Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy – What is it and What Conditions Can We Treat?

From Alison Gallup, PT, DPT, OCS

I’m Alison Gallup and I am a pelvic floor physical therapist.

When people find out that I work in pelvic floor physical therapy, I always get similar responses. “It’s great you can help women after babies” or “my girlfriend swears her PT was a life saver after 3 kids”, or “Oh, you treat ladies with leaky bladders, how great”. This is all true. We CAN help women post-partum. We CAN help women who have urinary leakage during any phase of their lifespan, but WE CAN DO SO MUCH MORE than that.

Pelvic floor physical therapists are physical therapists that have gone through additional training and education to be able to treat conditions that concern pelvic floor dysfunction. They can help both MEN and WOMEN. That’s right. Everyone has a pelvis with pelvic floor muscles and those muscles can have dysfunction.

Pelvic floor dysfunction is when the muscles of the pelvic floor (the muscles that lie on the inside of the pelvis and bottom part of the core) aren’t working correctly. This is usually because either (1) muscles are too weak OR (2) muscles are too tense. Either way, muscles can’t recruit and work together or relax fully causing dysfunction.

Here are conditions pelvic floor physical therapists can treat:

Urinary Urgency

Urinary Frequency

Incomplete Bladder Emptying

Urinary Tract Infection Symptoms

Overactive Bladder Symptoms

Weakened Urinary StreamStress Incontinence

Urge Incontinence

Nocturia

Constipation

Bowel Incontinence

Erectile Dysfunction

Abacterial Prostatitis

Pelvic floor dysfunction can also be a source of pain. Think of how tight muscles in your neck can cause neck pain and even headaches.

Here are examples of the types of PELVIC PAIN we can treat:

Hip Pain

Groin Pain

Back Pain

Tailbone Pain

Vulvar Pain

Painful Urination

Bladder Pain

Pain due to Prolapse

Perineal Pain

Testicular PainPost-Ejaculatory PainPost-Surgical Pain

Rectal Pain

Pain with Intercourse

Pelvic floor physical therapists can help treat many different conditions and symptoms – more than most people realize. If you would like to be evaluated for pelvic floor dysfunction, you can get more information on our website or book an appointment with one of our physical therapists by clicking here.

I love my job. I love helping people move better and feel better so they can get back to doing the things they love.

Written by: Alison Gallup, PT, DPT, OCS