answered or contact us here.

How can we say with confidence that we are the right choice for your pelvic floor PT? Because our patients tell us that all the time.

We have set up our entire clinic and methods to provide you truly patient-centered care. From the first phone call we hope you feel well cared for and the confidence that our licensed physical therapists will be able to help your pelvic or TM joint condition. Here is one patient’s review:

“I would recommend Maureen and her practice to everyone needing pelvic care! She goes above and beyond what I thought my PT sessions would entail. I’ve never felt so taken care of and thought of then I have with Maureen. She’s the best!”

-MG. Female, postpartum mom.

Finding the right pelvic physical therapist for you isn’t easy. We’ve made it easier for you. You can call us anytime during business hours to ask your questions of one of our knowledgeable staff members. Reach us at (616) 516-4334 or contact us here.

If you give us a try, you will know within the first phone call if you think I may be able to help you. At your first visit you will receive an education and in-depth evaluation that is comprehensive. We begin treatment at the first visit and provide you with instructions on what to work on at home. If you are interested in learning more about our pelvic physical therapy, call us today to speak with one of our helpful staff members at (616) 516-4334 or contact us here.

What our patients tell us with regard to how their experience with us differs from other things they tried:

I was hesitant to come to pelvic floor PT. I didn’t know what to expect, now I wish I had come sooner because I could have felt better long ago!

I’ve gone to a chiropractor and pelvic PT for months and still have problems, I decided to try you because I like that you specialize in this.

I went to someone else, but they didn’t explain it like you.

You are my third PT and the first one to help me feel better.

My other provider never treated all the things you are treating.

At my other provider I felt like my appointments were too short to really treat everything I needed.

My other provider didn’t seem to know what my problem was and gave me a sheet of exercises to do that I knew wouldn’t help me.

I went somewhere else and they didn’t examine things nearly as in depth as you and didn’t ask me the questions you asked. I can tell you know what you are doing here.

You get the idea. I understand why you may be skeptical that pelvic floor PT could help you, especially if you’ve already gotten care that didn’t work. But, many of our patients have been in your shoes and have found that by choosing Purple Mountain PT and getting holistic and expert care, they finally feel hopeful and can see they will get better. If you are interested in learning more about our pelvic physical therapy, call us today to speak with one of our helpful staff members at (616) 516-4334 or contact us here.

You will receive your pelvic floor PT care from a licensed physical therapist who specializes in pelvic PT.

All of our physical therapists at Purple Mountain Physical Therapy specialize in pelvic health PT, TM joint disorders and neck and back pain. If your child needs bladder or bowel physical therapy, you will be working with a doctor of physical therapy who has experience and post-doctoral training for pediatric bladder and bowel needs. Our pelvic PTs are specifically educated in male pelvic health rehabilitation, which is not the same as female pelvic PT. We have gone the extra mile with post-graduate training specifically for pregnancy and postpartum pelvic physical therapy. Our PTs also have extensive experience in the field of treating chronic pelvic pain, general orthopedics, complex neck and back pain and TM joint disorder physical therapy. If you are interested in learning more about our pelvic physical therapy, call us today to speak with one of our helpful staff members at (616) 516-4334 or contact us here.

You don’t settle for anything in your life, why settle for pelvic problems, a less active life and less than high quality pelvic floor PT treatment?

Do you know there is treatment for:

**Stress incontinence: you don’t have to lose pee everytime you laugh!
**Urge incontinence: you don’t have to rush to the toilet and fear losing pee
**Urinary frequency: you don’t have a small bladder! You need treatment!
**Pelvic Organ Prolapse: this is a biggie! Ladies, if you have any prolapse you can optimize the pelvic region to provide better support to the area.
**SI Joint pain: This hurts! We know your pain and we can help it!
**Gluteal tendinopathy: Does your glute hurt? We can check you out and help you figure out why. If it is tendinopathy we have a treatment program for that! If it’s something else, we know what to do to help you!
**Pubic pain: This. Is. Frustrating. To. Have. & I can help you!
**Pudendal Neuralgia: The monster of pelvic pain. It can get better!
**Sciatica: It hurts. PT helps.
**Endometriosis: The long, painful, lonely road. PT helps endo pain!
**Interstitial Cystitis: Beastly bladder condition & I specialize in treating it!
**Recurrent urinary tract infections: You probably have pelvic floor dysfunction and we can get that better to reduce your risk of another infection
**Vulvodynia: Yep, we know you are suffering silently. We specialize in helping this. It’s awful & can get better!
**Painful sex: Sex shouldn’t hurt! There’s treatment for this!
**Painful cesarean scars or other scars: We can address this and get rid of that pain! Wouldn’t it be great if your clothing didn’t hurt your scar?
**Pelvic muscle spasms: Ouch. Yep, they feel just like you imagine. & I can help them go away.
**Pelvic Floor Dysfunction: All those muscles “down there” not quite working right? I can help that.
**Constipation & straining: Believe it or not, the pelvic muscles and involved in this problem and I can help you! Take care of it so you don’t give yourself a prolapse.
**Pregnancy related pelvic girdle pain: My specialty!!
**Postpartum recovery: Again, this is my jam! I love to help you get back to feeling strong and confident as you recover.
**Birth trauma injury: I have seen them all & I can help you!
**Chronic prostatitis pain: PT is the way out of this problem!
**Testicular, penile or vulvar pain: PT works! I can help you!
**Persistent Genital Arousal Disorder: This. Is. Awful. I know it and I can help you!

