Women's Physical Therapy
Physical Therapy for Women
Giving Special Care to Women’s Health
Women’s bodies are strong and resilient. Taking care of those bodies is the focus of a subspecialty of physical therapy called women’s health physical therapy. This subspecialty of physical therapy was developed to meet the needs of female-identifying clients. Specifically, women’s health physical therapy was created to encourage more research and training on the assessment and treatment of pelvic floor dysfunction, prenatal and postpartum concerns and other conditions that affect women throughout their lifespan. Most of what we have learned through medical research was gleaned through studies that included only men but women’s health physical therapy aims to help close that gap and provide care that is inclusive and respectful of the hormones, anatomy and physiology unique to female-identifying patients.
GET THE WORD OUT!
If you are learning for the first time that specialty physical therapy care exists for women, you are not alone. Many women put off seeking care for certain conditions and symptoms due to feelings of embarrassment, lack of time or a lack of awareness about our services. When they do bring up their concerns to their healthcare providers some women find that treatments offered to them are limited or inadequate and as physical therapists, we want to spread the word that there is more help out there! In fact, women’s health physical therapists provide respectful, inclusive, evidence-based and supportive health for many of the conditions women may be experiencing. So, let’s dive deeper into the services that women’s health physical therapy provides.
PRENATAL AND POSTNATAL CARE
Pregnancy is a marathon and childbirth is raceday. Whether you deliver your child vaginally or by cesarean section, the body undergoes changes and stress beginning at conception and continuing into the postpartum period, also known as the fourth trimester. Just like a woman often prepares and trains to run a race, they can also do the same for pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period. The prenatal or antepartum period refers to the time period leading up to delivery. This is a time in which a woman’s body is undergoing rapid changes in response to a host of pregnancy-related hormones and a growing fetus. Women’s health physical therapists support women through this period in many ways.
First, some women may experience new onset or worsening aches and pains during pregnancy. This can be due in part to pregnancy related hormones which can cause a relaxing of ligaments and other soft tissues or due to the effects of a woman’s growing uterus and the different physical stress it places on the body. A women’s health physical therapist is trained to address these issues with the health and safety of the mother and fetus in mind. Manual therapy techniques, stretching, therapeutic exercises and neuromuscular re-education are utilized to treat pregnancy-related pain.
Diastasis rectus prevention and pelvic floor physical therapy are also aspects of prenatal physical therapy. Women’s health physical therapists also help prepare a mother’s body for labor and delivery. Through careful assessment and prescription of exercises throughout the three trimesters, a mother can feel confident that she is as physically prepared for labor as possible.
In the postpartum period or the fourth trimester, women’s health physical therapists emphasize the importance of addressing lingering health concerns. These concerns can include new or lingering aches and pains. Conditions like De Quervain’s Tenosynovitis, often called “mother’s thumb”, back or SI joint pain or wrist pain can develop from carrying, lifting, feeding and tending to a new baby. It is important to address these concerns quickly and physical therapy can help do so effectively. Pelvic floor dysfunction may persist after pregnancy with issues like pelvic pain or incontinence interrupting daily life. A women’s health physical therapist can evaluate for and treat pelvic floor dysfunction. Finally, assisting in return to physical activity like running and weight lifting after pregnancy is another role of a women’s health physical therapist.
PELVIC FLOOR PHYSICAL THERAPY
The pelvic floor includes the muscles, ligaments and connective tissue that support pelvic organs (uterus, bowels and bladder) and assist with bowel, bladder and sexual functions. While both male- and female-identifying patients have a pelvic floor, women’s health physical therapists have undergone extra training in pelvic floor dysfunction in female-identifying patients. Pelvic floor conditions often go underidentified and women can go long periods of time experiencing symptoms without relief or proper treatment. As physical therapists we aim to educate and normalize these symptoms as something that is not to be ashamed of but something that can be helped!
If you are experiencing any of the following symptoms, you may benefit from working with a pelvic floor physical therapist. Pelvic pain, painful intercourse, low back pain and hip pain, bowel and bladder leakage, constipation, and pelvic organ prolapse are just some of the symptoms and conditions that pelvic floor physical therapists can treat. There are many treatments that can be provided to help with these conditions.
Working with the pelvic floor involves working in sensitive and often private areas. Women’s health physical therapists will explain everything that you can expect ahead of time and will request your explicit consent for each step of the examination and treatment. Not all women will be comfortable with every treatment available and that is ok! Your therapist will meet you where you are in terms of comfort level. Examination and treatment of pelvic floor dysfunction can consist of treatments aimed at both external and internal pelvic tissues. This can include joint mobilization, trigger point release, dry needling and soft tissue or myofascial release techniques. With consent, your PT may access some of the deeper pelvic floor muscles transvaginally or transrectally and may incorporate biofeedback techniques to help retrain the pelvic floor muscles. Exercises to help strengthen, coordinate and relax your pelvic floor and surrounding muscles are often prescribed in the clinic and for at home and education is always included to help you develop good habits to improve your pelvic floor muscle function.
WAIT, THERE IS MORE…
Beyond pelvic floor dysfunction and pregnancy-related care, women’s health physical therapists might address orthopedic concerns and conditions like osteoporosis while treating them through a women’s-specific lens. They are passionate about helping women in all stages of their lives live actively and pain free. If you are ready to learn more about how our therapists can support you and your healing, give us a call today to schedule an evaluation with one of our women’s health physical therapists.
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