Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy and Holistic Pelvic Care ™
Have you experienced urine leakage? This very common condition is called incontinence and can happen to women of all ages. Young athletes are prone to it while running or jumping, postpartum mothers often find it happens when coughing or sneezing, and others find they start leaking just as soon as they pull into their driveway or open the bathroom door. Regardless of the type of leakage, it is often uncomfortable, embarrassing and hard to talk about. Rest assured, it is treatable with pelvic floor therapy.
Many pelvic floor disorders - from pain syndromes to prolapsed organs to incontinence - are caused by excess tension held in pelvic floor muscles. Much like the knots in your shoulders and neck that we all love to get massaged in order to release palpable stress, pelvic floor muscles can contain trigger points and tight fascia that restrict a full-range of movement. If a muscle is already in spasm or tension, its ability to contract is extremely compromised. Only when it is fully relaxed can it move smoothly and completely into strong functional contraction. Using gentle internal massage techniques and targeting breath work, pelvic floor therapy retrains muscles to learn how to live in a state of relaxation. From here, we can then retrain them how to appropriately contract/engage (as when doing a Kegel exercise) when needed.
Holistic Pelvic Care ™ is a form of pelvic floor physical therapy that empowers women to fully connect to and inhabit their female body. For most women, this might be the first time they have ever really thought about connecting with their uterus or pelvic floor outside of childbirth. Whether this is due to past trauma or societal norms, HPC can facilitate healing by allowing a safe presence.
Holistic Pelvic Care ™ differs from more traditional pelvic floor physical therapy in that no instruments or biofeedback devices are used. Instead patients are taught to use breath work and guided imagery to reconnect to their pelvic floor muscles and female organs. For women who have pelvic floor dysfunctions but have seen little or no improvement with traditional PT, holistic pelvic care offers hope.
This model of pelvic floor therapy was pioneered by Tami Kent, PT. Her book, Wild Feminine, is a beautiful introduction to the radical transformation that can happen when one pays attention to the pelvic bowl.
Some conditions that can benefit from Pelvic Floor therapy include:
Many pelvic floor disorders - from pain syndromes to prolapsed organs to incontinence - are caused by excess tension held in pelvic floor muscles. Much like the knots in your shoulders and neck that we all love to get massaged in order to release palpable stress, pelvic floor muscles can contain trigger points and tight fascia that restrict a full-range of movement. If a muscle is already in spasm or tension, its ability to contract is extremely compromised. Only when it is fully relaxed can it move smoothly and completely into strong functional contraction. Using gentle internal massage techniques and targeting breath work, pelvic floor therapy retrains muscles to learn how to live in a state of relaxation. From here, we can then retrain them how to appropriately contract/engage (as when doing a Kegel exercise) when needed.
Holistic Pelvic Care ™ is a form of pelvic floor physical therapy that empowers women to fully connect to and inhabit their female body. For most women, this might be the first time they have ever really thought about connecting with their uterus or pelvic floor outside of childbirth. Whether this is due to past trauma or societal norms, HPC can facilitate healing by allowing a safe presence.
Holistic Pelvic Care ™ differs from more traditional pelvic floor physical therapy in that no instruments or biofeedback devices are used. Instead patients are taught to use breath work and guided imagery to reconnect to their pelvic floor muscles and female organs. For women who have pelvic floor dysfunctions but have seen little or no improvement with traditional PT, holistic pelvic care offers hope.
This model of pelvic floor therapy was pioneered by Tami Kent, PT. Her book, Wild Feminine, is a beautiful introduction to the radical transformation that can happen when one pays attention to the pelvic bowl.
Some conditions that can benefit from Pelvic Floor therapy include:
- Pelvic pain
- Postpartum healing
- Pain with intercourse
- Vulvodynia
- Rectal pain/spasm
- Urinary incontinence
- Bladder or Uterine prolapse
- Interstitial Cystitis
- Fecal incontinence