Pelvic Health & Orthopedic Physical Therapy
Addressing your questions about pelvic, women's, and musculoskeletal health. Health is a journey. Movement is healing!
So my next clinical experience is in outpatient orthopedics and pelvic floor therapy (sometimes referred to as "Women's Health"). I don't think many people realize that there are Physical Therapists who are qualified to treat pelvic disorders. I'll save the reasons for my interest in learning more about this field of therapy for a different blog post. Instead let me tell you more about my past weekend. Last weekend I attended the SOWH's Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy Level I class in St. Louis. I did not know what to fully expect and while I was excited for the course, I was extremely apprehensive for the lab portions. What I did not expect was for my fears to be assuaged so quickly and to feel so empowered from the action-packed three day course. We really hit the ground running. Physical therapy is a broad field. One component of the body people are often uncomfortable confronting is the pelvis. In our culture it seems taboo to bring up disorders related to the pelvic region, but let me let you in on a little secret....everybody has a pelvis. That pelvic region is made up of many bones, nerves, arteries, veins, lymphatics, organs, ligaments, and muscles that serve very important roles. The pelvis region helps to transmit forces for the legs to spine or vice versa, the pelvic musculature/bones/ligaments offer a bowl like support to all organs, the musculature of the pelvic floor can alter your ability to appropriately excrete waste. The bony pelvis and the musculature that makes up this pelvic floor is a keystone to our anatomy, serving many important purposes, yet we oftentimes ignore the treatment of this area because we don't fully understand it or it is uncomfortable to treat. Let's embrace this crucial part of our anatomy. Personally, I think that people are oftentimes apprehensive about seeking treatment for pelvic issues. Pelvic Floor or Women's Health Physical Therapists are specially trained to deal with incontinence, organ prolapse, pelvic pain, and constipation, just to name a few of the common diagnoses. And while it may be a bit misleading Women's Health Physical Therapists oftentimes also take male patients and children with pelvic floor issues. Women's Health therapists may actually treat a lot of different types of patients and diagnosis (not just related to the pelvis) including patients with breast cancer, patients before or after having a child, patients with fibromyalgia, patients requiring lymphedema management...the list really does go on and on. You might be thinking, I already know how to do Kegel (pronounced like kay-gal) exercises, I don't need to see anyone about that. Kegel exercises are important to the integrity and control of the pelvic floor musculature. If you are having pelvic floor related issues, it would be of benefit to have a PT ensure you are doing your Kegel exercises correctly (that you have the right form, you have enough power with the contraction, can properly perform this exercise as an endurance exercise). Beyond that there is so much more to rehabbing these individuals than just prescribing Kegel exercises. It really is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. Issues in your pelvic floor musculature could be a result of postural abnormalities or muscular imbalances in other areas of the body that are manifesting as pelvic symptoms because they altered the integrity of the pelvic floor. Depending on the symptoms/ diagnosis there are hormonal and behavioral interventions that must be addressed in order to properly rehabilitate the pelvic floor musculature. There are many considerations for appropriate treatment. Bottom line, as a student in Physical Therapy school I really appreciated the continuing education course. I thought it was a great way to learn more about a subject we learn very little about in school. It was a fantastic way to prepare for my upcoming clinical and gain new clinical skills. It also allowed me to network with other PT students and many practicing PTs. This class made me excited to attend more courses, especially those pertaining to Women's Health. First, let me apologize for my lack of recent posts. Things got a little crazy. A few weeks ago I finished up my second clinical. It was a 7 week experience in a skilled nursing facility. If you know me then you are aware I was not particularly excited to experience this setting. I had a negative experience with a patient with dementia back when I was volunteering in a hospital during high school, so working primarily with an older adult patient population was not appealing to me.
What I encountered with this setting was completely unexpected. The facility I was at had a skilled nursing wing, long-term care wing, Alzheimer's/ dementia wing, as well as an outpatient component paired with an assisted living facility. The patient population was older, but diverse in physical and cognitive ability. My patients constantly kept me on my toes and I quickly began to enjoy my clinical. Not only was I learning a ton, but I was enjoying interacting with my patients. I found the patients with late stage dementia or more complicated symptoms were exciting and extremely rewarding to work with. Never could I have guessed how much I would have enjoyed my clinical experience with the geriatric population. (I mean I liked it so much I would consider taking a job in this field, that is pretty crazy to me) It just reminds me as a student to go into every opportunity with an open mind. |
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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