Pelvic Health & Orthopedic Physical Therapy
Addressing your questions about pelvic, women's, and musculoskeletal health. Health is a journey. Movement is healing!
Recently I was on Twitter and I saw a woman discussing the lack of postpartum care she received. It was distressing to say the least, but not necessarily unique. In fetal-maternal medicine most of the resources and focus are geared towards the baby. Even after giving birth the focus is on the new bundle of joy. Which is contributing to the rising rate of complications leading to death of mothers in the United States. Now fortunately this individual was very well educated in terms of her health, she seemed to advocate for herself and knew she needed to see a women's health/ pelvic PT. Unfortunately the one in her rural area was out on maternity leave. Thus she could not get the care she needed.
Most of the time women feel that the symptoms they experience postpartum are "normal" or they are embarrassed to talk about them so they don't share them with their OB/GYNs. Their OB/GYN may not even ask about symptoms of diastasis recti, urinary incontinence, organ prolapse, constipation, fecal incontinence, or pelvic pain at their check-up. If you are feeling symptoms of any of these things ADVOCATE for yourself! You know your body best! There is help out there. No one will know what is going on if you don't speak up and tell someone and then push for the services you want. Now here is my second soap box. The specialty of women's health and pelvic physical therapy is the second smallest specialty in the field of PT. This means that in some parts of the country, usually in more rural areas, there are no health care providers that treat individuals with these conditions. They are not trained to. Personally I have patients that travel over an hour to a few hours every week to get treatment and that is just unacceptable. We need more current and future PTs to be trained and treat men, women, and children with pelvic floor dysfunction in all parts of the country. There is no reason that individuals can't get care because they have to drive a few hours away every week. That is a large burden! If you feel that you require pelvic floor or women's health PT services please check these two databases for providers in your area. Just as an aside, not all clinicians may be listed as they must add their names to the list so I would also do a google search and ask your doctor if they know anyone locally before referring you to a different area. https://pelvicrehab.com/ http://www.womenshealthapta.org/pt-locator/ |
AuthorHello! I am Caitlyn, Doctor of Physical Therapy and Board Certified Women's Health Physical Therapist working in St Louis, Missouri. Faculty in developing residency program. Endowarrior Categories
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July 2021
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