Your pelvic floor is a group of muscles located between your pubic bone and tailbone. These muscles are responsible for supporting several of your important organs, including your bowels and bladder. For females, the pelvic floor also includes the uterus. When this area is weakened or not functioning properly, it can cause issues that interfere with your daily activities, such as leaking urine or constipation.
If your pelvic area isn’t working as it should, then it’s time to explore the treatment options that can help. At Forever Fit, we offer pelvic rehabilitation as a physical therapy treatment. We want to help you keep your pelvis as healthy and strong as possible.
What Is Pelvic Rehabilitation?
The goal of pelvic rehabilitation is to help alleviate symptoms of pelvic pain as well as pelvic floor dysfunction. Pelvic rehab is centered on strengthening the affected muscles. Strong pelvic muscles can help control your urination and bowel movements. They can also make sure that your organs are properly supported.
Pelvic rehabilitation can include physical therapy treatment options, such as:
- Therapeutic exercises — One of the key elements of pelvic rehabilitation is muscle strengthening. Strength training for your weak or damaged pelvic muscles will decrease urinary leakage as well as pelvic pressure. A physical therapist will help you increase the strength of your pelvic floor and core muscles with a targeted exercise plan.
- Biofeedback — Physical therapists use biofeedback in pelvic rehabilitation by placing sensors on the skin to detect muscle activity in the pelvic floor. The real-time data is displayed on a monitor, allowing patients to see how their muscles respond to different movements and exercises. This visual feedback helps patients learn how to relax or contract their pelvic muscles more effectively, improving control over bladder and bowel functions.
- Bladder training — We all know that sometimes it takes a few minutes to get to the closest bathroom. A physical therapist can help reduce incontinence by teaching you techniques that can control your bladder until you’re able to get to a toilet. There are also techniques to help you completely empty your bladder.
There’s more to pelvic rehab than strengthening. The therapist can assess muscles and their need for strengthening or down-training, depending on the cause of problems. Down-training refers to improving muscle control and flexibility. The therapist can determine if strengthening, coordination or relaxation techniques are appropriate. They’ll create an individualized plan based on their insight and expertise.
Who Needs Pelvic Rehabilitation?
Pelvic rehabilitation targets the pelvic region, which includes both the pelvis and the pelvic floor. While the pelvic floor consists of muscles and connective tissue, the pelvis is the bony structure that protects your abdominal organs and supports your spine. Most issues that require pelvic rehabilitation stem from pelvic floor issues.
Pelvic rehabilitation can be beneficial to anyone who’s struggling with:
- Pelvic organ prolapse.
- Urinary incontinence.
- Abnormal urination.
- Chronic pelvic pain.
Women often seek pelvic rehabilitation after having a baby. The pelvic floor muscles support the baby during pregnancy, then stretch during childbirth. The muscles can weaken and cause pelvic floor dysfunction.
But men also benefit from pelvic rehabilitation. Men’s pelvic health covers wellness for a variety of important functions, including sexual function, bowel/urine control and treating conditions that impact the reproductive organs. At Forever Fit, we treat men with a variety of diagnoses, including:
- Urinary hesitancy and/or slow urinary flow
- Post void dribbling
- Erectile dysfunction
- Pre- and post-op radical prostatectomy
- Pelvic or testicular pain
- Epididymitis
- Prostatitis
- Constipation and/or fecal incontinence
- Colon cancer
We have a prostate cancer recovery program that helps men with the common disease manage the symptoms that impact their quality of life during before, during and after treatment, such as lower back pain. Our licensed physical therapists can also help restore mobility and strength if surgery is needed to remove the prostate gland and affected tissue.
Forever Fit Provides Pelvic Rehabilitation to Strengthen Your Pelvic Floor
Struggling with issues like incontinence or chronic pelvic pain can impact your quality of life, but there are ways to help. With pelvic rehabilitation, physical therapists at Forever Fit can show you techniques that will strengthen your pelvic muscles so that you can properly go to the bathroom, support your organs and even boost your sexual function.
Contact our team today for more information or to schedule an initial appointment.