Purple Mountain Physical Therapy, located in Grand Rapids, Michigan, is a specialty pelvic floor PT clinic. We help women, men and kids with pelvic floor dysfunction and TMJ disorders receive compassionate and effective physical therapy so you can live an active life! We consider it an honor to work with you and have set up our clinic to put your needs at the center of everything we do. We have been exclusively focused on pelvic health for over 20 years and offer a level of expertise and holistic care that you won’t find elsewhere! If you are wondering if we may be able to help you, call 616-516-4334 to speak with one of our staff members, who can answer your questions. We can discuss your symptoms and condition and determine if pelvic floor PT may help you!

Peace,

Dr. Maureen O’Keefe, DPT specializing in pelvic health and TMJ physical therapy for over 2 decades.

If you need more information about our physical therapy, you may be interested in these:

TMJ Disorder Treatment in Grand Rapids

Physical Therapy after Prostatectomy

How Much Bedwetting is Normal?

Why is My Child’s Poop So Big?

Balance exercises for Pelvic Floor Dysfunction

What is Pelvic Floor Dysfunction?

_________________________________________

References:

Poli de Araújo, Maita MD, PhD^∗; Brito, Luiz Gustavo Oliveira MD, PhD^†; Rossi, Fabiana BSc^∗; Garbiere, Maria Luiza BSc^∗; Vilela, Maria Eduarda BSc^∗; Bittencourt, Vitor Ferraz BSc^∗; for the Cross Continence Brazil Collaboration Group Prevalence of Female Urinary Incontinence in Crossfit Practitioners and Associated Factors: An Internet Population-Based Survey, Female Pelvic Medicine & Reconstructive Surgery: February 2020 – Volume 26 – Issue 2 – p 97-100 doi: 10.1097/SPV.0000000000000823

Woodburn, Katherine L. MD^∗; Tran, Misha C. BS^∗; Casas-Puig, Viviana MD^†; Ninivaggio, Cara S. MD^†; Ferrando, Cecile A. MD, MPH^† Compliance With Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy in Patients Diagnosed With High-Tone Pelvic Floor Disorders, Female Pelvic Medicine & Reconstructive Surgery: February 2021 – Volume 27 – Issue 2 – p 94-97

Yi, Johnny MD^*; Tenfelde, Sandi PhD^†; Tell, Dina PhD^†; Brincat, Cynthia MD^†; Fitzgerald, Colleen MD^† Triathlete Risk of Pelvic Floor Disorders, Pelvic Girdle Pain, and Female Athlete Triad, Female Pelvic Medicine & Reconstructive Surgery: 9/10 2016 – Volume 22 – Issue 5 – p 373-376 doi: 10.1097/SPV.0000000000000296

Zoorob, Dani MD^*; Higgins, Margaret MD^†; Swan, Kimberly MD^‡; Cummings, Jennifer DPT^§; Dominguez, Sarah DPT^§; Carey, Erin MD, MSCR^∥ Barriers to Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy Regarding Treatment of High-Tone Pelvic Floor Dysfunction, Female Pelvic Medicine & Reconstructive Surgery: 11/12 2017 – Volume 23 – Issue 6 – p 444-448

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!

Pelvic Floor Specialist in GR

Looking for a Pelvic Floor Specialist in GR? You’ve found the right place!

You deserve to receive your care from an experienced pelvic floor specialist who can help you get the best results. When an individual has pelvic problems, we understand your apprehension and concerns with finding someone who can help you. Dr. Maureen O’Keefe, DPT, our founder, and the team of pelvic floor specialist physical therapists at Purple Mountain PT in GR and treat men and women, helping them achieve their goals and recover from their pelvic condition. All of our physical therapists specialize in the diagnosis and treatment of pelvic floor, spine and TMJ disorders. We treat all pelvic health conditions including abdominal and pelvic conditions that involve pain, bladder, bowel and intimacy problems. In addition to helping adults, we treat pediatric patients with bladder and bowel problems!

