pelvic pain PT Archives - Purple Mountain Physical Therapy

Why Does Sex Hurt After Having A Baby?

Why Does Sex Hurt After Having a Baby?

Moms, this one is for you if intimacy and penetrative sex hurt after having a baby. We are Purple Mountain Physical Therapy in Grand Rapids, Michigan and our licensed physical therapists specialize in treating pregnancy and postpartum conditions including painful sex, also called dyspareunia, vaginismus, pelvic girdle pain, lower back pain, pelvic pain, urinary incontiinence, diastasis recti abdominis and pelvic floor dysfunction. If you are experiencing new onset of pain with intimacy and wondering why sex suddenly hurts now, there can be a lot of reasons, which we detail below.

To learn more about why sex hurts for you after having your baby and our specialized physical therapy for painful sex or for complete postpartum recovery, call us at 616-516-4334 to get your questions answered from one of our knowledgable team members, or contact us here online and we will reach out to you!

Our pelvic floor physical therapists specialize in helping women who experience pain with intimacy and many times the reason why sex hurts after having a baby is because of musculoskeletal problems, such as pelvic floor muscle spasm, tailbone pain, SIJ pain, perineal scar tissue or C-section scar pain.

Your physical therapy begins with a detailed evaluation that will provide you with extensive insights and education for why sex hurts after having your baby. We specialize in helping you overcome all pelvic pain, including when sex hurts.

We offer in-person treatment and remote consultations for those who qualify. Research supports that women should be assessed by a physical therapist after giving birth, so you can be screened for problems, receive valuable education on the specifics of what your body needs to optimize your recovery and to learn corrective exercises to addres your pelvic floor dysfunction (PFD) and diastasis recti abdominis (DRA) (also called split abdominals) as well as elongated & stretched out abdominals. So many of our patients come to us with no idea why sex hurts after having a baby. One woman this week told us “I have told my doctor about this problem for 17 years and have been blown off! The only thing I have ever been told is to lose weight. That’s not an answer!” If you wonder if our physical therapists can help you understand why sex hurts after giving birth and provide treatment for your painful sex and postpartum recovery, the answer is yes. We help women everyday who have vaginismus, postpartum pelvic pain and painful sex. Because we specialize in this and provide private, 55 minute appointments with your doctor of physical therapy, patients tell us that the level of care they receive with us is far above anything they have ever had. Please call us at 616-516-4334 to get your questions answered from one of our knowledgable team members, or contact us here online and we will reach out to you!

“Pelvic floor dysfunction (PFD) and diastasis recti abdominis (DRA) are 2 examples of musculoskeletal disorders associated with pregnancy and childbirth that can have negative physical, social, and psychological consequences…. Evidence shows physical therapy is an effective, low-risk, therapeutic approach for PFD and DRA; however, physical therapists in the United States currently have a peripheral role in providing postpartum care. Lack of awareness, social stigma, and policy barriers prevent women from receiving physical therapist care.

-Claire J C Critchley, PT, DPT, Physical Therapy Is an Important Component of Postpartum Care in the Fourth Trimester, Physical Therapy, Volume 102, Issue 5, May 2022, pzac021,

If you are frustrated by having painful sex or vaginismus and no one has let you know why you are having pain with sex since giving birth and what you can do to help this problem, please know you are not alone! We treat postpartum women everyday whose sex is painful and who feel they’ve been dismissed by their medical provider. Our PTs will provide you with an examination that is different and more detailed so you can get some answers about why sex hurts after having your baby. If you are interested in getting insights into your condition so you can stop this pain with sex, call us at 616-516-4334 or reach out to us here and we will be in touch.

At what point postpartum should you reach out to a pelvic physical therapist?

We recommend that our pregnant patients touch base with us over the phone within two weeks of giving birth.

At that time, we provide a check-in and learn about how their birth went, whether they had a vaginal birth or cesarean and any complications, significant pain issues, bladder, bowel or anal issues. We answer all of their questions and advise on the next few weeks. If at two weeks you are feeling well, but tired, you don’t have pain, you can defecate, urinate and move without pain, then we advise you on basic corrective exercises for home to work on abdominal wall recovery, breathing, posture and pelvic floor rehabilitation. All of this can be done either remotely or in-person. To get your questions answered from one of our knowledgable team members, call 616-516-4334 or conctact us here online and we will reach out to you!

