Debunking 10 Myths About Pelvic Physical Therapy - Episode 26

Talking about pelvic health, Dr. Kari Roberts in this episode of the Marron Pelvic Health Podcast exposes prevalent myths that have misled many about the area. Such include the notions that pelvic problems are exclusive to females, that Kegels is the solution for all pelvic floor issues, and that pelvic pain should be endured. Dr. Roberts stresses that regardless of sex or age, anyone can experience pelvic floor dysfunction.

Book a call with Dr. Kari Roberts today.

• Episode Transcript

  Dr. Kari: There are several things that people think are normal for pelvic health. They are common, but they're not normal. And if you want to know what they are, stay tuned.

  Welcome to the Marone Pelvic Health Podcast. Hi, I'm your host, Dr. Carrie Roberts. On this show, we will be discussing a variety of things regarding your pelvic health. These conversations will be a mix of education, personal experiences, and a blend of tips you can apply to have a healthier pelvis.

  The goal of this show is to normalize conversations around pelvic health and help women stop suffering in silence.

  And today I'm going to be diving deep into a handful of myths, things that are commonly thought to be true, but they are 100% not true, and they are not normal in the pelvic health space.

  So let's jump into it. I'm not sure. I think it's going to be five, maybe six. When I get the total up, I'm going to put it in that title.

  But for now, we're just going to get through it and see. So for number one, the number one thing that people think is true, but it's a total myth in the pelvic health space is number one, women are not the only ones with a pelvic floor.

  I know it's true. I know it's true. Anybody with a pelvis has a pelvic floor because the pelvic floor is a group of structures that attach the right side and the left side, the front side and the back side all together.

  The right and the left side of the pelvis, the front and the back of the pelvis are all connected by the pelvic floor. So women have pelvic floors. Men have pelvic floors as well as children.

  So that's our first myth. Women are not the only ones with pelvic floors. Number two, women are not the only ones with pelvic floor dysfunction. Women have a lot of pelvic floor dysfunction.

  I think people talk more about pelvic floor dysfunction in women than men, but men do have pelvic floor dysfunction. There are pelvic floor dysfunction in men that have different names.

  Where with women, you might say something like, I don't know, bladder pain syndrome or interstitial cystitis. In men, you might say chronic prosthesitis. I didn't even say that. Right. Anyways, that's not the conversation for this.

  But yes, men have pelvic floor dysfunction as well. Erectile dysfunction.

  Yeah, erectile dysfunction. Pain with intercourse, all kinds of things. They have. They Also have urinary urgency, urinary frequency, constipation, diarrhea, all those things. Men have those just as much as women do.

  So that's myth number two. Number three, getting back over to the women's side. Kegels is not the answer for all pelvic floor floor issues. I will say that again. Kegels is not the answer.

  Nine times out of 10, Kegels is the opposite of what you need to do. Kegels is not enough. Kegels is a form of strength training or pulsing. If you think about it, all muscles need to elongate and then contract, lengthen and contract.

  So if we were kegeling a bicep, we'd be doing this. And a bunch of small little bicep curls. If you're watching the video does not make your biceps stronger. But if you go through the full range and then curl all the way through, that's what strengthens it.

  So same thing. The same concept is true for your pelvic floor. Kegels is not the answer always. A lot of times, there's a lot of other things that you need to do to improve your pelvic floor.

  So that was number three.

  Number four, pelvic pain is not normal and should not be endured.

  Sometimes women think it's normal to have pain with intercourse. Or excessive amount of pain during your cycle or excessive amount of pain with certain activities is normal. No, my friend.

  It's common. It happens a lot, but it is not normal. And there are many pelvic floor therapists, just like myself, that are out here waiting to help you get out of that pain and get into the pleasure side.

  You do not have to suffer in silence. I promise you it's not. You do not have to endure that pain.

  Number five, pelvic floor.

  Well, this is like a myth, but it's kind of true. Pelvic floor dysfunction. It should not be taboo, and it should be discussed. Is it taboo? It kind of is taboo.

  It's getting to be less taboo. It shouldn't be taboo. It should be discussed because it is a muscle group, just like the muscles in our arms, the muscles in our legs, the muscles in our back, the muscles in our abdomen, and things like bowel function, bladder function, sexual function.

  Those are all activities of daily life, also known as ADL's. Just like getting up and going to work, just like getting in and out of a car, just like feeding yourself, dressing, grooming.

  Those are all regular daily activities. So bowel bladder, pooping, peeing, having sex, those things should all be considered normal. We should help you be able to talk about those things and help you get them better.

