Something that my pelvic PT colleagues and I routinely educate others on is the fact that we are not just instructing our patients in doing kegels. In fact, we may not ever do these during a PT visit because kegels can be downright counterproductive with many of our patients.

We say it so much that we are starting to hear from others in the community that their medical providers are beginning to say that kegels are BAD. Oy. Hello pendulum swing!

I am also hearing from my patients that their doctors are confused at WHY they are working with a pelvic PT… even when they are struggling with recovering after a traumatic birth and cannot go back to a highly demanding physical job until they are healed and strong.

My thought is, “do they think that we just sit and watch them in a room while they do kegels?”

So I figured I would clarify here.

Pelvic physical therapy is an extension of orthopedic physical therapy. We are working with the ENTIRE body as it influences the pelvic floor and the pelvic floor influences the rest of the body.

Think of the pelvis as HOME BASE for the body. It is seriously one of the most important structures!

We are helping women resolve pelvic pain, resolve bladder leaks, bowel leaks, bladder frequency or pain, pelvic organ prolapse management (preventing the need for surgery or supporting the recovery from it), pelvic joint and back pain that does not resolve with traditional methods, and more.

Kegels MAY be a part of a PT session, but I find that this is just a small part of an entire visit IF it is appropriate.

Helping someone through their pelvic health issues involves SO MANY THINGS. We HAVE TO wear MANY hats.

• Counselor/listener

• Educator

• Manual Therapist (spine, hips, legs, neck, abdomen, pelvic floor)

• Pain science educator

• Nutrition educator

• Pelvic and core muscle coach (helping muscles coordinate and function properly)

• Exercise prescriber (full body strength, flexibility, alignment)–> the kind of exercise that requires 100% focus by the patient and therapist together

• Home program prescriber

• Daily life coach (how to handle obstacles in a given day that are affected by said issue)

• And more!

So if a person ever questions a patient WHAT they are working on with a pelvic PT, we can show them THIS pie chart or blog post!

WHY are we doing this?? To ELEVATE a person’s quality of life and get them back to normalcy so that they can THRIVE and not just be a victim to circumstances, injuries, and passive treatments that don’t usually fully work.

There truly is so much that a pelvic PT can offer their patients!