If, however, at one or two weeks postpartum you are having substantial problems with pain, peeing or pooping, we recommend coming to physical therapy straight away to begin treatment.

We commonly work with women who have experienced a traumatic birth injury (including OASIS injury), bladder injury, excess pain, tailbone pain, difficulty defecating, inability to sit, pain with trying to move from sit to stand or other more-than-expected pain problem (such as c-section surgical pain that is more than expected). If you cannot walk or easily move from sit to stand or in and out of bed, have terrible pain, trouble moving, difficulty peeing or pooping, we would want you to come to physical therapy for an in-person visit. Hopefully, if you are in the fist few weeks of your postpartum recovery and experiencing significant pain or problems functioning, you have reached out to your OB/Gyne or midwife and have been referred to physical therapy. Don’t be surprised, though, if they never mention physical therapy and simply tell you “good luck with that pain!” Unfortunately, we hear that happening all the time. Most of the women find us on their own, googling and frustrated by their pain or problems. If you are interested in learning more about our physical therapy for painful sex or for complete postpartum recovery, call us at 616-516-4334 to get your questions answered from one of our knowledgable team members, or contact us here online and we will reach out to you!

If you are struggling with painful sex and confused about why does sex hurt after having a baby, we can provide you answers.

Should sex hurt at six months after giving a baby? The answer is no, it should not hurt and if you are having pain with sex when six months postpartum we recommend you call us to receive a comprehensive pelvic physical therapy evaluation to determine if you have musculoskeletal issues contributing to your pain.

If sex hurts after giving birth and you are beyond 8 to 10 weeks postpartum and you are not already going to pelvic health PT, we recommend you get started. Common reasons why sex hurts after giving birth are that your pelvic floor muscles are tensed up, your pelvis is misaligned, your hip muscles are not allowing ease of penetration, lower back pain is influencing your pelvic floor, the tailbone suffered an injury or you have scarring either from tearing the perineum, an episiotomy or a cesarean surgery. Our licensed physical therapists specialize in giving you a compassionate and thorough examination of your entire body, not just your pelvic floor, to see what’s going on causing pain with sex or vaginismus. Our postpartum recovery program and painful sex treatment is private, thorough and will empower you to feel strong and painfree again. You can talk to fone of our knowledgable team members by calling us at 616-516-4334 or contact us here online and we will reach out to you!

37.5% of women experience painful sex six months after giving birth. Sex shouldn’t hurt! Physical therapy can help you and will give you answers to why sex hurts for you after giving birth.

Research has found that about 3 in 10 women can have pain with sex (dyspareunia) before pregnancy. To these women, I want you to know that physical therapy with our specialist PTs can help you. Research finds that at six months postpartum painful sex rates are higher, 37.5%. Fortunately, for 17% of women for whom sex hurts six months after giving birth, by 12 months their pain is back to where it was before having their baby. But, this means that 20.5% of women have persistent pain with sex at their baby’s birthday. Ladies, this is treatable! There is help! It is your pelvic floor muscles, low back, abdomen, scar tissue, hips, SIJ and tailbone that is causing this pain and our pelvic PTs specialize in this. Here is what the research finds regarding how many women find that sex hurts after having a baby:

“The proportion of women reporting dyspareunia (painful sex) at 6 months was significantly higher than those who experienced it pre-pregnancy (37.5% versus 29.3%, p < 0.001). Contrastingly, this was significantly lower than pre-pregnancy levels at 12 months postpartum (20.5% versus 29.3% p < 0.001).”

-O’Malley, D., Higgins, A., Begley, C. et al. Prevalence of and risk factors associated with sexual health issues in primiparous women at 6 and 12 months postpartum; a longitudinal prospective cohort study (the MAMMI study). BMC Pregnancy Childbirth 18, 196 (2018)

To determine why does sex hurt after having a baby, we will assess and treat you comprehensively. The causes and types of pain with sex vary. For example, some women have pain with deep penetration, while other women experience pain at the entrance (introitus or vaginal opening). Some women have pain with arousal, other women have pain the day after sex. Our PTs will help you understand why it hurts to have sex since you had your baby.