  So I think that was number five. So pelvic floor issues should not be tabooed. That's number five. Moving on to number six.

  A lot of people. Well, let me just say it before I jump into it. Pelvic floor issues are not just for the elderly. A lot of elderly people have.

  Why am I blinking?

  Why am I blinking?

  Incontinence. Goodness, I couldn't think of the word. A lot of elderly people have incontinence. Incontinence is a major issue, especially where people live in community dwelling places like a assisted living communities, skilled nursing facilities.

  A lot of people have incontinence issues and incontinence can lead to bacterial issues and urinary UTIs and the UTIs can become sepsis and people can get sick and can eventually die and can fall and break hips from the cognitive impairments.

  And it could be this whole cascading effect that ultimately came from incontinence. So incontinence is a major thing with the elderly people. But just because it is super major with the elderly, it does not mean it's just primarily only affects elderly, unfortunately, kids that are bedwetters, people that are going through just life.

  Puberty changes, childbearing age changes, perimenopausal changes, postpartum changes, pregnancy changes, menopausal changes, all sorts of changes of life, phases of life. People can have pelvic floor issues throughout the from the beginning of life to the end of life.

  So no, pelvic floor issues do not just affect the elderly.

  Number, number seven.

  Number seven.

  If you have something like a prolapse or if you have something like diastasis recti, there is a misnomer out there that people think you only can recover that with surgery.

  And that is a myth.

  Have diastasis recti, which is when the abs separate or if you have prolapse, bladder prolapse, rectal prolapse, uterine prolapse.

  If it's very bad on both ends of the spectrum, yes, you might need surgery. But if you do not have an extreme case, then pelvic physical therapy is the way to go and you do not need surgery.

  So surgery is not the be all end all for things like that. So you can definitely have physical therapy to help with a gamut of things that are pelvic floor dysfunction.

  So that was number seven.

  Number eight.

  Yes, number eight. If you do go to pelvic floor therapy, some people are scared because they think that pelvic floor therapy is automatically painful. That is not true. Now, if you do have bladder pain or pelvic pain or vaginal pain or penile testicular pain and you don't want to go to pelvic floor therapy because you don't want more pain, that is very understandable to have that concern.

  However, when we are trained professionals, we do not want to increase your pain. We are here to reduce your pain. And we have lots of tools and knowledge and education to reduce your pain.

  So just because the pain is the driving force, it does not mean that when you come to see us, it's going to 100% be painful. Even if you have to have an internal assessment or an internal treatment, meaning we go inside of your body to release the 10 the tension or facilitate the contraction in your pelvic floor, it does not mean that.

  That the internal treatments will be painful. So going to pelvic floor therapy does not equal pain. That is, that is 100% a myth. I think that was number eight. Number nine, once you start pelvic floor therapy, you do not need to do pelvic floor therapy forever.

  No, you don't. A lot of times, once we get those muscles firing the way that they're supposed to, contracting the way that they're supposed to turning on when they're supposed to turning off when they're supposed to working with their partners like they're supposed to listen to the last episode, get that environment where working and healthy, we get, we get all of those other systems in a healthy state with your stress and your sleep and all of that other stuff.

  You may not need to come to see us forever, but there might be some lifestyle changes, one or two things that you might need to do on a regular basis.

  But you do not have to see us forever. We would like you, you know, to be. To come back when you need us, but you don't. Do not have to see us forever.

  So as a review, women are not the only ones with pelvic floors. Women are not the only ones with pelvic floor dysfunction. Kegels is not always the answer for pelvic floor dysfunction.

  Pelvic floor physical therapy is not always painful. Pelvic floor dysfunction should not be taboo. Pelvic floor therapy or pelvic floor dysfunction does not only affect older people.

  Oh, I skipped that one. I'm going to give you a bonus one. Surgery is not the only option if you do have pelvic floor issues.

  Pelvic floor physical therapy should not be painful. Once you start pelvic floor therapy. You do not have to continue it forever. Just continue it until we resolve your symptoms. And then the bonus one that I overlooked is pelvic floor therapy is not just for women that are pregnant, which you could probably get that from the other list.

  So that is 10 things my friend, 10 myths about pelvic Floor Physical Therapy. So come back in a couple weeks and I will be gracing your earbuds or your video with some more tips and tricks about pelvic physical therapy.

  Thanks.

  Thank you for listening to this episode of the Maroon Pelvic Health Podcast. Please do me a favor and leave a review so that more people can find this content.

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