Pelvic Health & Orthopedic Physical Therapy
Addressing your questions about pelvic, women's, and musculoskeletal health. Health is a journey. Movement is healing!
Yesterday I attended a course on physical therapy intervention with individuals who have survived urogenital and breast cancers. I continue to be amazed at the under utilization of pelvic rehabilitation by our medical system. A large portion of our population is aging. Age contributes to the risk of developing many types of cancer. As the baby boomer generation continues to age the number of individuals will continue to grow. Fortunately advances in medicine are improving the effectiveness of cancer treatments and increasing survivorship. The question for many physical therapists, especially women's health physical therapists, is when in this process of survivorship is it best to educate individuals on the availability of services?
While cancer treatment can be tailored to a specific region, the treatment can still have acute and chronic systemic effects. Chemotherapy can lead to pain, fatigue, as well as changes in bowel, bladder, and sexual function. Radiation can cause an individual to experience bladder changes, difficulties with the bowels, fibrosis of tissue, lymphedema, joint pain, fatigue, and difficulties with sexual function. (These are not exhaustive lists of the side effects of these types of treatments, just a few relevant to pelvic health.) There is evidence that physical therapy prior to treatment for cancer can play a beneficial role in post-treatment outcomes. Individuals that start improving physical shape before treatment often heal better. However, many insurance providers do not currently support "prehab". So the other options, target the individuals during or after treatment? There just doesn't seem to be a good time to address everything a survivor of cancer may face following treatment. Many individuals report feeling overwhelmed throughout the duration of treatment, which is understandable. Of course feeling constant diarrhea or bladder leakage or even changes in sexual function wouldn't necessarily be in the forefront of an individual's mind during treatment. These people are fighting to survive, which takes precedence. But then once they are discharged from cancer treatment, their needs beyond surviving cancer may fall between the cracks.They may even feel like they are the only one experiencing these symptoms or that there are no treatment options to help gain control of bowel, bladder, and sexual function. It is important to advocate and educate on pelvic health offerings along with other physical therapy services to help improve the quality of life. Regardless if you treat pelvic floor specifically, you will most likely have a cancer survivor as a patient and it is crucial to ask pertinent questions related to bladder, bowel, and sexual function in order to connect patients with appropriate resources. |
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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