Where it hurts and when it hurts in the process of the intimacy can vary. Our PTs treat all varieties of pain that occurs with sex, including dyspareunia, vaginismus, tailbone pain, deep thrust pain, pain at the entrance/introitus, pain with orgasm, pain with arousal, burning pain, pinched nerve pain, bladder pain after having sex, feeling of having a bladder infection after sex but you don’t have an infection. This is not how it should be. It is not “normal” for sex to hurt after having a baby. Get proper treatment, it will help you feel better, recover your intimate relationship and ease your thoughts and worries about this problem. To get answers for why does it hurt to have sex after having your baby, you can begin the process by talking to one of our knowledgable team members at 616-516-4334 or conctact us here online and we will reach out to you!

If you are interested in learning more about our postpartum recovery program and whole-body treatment to help painful sex, diastasis recti abdominis, pelvic organ prolapse, pelvic floor dysfunction, core muscle recovery, back pain, tailbone pain, stress urinary incontinence or other issues, call us at 616-516-4334 or contact us here online and we will reach out to you.

To determine why sex hurts after having your baby, our licensed physical therapists check for many problems that contribute to pain with sex and are also fully treatable with the help of our postpartum physical therapists. Some of the things we evaluation & treat include:

Pelvic floor problems, including weakness, tension and stiffness
Low back pain, stiffness, movement or pinched nerves
Pubic bone misalignment, symphysis pubis dysfunction
Abdominal wall elongation or diastasis recti abdominis,
Postural changes from head to toe, as these can alter the load on the pelvic floor, rendering these muscles tight so penetrative sex hurts.
Shallow breathing & rib cage alterations (because this can tense up the pelvic floor and contribute to painful sex),
SIJ dysfunction
Hip problems, including labral tears, gluteal weakness, piriformis syndrome and obturator internus tension. The hips are part of the pelvis and can be a cause of pain with sex.
Tailbone misalignment, tension or stiffness
Scar tissue from perineal tearing, episiotomy or C-section surgery
Bladder dysfunction such as urinary incontinenence, overactive bladder, frequency and urgency, pain, waking up at night a lot to pee (nocturia) or difficulty starting your urine stream
Bowel dysfunction including hemorrhoids, constipation, painful defecation, incomplete emptying.
Pelvic organ prolapse and associated pressure, pain, pelvic floor dysfunction, myofascial tension
Myofascial restrictions head to toe.

We begin treatment at the very first appointment, which is a private, one-on-one 55 minute evaluation. You are welcome to bring your partner. Because we provide a whole body assessment of posture, core muscle strength, neck and back issues, your hips, glutes and thighs, we have a lot to cover in this first appointment. Depending on your symptoms and comfort level, this first appointment may include a gentle internal examination that assesses every pelvic floor muscle, your nerves and fascia. We also check for prolapse, pelvic floor strength, perineal scar tissue, tailbone mobility and more. Women tell us that our compassionate and trauma informed methods relieve their stress, fear and anxiety and give them answers and hope. You will leave your first visit with meaningful insights and education about your body, so you can begin to understand why it hurts to have sex since giving birth. If you are interested in learning more about our physical therapy for painful sex or for complete postpartum recovery, call us at 616-516-4334 to get your questions answered from one of our knowledgable team members, or contact us here online and we will reach out to you!

All of these issues can contribute to why sex hurts after giving a baby. The good news is that these are fully treatable with the skilled help of our licensed physical therapists.

We love to work with pregnant and postpartum women. It is a joy for us to see you get back to feeling great. We women know that the changes to our body during pregnancy are almost unbelievable to experience. For many of us, the pains, postural changes and pelvic floor and core muscle weakness that pregnancy caused persist after giving birth. Time passes and we find ourselves at 6 months postpartum experiencing pain with sex and wondering if it will just go away. We also have that quiet voice in our head that worries that sex will always hurt or be a diminished experience for the rest of our lives. Neither of these is true. Please, get the help of our specialist PTs who can give you a roadmap forward and answers that not only explain to you what is going on, but alleviate your pain and lift your fear and worry. You deserve this care. If you are interested in learning more about our postpartum recovery program and whole-body treatment to help painful sex, call us at 616-516-4334 or contact us here online and we will reach out to you. All of our team members with whom you will speak are knowledgable about our physical therapy and have talked with countless women just like you. changes our bodies so much and pushing a baby out of our pelvis does a number on our pelvic bones, hips, SIJ and pelvic floor muscles and tissues.

