New Mamas Benefit From Seeing A Pelvic Floor Physical Therapist

Pelvic floor physical therapists strongly recommend that new mamas see a pelvic floor physical therapist after attending their six-week postpartum visit with their OBs. Many women are often cleared to return to their pre-pregnancy workouts after that appointment despite the fact that often the health, strength, and function of the pelvic floor and abdominal wall were not assessed. Without specific instruction on how to jump back into exercise, new mamas are more inclined to worsen postpartum pelvic-floor related problems such as urinary incontinence, pelvic pain, diastasis rectus abdominis, organ prolapse, pelvic pain, painful sex, and/or back, hip, sacrum, or coccyx pain.

Physical Therapy Pelvic Floor Evaluation and Treatment

A medical provider or friend may have recommended that you see a physical therapist for evaluation and treatment for your pelvic floor and you may be wondering why. Many people are familiar with physical therapy, but not physical therapy for the pelvic floor. The intent of this blog post is to help answer common questions and concerns regarding physical therapy for this region by introducing you to its anatomy, identifying typical problems related to pelvic floor dysfunction, summarizing the purpose and components of the physical therapy evaluation, and reviewing common treatment techniques for pelvic floor muscles.

Many muscles comprise our pelvic floor, which spans the bottom of the pelvis between the pubic bone and tail bone (coccyx). It is similar to a hammock, consists of three layers of muscle, and helps to support our pelvic organs (bladder, bowel, and uterus) as well as the spine and pelvic bones. The pelvic floor muscles help with bowel and bladder control and enhance sexual pleasure. For more information regarding these muscles, please see other posts on this blog: “Pelvic Floor Muscle Dysfunction” and “Postpartum Abdominal Wall and Pelvic Floor Muscle Dysfunction”.