Pelvic Health & Orthopedic Physical Therapy
Addressing your questions about pelvic, women's, and musculoskeletal health. Health is a journey. Movement is healing!
The pelvic floor is a bit of an enigma to most outpatient Physical Therapists. They know it exists, but they don't completely understand the function of that musculature or how it can impact other aspects of the body. This can make screening or evaluating the role pelvic floor in a patient's symptoms a little overwhelming or even daunting at times. It is so crucial to ask about changes in bowel and bladder as well as changes with intercourse with patients who come in with pathologies like generic low back pain or hip pain. The musculature and fascia of the pelvic floor is all interconnected with internal organs, abdominal musculature, spine, pelvis, hip, sacrum, as well as trunk musculature (as you can see with some of the pictures below). When you have an imbalance in one area the other areas of the body are affected. It's important to know based on what gender and age group, what types of women's/ men's health questions to ask your patients in order to screen them for services. In order to know what dysfunction looks like it's crucial to know what health bowel and bladder health looks like. Just to give a general overview an individual:
Clinical Considerations: Some musculoskeletal presentations could be referred pain or have contributions from imbalance in the pelvic floor. Consider the pelvic floor in patients with persistent or chronic history of symptoms in low back, hips, and abdomen (especially if they have a history of pelvic floor dysfunction or answer yes to any of your screening questions). Clinical presentations to be on the lookout for include:
References:
Herman & Wallace (2000). Female Pelvic Floor Dysfunction 2010 to 2050. https://hermanwallace.com/images/docs/HW_Female_Pelvic_Floor_Dysfunction_White_Paper.pdf Irion, J. M., & Irion, G. L. (2010). Women's Health in Physical Therapy. Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. If you haven't already seen the story from Allure some very fierce and inspirational women rocked the catwalk this past week showcasing AnaOno lingerie designed specifically for women who have survived or are currently undergoing breast cancer treatment. All of the models can attest to the difficulty and discomfort in finding bras that fit following a mastectomy. Proceeds from the fashion show went to Cancerland, an advocacy group benefiting women with breast cancer. Even the designer of the line, Dana Donofree, is a breast cancer survivor who has been featured on the Today Show, PEOPLE, In Style, Forbes, and many other sites in the past for her product. She was inspired by her own frustrating journey to find a comfortable fitting bra after treatment and surgery as she was told by her medical team to just wear sports bras. As a professional, wearing a sports bra to work every day or wearing a sports bra out on the town during a formal event just doesn't always fit the bill, but the underwire in bras was very irritating to mastectomy scars and the fit of normal bras following surgery was just inadequate. Dana Donofree has created a beautiful product for women to start to normalize part of their life in recovering from breast cancer. The pieces are beautiful, supportive, sexy, and allow for many different options with pockets and belts for drainage pumps following surgery. Many women following a mastectomy are faced with challenges with pain or discomfort with scarring as well as challenges to their body image and sexuality as a result of the surgery. Being able to purchase intimate clothing that feels comfortable and sexy that makes you feel feminine is one step to building positive body image in the road to recovery for survivors. What an amazing idea! You can find all of AnaOno line at www.anaono.com/ Wine and chocolate. Those are the staples of Valentine's Day in my mind. Did you know that wine and chocolate can both make you feel like you need to urinate more frequently?! Seems crazy, but it's true. Not only that, but there are a variety of foods and drinks that can contribute to making you feel like you need to rush to the restroom. Some of these include:
It may be helpful to keep a food diary of what you eat and drink to help identify what foods and drinks may be contributing to any increased feelings of needing to use the restroom throughout the day. |
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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