Peace,

Dr. Maureen O’Keefe, DPT founder of Purple Mountain Physical Therapy and specialist pregnancy and postpartum physical therapist. We are located in Grand Rapids, Michigan and offer in-person care or remote consultations for those who qualify. All of our PTs are specialists in the field of pelvic health, pelvic pain, TMJ disorders, neck and back pain. We treat adults and children.

You may be alone and wondering why does sex hurt for your after having your baby? There are so many things that can help you, reach out to us today to speak with one of our knowledgable team members who can answer your questions about cost, availability and what to expect.

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

Physical Therapy Resolves Vaginismus and Dyspareunia

Are you looking for Painful Sex Treatment in Grand Rapids?

Exercise in Pregnancy: A Physical Therapists Perspective

Tips to Fix Incontinence Naturally

Does Physical Therapy Help Endometriosis?

Vulvar Pain and Pelvic Floor Dysfunction go together.

References for why does sex hurt after having a baby:

Alligood-Percoco NR, Kjerulff KH, Repke JT. Risk Factors for Dyspareunia After First Childbirth. Obstet Gynecol. 2016 Sep;128(3):512-518. doi: 10.1097/AOG.0000000000001590. PMID: 27500349; PMCID: PMC4993626.

Claire J C Critchley, PT, DPT, Physical Therapy Is an Important Component of Postpartum Care in the Fourth Trimester, Physical Therapy, Volume 102, Issue 5, May 202.

O’Malley, D., Higgins, A., Begley, C. et al. Prevalence of and risk factors associated with sexual health issues in primiparous women at 6 and 12 months postpartum; a longitudinal prospective cohort study (the MAMMI study). BMC Pregnancy Childbirth 18, 196 (2018)

Simonds, Adrienne H. PT, PhD¹; Abraham, Karen PT, PhD²; Spitznagle, Theresa PT, DPT, WCS³. Clinical Practice Guidelines for Pelvic Girdle Pain in the Postpartum Population. Journal of Women’s Health Physical Therapy: January/March 2022 – Volume 46 – Issue 1 – p E1-E38

Stuge, Britt MSc, PT^*; Lærum, Even PhD^†; Kirkesola, Gitle PT^‡; Vøllestad, Nina PhD^*. The Efficacy of a Treatment Program Focusing on Specific Stabilizing Exercises for Pelvic Girdle Pain After Pregnancy: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Spine: February 15, 2004 – Volume 29 – Issue 4 – p 351-359

Physical Therapy after Prostatectomy

Author | Dr. Maureen O’Keefe, DPT pelvic health physical therapist with more than 2 decades experience treating men before and after prostate surgery, radiation and biopsy.

Does Physical Therapy after Prostatectomy Work?

Yes, it does, read on for more details. Pelvic physical therapy after prostatectomy can improve your urinary incontinence, decrease pain, improve your quality of life, teach you exactly what you need to do, address erectile dysfunction and provide you with comprehensive rehabilitation. If you are interested in learning more about our pelvic PT program for prostate cancer rehabilitation, call us at 616-516-4334 or contact us here to ask us a question. PT after prostatectomy works to improve your pelvic floor muscle control so you can more quickly achieve bladder control, reduce pain and improve your quality of life.

We are Purple Mountain Physical Therapy, a pelvic health specialty clinic located in Grand Rapids, MI. We treat men before and after their prostatectomy or radiation therapy for prostate cancer.

We offer our treatment in-person and via telehealth. Our clinic provides private, comfortable treatment rooms and a gym space for pelvic floor, balance and core muscle retraining. It is our goal to help you fully rehabilitate and provide you the peace of mind of knowing you are doing all the right things to optimize your recovery. Our physical therapy after prostatectomy or radiation therapy includes treatment for bladder control, bowel control (especially if you have radiation therapy), pelvic floor dysfunction, pain and erectile dysfunction. If you are interested in learning more about cost and availability of our pelvic physical therapy program for prostate cancer, call us at 616-516-4334 to speak with one of our staff or contact us here.

Our pelvic PTs at Purple Mountain PT specialize in providing rehabilitation for prostate cancer recovery and are here to support you on your journey back to good health.

At Purple Mountain PT, our doctors of physical therapy specialize in pelvic health rehabilitation for men, women and kids. Not all PTs know how to help you recover following a prostatectomy because it requires additional training, beyond graduate school, to specialize in male pelvic health rehabilitation. All of our physical therapists are experienced in rehabilitation for prostatectomy and radiation therapy. To work with one of our PTs, reach out to our staff at 616-516-4334 to learn how to get started or contact us here.

