By: Jenna Opdahl, PT, DPT and Tarah Mundy, PT, DPT

Pelvic health therapy is not just about kegels! It encompasses a wide variety of diagnoses that affect your bladder, bowel, and sexual functions, and focuses on helping you achieve a higher quality of life. Whether you are trying to return to exercise following pregnancy and birth, or if you are experiencing incontinence, constipation, or recently had a gynecological or prostate cancer, Spooner therapists are here to help you move better and feel better through pelvic health therapy.

When to Seek Pelvic Health Therapy

Our pelvic health specialists have been helping women and men with pelvic health dysfunction and have been helping them return safely to activity. Seeking out a pelvic health therapist may be beneficial for you if you have:

For Women:

    • Pain in the hip, buttock, pelvis, or tailbone
    • Difficulty sitting for long periods of time
    • Pain with intercourse
    • Stiffness in the hips and/or low back
    • Urinary incontinence, or frequent urination
    • Constipation or pain with bowel movements
    • Organ prolapse of the bladder, uterus, small bowel or rectum
    • Pelvic or low back pain with pregnancy
    • Weakness or low back pain after childbirth
    • Abdominal pain
    • Abdominal separation (I.e., diastasis recti)
    • Post-Menopausal changes

For Men:
*Spooner can treat men for pelvic health at our North Phoenix clinic.

    • Pelvic girdle pain
    • Urinary or bowel dysfunction
    • Tailbone pain
    • Abdominal pain or post-Hernia
    • Erectile dysfunction
    • Benign prostatic hyperplasia or chronic prostatitis
    • Issues following prostate removal or cancer
Image of a woman and therapist doing wall-sits with a ball pressed between their knees.

Your First Pelvic Health Therapy Visit

We want to make sure you feel comfortable in our clinics. When you come in for your first appointment, your pelvic health therapist will lead you to a private treatment room to discuss your complaints, history, goals, and what you expect from us at Spooner. Our team wants to make you feel safe, valued, and listened to throughout this entire process.

At pelvic health therapy, it is important to know what is happening and why. Education is a key component during your first visit. Your therapist will walk you through the anatomy of the pelvis, the pelvic floor muscles, ligaments surrounding the pelvis, and the specific areas and structures you may be having difficulty with. This may be achieved through a handout or an actual model of the pelvis.

Spooner therapists believe in treating the whole body to help you achieve your goals. You will be taken through a movement screen to see if there are any forces going up through the kinetic chain that will impact the stability and functionality of the pelvis and pelvic floor. Your therapist may also look at your low back’s range of motion, hip mobility and strength, and core strength. Other functional elements may be assessed as well depending on your goals, including breathing, rib cage expansion, and squatting and lunging mechanics.

Read More: What are Kinetic Chain Reactions

You are in control of whether or not you have an internal exam! While it can give you and your therapist a lot of information about what you are experiencing, your therapist and you can work to help you move and feel your best from other approaches first if you are not comfortable. Ultimately, our goal at Spooner is not all about internal techniques but more on the focus of how the entire body moves and functions during everyday activities.

During your rehab process at Spooner, our goal is to provide you with exercises, techniques, and education to help you to live a more active and happier lifestyle. We not only want to get you stronger and healthier, but we also want to provide you with a truly valuable experience!

Our Pelvic Health Specialists are here to help you move and feel your best. Schedule an appointment today!