What can a Pelvic Floor Specialist do for you?

We empower our patients with safe, effective and natural techniques to help improve and manage all pelvic conditions. This means we evaluate and treat pelvic floor dysfunction, abdominal wall problems, low back pain, SI joint pain, hip pain, pelvic pain, nerve pain, bladder and bowel conditions and painful intimacy. Our pelvic floor specialty care can relieve pain, address boney pelvic alignment issues, recover core muscle coordination, restore bladder and bowel function, get you back to intimacy without pain and increase strength, mobility and function. Read more here, this is a blog Dr. Maureen O’Keefe wrote for Revive Physical Therapy.

Who We Help

We help women and men with any pelvic condition involving bladder, bowel, sexual dysfunction and pelvic pain. We also help kids with bladder and bowel problems. Sometimes the people we help have already been to other providers to treat their condition and they are still suffering, so they come to us looking for expertise and another approach. Because we are pelvic specialists, we comprehensively treat your condition with an approach that works to holistically and naturally get you recovered. We bring over 20 years experience to your condition and we are actively engaged in keeping up with the latest developments in clinical research, so you have the best chance of getting better!

What type of conditions do our pelvic health specialist PTs treat?

Musculoskeletal pain:

Low back pain, stiffness, spasm, herniated disc, degenerative disc disease, spinal stenosis and sciatica
SI joint pain (both men and women, pregnant and not pregnant)
Symphysis pubic pain (men and women, pregnant and not pregnant)
Tailbone pain (coccydynia. Again, men and women throughout the lifespan. It is common after a fall and following labor/delivery)
Hip Pain, clicking, stiffness, labral tears.

Bladder, Bowel and Sexual concerns:

Bladder control problems, overactive bladder, urinary frequency & urgency, bladder pain
Constipation, difficulty with bowel movements, fecal and flatulence incontinence
Painful intercourse in men and women, we treat all pain related to intimacy.

These pelvic symptoms may stem from a variety of things, such as:

Pelvic Floor Dysfunction: this is routinely found in just about every patient we treat. We are expert pelvic floor specialists and we provide you with peace of mind. Our evaluation will be very educational to you and will let you know whether you have pelvic floor dysfunction or not. And, what you can do about it, if you have it.
Pregnancy and postpartum related pelvic changes
Chronic prostatitis, endometriosis, PCOS, interstitial cystitis
Posture and lifestyle factors such as excessive sitting, exercise overload, high stress, poor sleep quality.
Surgery (C-section, hysterectomy, bladder suspension, pelvic reconstructive surgery, hernia surgery, hip labral repair surgery or other abdominal or pelvic surgeries)
Trauma (physical trauma and emotional trauma can influence pelvic floor dysfunction and pelvic conditions)
Diastasis recti Abdominus (also known as abdominal separation): we are experts at evaluating men and women for this condition and helping you heal this, if you have it.

If you are experiencing any pelvic condition, live in the West Michigan or GR area and wonder if seeing a pelvic floor specialist might help you, please call us today at 616-516-4334 for more information. We are happy to answer your questions and determine if you are a good fit for our pelvic floor specialty care. Stop the angst of not knowing what is going on and call us today to find out if we might be able to help you.

Peace,

Dr. Maureen O’Keefe, DPT

Specializing in pelvic health since 1999.

You may be interested in reading these other articles we’ve written:

Vaginismus and Dyspareunia Treatment in Grand Rapids

How do I retrain my bladder after prostate removal?

What is Pelvic Floor PT?

Pelvic PT for Testicular Pain (Orchialgia) in Grand Rapids

9 Tips That You Need Pelvic Floor Therapy

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

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

What Does TMJ Physical Therapy Help?

Physical Therapy for Neck Pain and Headaches

Why Does My Ten Year Old Wet The Bed?

Why Does My Child Keep Wetting Their Pants?

Pelvic Pain PT in Grand Rapids

We provide quality and effective pelvic pain PT in Grand Rapids!

End your suffering! Get answers today! You have found the right place!

Not all pelvic pain physical therapy is the same. You are not a run of the mill person and your condition is not run of the mill. If you have pelvic pain and you want to end your suffering, you need results and expertise! That’s what we offer.

What sets Purple Mountain Physical Therapy apart when we treat pelvic pain?