We recommend Prehab pelvic physical therapy before prostatectomy or radiation therapy. This begins your pelvic floor muscle training.

The therapy before prostate surgery or radiation is called “Prehab” and is supported in the research.

After your surgery or radiation therapy it is recommended in the research that you continue with supervised physical therapy for 12 weeks.

Thereafter, you can continue independently and have a PT appointment if necessary.

Our physical therapists have recommended prehab for well over ten years. In fact, a research study published in 2010 by Centemero et al. found that 44.1% of men who completed prehab were continent (did not lose urine anymore!) at one month after their surgery, whereas only 20.3% of men who had no intervention were controlling their urine. If you are planning to have a radical prostatectomy or prostate radiation, we recommend you come to physical therapy before your procedures. In these appointments we will cover a lot of ground and help begin your process of pelvic floor muscle recovery, before anything has been cut or irradiated. If you are interested in learning more about our PT after a prostate procedure, call us at 616-516-4334 or contact us here to submit your questions.

Do you want to improve your urinary incontinence following prostatectomy? Go to pelvic physical therapy!

87% of patients who receive individual pelvic physical therapy after robotic prostate surgery experienced improvement in their incontinence!

When 87% of the patients who complete physical therapy after prostatectomy have significant improvement in their urinary incontinence, we have to ask ourselves why our patients are not routinely referred to physical therapy. This 87% data comes from a December, 2019 study that reviewed 5 years of patients who had developed urinary incontinence following robotic-assisted prostatectomy. The patients completed pelvic physical therapy with a specialized PT, trained in prostatectomy rehabilitation and pelvic floor dysfunction. We are here to provide you with pelvic PT to recover from your prostatectomy or radiation treatment. When the data find that 87% of men benefit from physical therapy, we encourage you to be among that group of men. Call 616-516-4334 or contact us here to learn more about either our in-person physical therapy or telehealth rehabilitation following prostatectomy or radiation therapy.

Our PTs provide you therapy that trains both the fast-twitch and slow-twitch pelvic floor muscle fibers.

The pelvic floor muscles have different types of muscle fibers in them. Roughly 30% of the muscle fibers are fast twitch, like sprinters. They need to work very quickly and automatically when you move, lose your balance, cough or require fast-acting pelvic floor muscle control. Our pelvic PTs include pelvic floor muscle training that helps rehabilitate these fast-twitch muscle fibers, in addition to the slow twitch fibers. We are here to support your recovery and provide you a structured and effective program to improve bladder and bowel control. If you are interested in learning more about our PT for pelvic floor muscle training, call us at 616-516-4334 or contact us here to submit your questions.

Do you want to improve your pelvic pain? Go to pelvic physical therapy!

Pelvic Physical Therapy after prostatectomy has also been found to reduce pelvic pain. You may need to learn how to relax your pelvic floor muscles.

In this same study that helped urinary incontinence, 27% of the patients also had pelvic pain related to tense pelvic floor muscles. The patients in this study were taught how to relax their pelvic floor, which resulted in better function of the muscles, improved urinary control and improvement in pain. We will determine if you also need to relax your pelvic floor muscles or need to strengthen them. We create a PT program specific to your needs. If you would like to learn more about how you can work with one of our licensed physical therapists, who specialize in physical therapy after prostatectomy or radiation therapy, reach out to us at 616-516-4334 or contact us here.

A Pelvic Physical Therapy Evaluation after Prostatectomy will Help You Begin Your Pelvic Floor Muscle Training

Our patients who have a prostatectomy or radiation therapy for prostate cancer receive a physical therapy evaluation of their pelvic floor muscles to determine their status.

Your treatment will be gentle, customized to your ability, effective at improving pelvic floor muscle control, reducing pain, stiffness and incontinence. Call 616-516-4334 to learn more.

We work within your comfort levels and do not conduct internal exams when you are in the early stages post-op or after radiation. We can check your pelvic floor muscles with simple external methods. The physical therapy we offer to rehabilitate following prostatectomy or radiation therapy can truly improve your quality of life. Pelvic floor dysfunction, urinary incontinence, erectile dysfunction and pelvic pain can be challenging to resolve, but our PTs are experienced in evaluating and treating prostatectomy and radiation therapy patients to design an individualized recovery program for you. To learn more about how you can work with one of our licensed physical therapists, who specialize in physical therapy after prostatectomy or radiation therapy, reach out to us at 616-516-4334 or contact us here.

All of our licensed physical therapists are fully trained in general orthopedic physical therapy and treat any area that may be contributing to chronic pelvic pain, overactive bladder, urinary incontinence, post-void dribbling or other issue.

Your pelvic floor dysfunction and bladder problems may be compounded by a bad back, an arthritic hip or other problem. To effectively rehabilitate your prostatectomy issues, we will also treat these other areas that bother you. Our licensed physical therapists have experience rehabilitating knees, hips, back pain, neck pain and more. We also have specialization in treating chronic pelvic pain, whether it is related to chronic prostatitis, prostatectomy surgery or any other condition. If you would like more information about physical therapy to treat pelvic floor dysfunction, urinary incontinence or other issues after prostatectomy, you can reach our staff at 616-516-4334 or contact us here.

Why we provide holistic physical therapy treatment to your ribs, back, abdomen, hips and pelvis when you are recovering from prostate surgery

We are pelvic health physical therapy specialists. Treating men, women and kids who have all varieties of pelvic problems is our focus and we have many years’ experience & post-graduate training specific to our patients’ needs. We have found, after years of doing this work and keeping up with best practices, that to fully rehabilitate your pelvic floor, bladder control, bowel control, erectile function and pelvic pain, that you need whole body treatment. If you would like to learn more about how you can work with one of our licensed physical therapists, who specialize in physical therapy after prostatectomy or radiation therapy, reach out to us at 616-516-4334 or contact us here.

Our PTs will address:

Your posture, because if your ribcage doesn’t orient optimally on top of your low back and pelvis, you are higher risk for urinary incontinence, for example.
You scar tissue. We will gently treat scar tissue in your abdomen because this can impair nerves, digestion or can cause you pain.
Your hip mobility. We work to improve your hip mobility because some of the pelvic floor muscles are hip muscles, so we need to treat your hips.
Your lower back, thoracic spine and neck. We also treat your back, including your neck, thoracic spine or lumbar spine because stiffness in these areas or issues with fascial restrictions can influence bladder and bowel function and pelvic floor control.
Your balance. We work to improve your balance because your pelvic floor muscles are postural muscles are need to react to loss of balance, so balance exercises help to train your pelvic floor and bladder control.

If you are interested in working with our pelvic physical therapists before or after your prostatectomy, call our office to speak with one of our staff. We can be reached at 616-516-4334 or contact us here.

How a phone consult with our pelvic PTs may benefit you

We’ve been doing this work for years. It is our experience that men are not advised by their urology team how they can rehabilitate their bladder control, bowel control (common following some radiation procedures) and erectile function. Our PTs can advise you on important aspects of how to recover from a prostate cancer surgery or radiation. In a phone consult we cover what to expect, what to watch out for, components of a prostate recovery program and how to find a pelvic PT who is trained in male pelvic health (many have female-specific training and don’t work with men). With phone consults, we are providing you guidance, advice and information about how to proceed to optimize your situation. Men have told us it gives them hope, direction and confidence going forward. If you may be interested in a phone consult, call us at 616-516-4334 to learn more or contact us here.

I had a phone consult call this week and the gentleman remarked “I appreciate you helping me, this was really great!”

At the end of the call I asked him, “was this helpful to you?” Here was his response:

“You’ve given me a lot of information that I didn’t get from my oncology team. They were great and I feel I received good care from them. I think I’m doing fairly well and don’t have incontinence now, but I also want to know how to prevent it. I didn’t know where the pelvic floor muscles were located and you helped me understand this. Also, no one talked to me about preserving erectile function. No one explained that my radiation could cause problems down the line and what to look for. I’ve taken a lot of notes and now know what to look for when I find a pelvic PT near my home. I appreciate you helping me, this was really great.”

Physical therapy after prostatectomy works to improve your quality of life! That’s our ultimate goal.

Pelvic physical therapy after prostatectomy or radiation therapy can help improve your quality of life and speed up the time it takes to get control of your urine, helps decrease pain, advises you on methods to preserve and enhance erectile function and addresses scar tissue, your back, hips and balance. Our PTs specialize in this care and consider it an honor to help you in your recovery. Each visit is private and customized to your needs; you are welcome to bring your spouse or partner to your visit. It is our hope that you feel empowered, encouraged and on the right path towards urinary control, fecal continence, erectile function and getting back to your active life. If you would like more information about our pelvic physical therapy program after prostatectomy, you can speak with one of our staff at 616-516-4334 or contact us here.