–We care about you in exceptional ways! From the first moment when you meet us, you will feel the difference! We offer the opportunity to discuss your condition with our staff, often with our physical therapist, before you come to an appointment. Our pledge is that from day one you will feel supported, acknowledged and confident that you are in expert hands! We take care of you and you will feel this care. Our pelvic pain PT in Grand Rapids is a comprehensive program that is focused on helping you to feel better! Contact us here!

–We understand pelvic pain!

Our founder, Dr. Maureen O’Keefe, DPT has been helping people (men, women, non-binary) overcome severe and chronic pelvic pain for over 25 years. This is not a hobby nor a side hustle. Helping overcome severe, pelvic pain has been a professional focus throughout her career. All physical therapists at Purple Mountain PT are provided ongoing structured mentoring and instruction in using the exact methods Dr. Maureen has used to help all of her patients.
Dr. Maureen has traveled around the country to attend professional conferences specific to healing pelvic pain. All of our PTs have completed extensive and continuous education in pelvic pain physical therapy techniques, pelvic pain rehabilitation, chronic pelvic pain, myofascial pain syndrome, pelvic floor dysfunction, endometriosis, chronic prostatitis, interstitial cystitis, testicular pain, Pudendal neuralgia, chronic tailbone pain, trigger point pain, persistent SI joint pain, low back pain, pain neuroscience and more. This is so we can offer you the best! Ever feel like your provider has never seen your problem before? That will not be the case when you are treated by us. Call 616.516.4334 or click here to contact us today.
Dr. Maureen and all of the staff PTs at Purple Mountain PT are trained in the specific needs of adults and kids throughout the lifespan. We understand that male pelvic health is different than women’s health. We understand that Ehlers Danlos Syndrome might worsen pelvic or back pain in a child or adult.
We provide a whole body framework for our pelvic pain physical therapy here in Grand Rapids, Michigan. This is unique and different than working with a provider who is lesser trained and/or uses a diagnosis based framework, limiting your treatment to a cookie cutter method that is not comprehensive. Our whole body framework gets to the root causes of your pain. There are usually multiple causes and we will treat all of these.

–Your evaluation will be more comprehensive than you ever could have imagined! We conduct an evaluation that is unlike anything you’ve had before. We use our clinical expertise to pinpoint what we need to assess. We will assess your many nerves, muscles, joints, organs, blood vessels, skin and fascia so that we know exactly what needs to be treated. If you need pelvic pain PT in Grand Rapids, you can count on receiving comprehensive and quality care at Purple Mountain Physical Therapy. Contact us to learn more.

–We ask you what your goals are, and our treatment focuses on you achieving them! You are here to get better! We want your future life to be pain-free, active and achieving all of your goals. Goal setting is an important part of recovery from chronic pain and we will design your treatment program to allow you to achieve your goals. Our plan of care teaches you self-care, exercise, behavioral changes and other important things you can do to feel better. To read even more the benefits of our care, you can also check out the blog I wrote for Revive Physical Therapy. Call 616.516.4334 or contact us to chat with our knowledgeable staff to learn more about our plans of care.

–We educate you about your condition and what you can do to feel better! We have devoted our career to learning how to treat chronic pelvic pain. When we work with you, we are educating you on what we are finding, why this is a problem, what we see has changed from the last visit and where we expect you to be heading going forward. Our knowledge is based in clinical expertise and in having treated people just like you for over 20 years. We are like a trusted guide who can help you get to your destination. Our patients tell us this, alone, helps decrease their anxiety around their uncontrolled pain.

If you are wondering if physical therapy can help pelvic pain, our patients tell us this has been lifechanging for them. We treat patients who come to us from other states and drive hours for their treatment. Here is one person’s review:

Dr. Maureen is an amazing physical therapist. She is one of the most knowledgeable and understanding medical professionals. She understands and explains how interconnected the body is and makes you feel that there is hope. She has helped me recover from reoccurring pelvic pain and is now helping me with muscle and nerve pain related to posture and sitting. Maureen is an active listener, which I appreciate, and gives you individualized treatment. I highly recommend Maureen and Purple Mountain Physical Therapy!

To learn more about our pelvic pain PT in Grand Rapids, call us at 616-516-4334. We would be happy to answer your questions and determine if we are a good fit to help you end your suffering.

Peace,

Dr. Maureen O’Keefe, DPT Doctor of Physical Therapy specializing in pelvic health.

You may be interested in these other articles we’ve written about pelvic pain:

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

Pelvic PT for Testicular Pain (Orchialgia) in Grand Rapids

Can Physical Therapy Help My IC? YES!

Does Physical Therapy Help Endometriosis?