Peace,

Dr. Maureen O’Keefe, DPT specializing in treating men who experience pelvic conditions including prostate cancer, urinary incontinence, fecal incontinence, chronic pelvic pain, testicular pain, hip and spine conditions.

If you have questions, call us to talk with one of our staff members at 616-516-4334 or contact us here.

_______________________________

You may be interested in reading more about our physical therapy in these articles we’ve written:

Pelvic PT for Testicular Pain (Orchialgia) in Grand Rapids

What Can Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy Help With?

What is Pelvic Floor PT?

What is High Tone Pelvic Floor Dysfunction?

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References:

Centemero A, Rigatti L, Giraudi D, Lazzeri M, Lughhezzeni G, Zugna D, Montorsi F, Rigatti P, Guazzoni G. Preoperative pelvic floor muscle exercise for early incontinence after radical prostatectomy: a randomised controlled study. Eur Urol. 2010;57:1039–43.

Christen WG, Gaziano JM, Hennekens CH. Design of Physicians’ Health Study II: A randomized trial of beta-carotene, vitamins E and C, and multivitamins, in prevention of cancer, cardiovascular disease, and eye disease, and review of results of completed trials. Ann Epidemiol. 2000;10:125–134.

Milios, J.E., Ackland, T.R. & Green, D.J. Pelvic floor muscle training in radical prostatectomy: a randomized controlled trial of the impacts on pelvic floor muscle function and urinary incontinence. BMC Urol 19, 116 (2019).

Scott KM, Gosai E, Bradley MH, et al. Individualized pelvic physical therapy for the treatment of post-prostatectomy stress urinary incontinence and pelvic pain. [published online December 5, 2019]. Int Urol Nephrol. doi: 10.1007/s11255-019-02343-7.

Shikanov SA. A prospective report of changes in prostate cancer related quality of life after robotic prostatectomy. J Psych Oncol. 2011;29:1157–67.

Stark JR, Perner S, Stampfer MJ, Sinnott JA, Finn S, Eisenstein AS, Ma J, Fiorentino M, Kurth T, Loda M, Giovannucci EL, Rubin MA, Mucci LA. Gleason score and lethal prostate cancer: does 3 + 4 = 4 + 3? J Clin Oncol. 2009 Jul 20;27(21):3459-64.

Weber BA, Roberts BL, Mills TL. Physical and emotional predictors of depression after radical prostatectomy. Amer J Mens Health. 2008;2(2):165–71.

Physical Therapy for Lichen Sclerosus

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

How can physical therapy help lichen sclerosus?

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

Physical Therapy for lichen sclerosus will help your scar tissue

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Lichen sclerosus physical therapy can help painful sex

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

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

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

Physical Therapy for Lichen Sclerosus helps address pelvic floor dysfunction.

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

Why your pelvic floor muscles need to relax

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

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

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

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

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

Physical Therapy can help Lichen Sclerosus by calming inflammation

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Peace,

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

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

Vulvar Pain and Pelvic Floor Dysfunction go together.

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

What is High Tone Pelvic Floor Dysfunction?

Vaginismus and Dyspareunia Treatment in Grand Rapids

Are you looking for Painful Sex Treatment in Grand Rapids?

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.

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 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?

Why Does Sex Hurt After Having A Baby?

Why Does Sex Hurt After Having a Baby?

Your physical therapy begins with a detailed evaluation that will provide you with extensive insights and education for why sex hurts after having your baby. We specialize in helping you overcome all pelvic pain, including when sex hurts.

At what point postpartum should you reach out to a pelvic physical therapist?

We recommend that our pregnant patients touch base with us over the phone within two weeks of giving birth.

If, however, at one or two weeks postpartum you are having substantial problems with pain, peeing or pooping, we recommend coming to physical therapy straight away to begin treatment.

If you are struggling with painful sex and confused about why does sex hurt after having a baby, we can provide you answers.

37.5% of women experience painful sex six months after giving birth. Sex shouldn’t hurt! Physical therapy can help you and will give you answers to why sex hurts for you after giving birth.

To determine why sex hurts after having your baby, our licensed physical therapists check for many problems that contribute to pain with sex and are also fully treatable with the help of our postpartum physical therapists. Some of the things we evaluation & treat include:

All of these issues can contribute to why sex hurts after giving a baby. The good news is that these are fully treatable with the skilled help of our licensed physical therapists.

Peace,

You may be alone and wondering why does sex hurt for your after having your baby? There are so many things that can help you, reach out to us today to speak with one of our knowledgable team members who can answer your questions about cost, availability and what to expect.

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

Our TMJ Disorder and Pain Treatment:

Our pediatric bladder and bowel physical therapy services:

Our male pelvic health physical therapy services:

References for why does sex hurt after having a baby:

Physical Therapy after Prostatectomy

Author | Dr. Maureen O’Keefe, DPT pelvic health physical therapist with more than 2 decades experience treating men before and after prostate surgery, radiation and biopsy.

Does Physical Therapy after Prostatectomy Work?

We are Purple Mountain Physical Therapy, a pelvic health specialty clinic located in Grand Rapids, MI. We treat men before and after their prostatectomy or radiation therapy for prostate cancer.

Our pelvic PTs at Purple Mountain PT specialize in providing rehabilitation for prostate cancer recovery and are here to support you on your journey back to good health.

We recommend Prehab pelvic physical therapy before prostatectomy or radiation therapy. This begins your pelvic floor muscle training.

The therapy before prostate surgery or radiation is called “Prehab” and is supported in the research.

After your surgery or radiation therapy it is recommended in the research that you continue with supervised physical therapy for 12 weeks.

Thereafter, you can continue independently and have a PT appointment if necessary.

Do you want to improve your urinary incontinence following prostatectomy? Go to pelvic physical therapy!

87% of patients who receive individual pelvic physical therapy after robotic prostate surgery experienced improvement in their incontinence!

Our PTs provide you therapy that trains both the fast-twitch and slow-twitch pelvic floor muscle fibers.

Do you want to improve your pelvic pain? Go to pelvic physical therapy!

Pelvic Physical Therapy after prostatectomy has also been found to reduce pelvic pain. You may need to learn how to relax your pelvic floor muscles.

A Pelvic Physical Therapy Evaluation after Prostatectomy will Help You Begin Your Pelvic Floor Muscle Training

Our patients who have a prostatectomy or radiation therapy for prostate cancer receive a physical therapy evaluation of their pelvic floor muscles to determine their status.

Your treatment will be gentle, customized to your ability, effective at improving pelvic floor muscle control, reducing pain, stiffness and incontinence. Call 616-516-4334 to learn more.

All of our licensed physical therapists are fully trained in general orthopedic physical therapy and treat any area that may be contributing to chronic pelvic pain, overactive bladder, urinary incontinence, post-void dribbling or other issue.

Why we provide holistic physical therapy treatment to your ribs, back, abdomen, hips and pelvis when you are recovering from prostate surgery

Our PTs will address:

If you are interested in working with our pelvic physical therapists before or after your prostatectomy, call our office to speak with one of our staff. We can be reached at 616-516-4334 or contact us here.

How a phone consult with our pelvic PTs may benefit you

I had a phone consult call this week and the gentleman remarked “I appreciate you helping me, this was really great!”

At the end of the call I asked him, “was this helpful to you?” Here was his response:

Physical therapy after prostatectomy works to improve your quality of life! That’s our ultimate goal.

Peace,

If you have questions, call us to talk with one of our staff members at 616-516-4334 or contact us here.

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You may be interested in reading more about our physical therapy in these articles we’ve written:

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References:

Physical Therapy for Lichen Sclerosus

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

How can physical therapy help lichen sclerosus?

Physical Therapy for lichen sclerosus will help your scar tissue

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

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

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

Lichen sclerosus physical therapy can help painful sex

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

Physical Therapy for Lichen Sclerosus helps address pelvic floor dysfunction.

Why your pelvic floor muscles need to relax

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

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

Physical Therapy can help Lichen Sclerosus by calming inflammation

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

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

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

Peace,

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

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!

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.

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.

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

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

Tip 1: Practice Diaphragmatic Breathing

Tip 2: Lengthen Your Pelvic Floor Muscles

Tip 3: Optimize your gut health

Tip 4: Optimize your water intake

Tip 5: Movement is Needed

Bonus Tip 6: Prioritize Sleep, Relaxation and Meditation.