How Pelvic Health PT is Transforming Lives - Episode 33

In this episode of the Marrón Pelvic Health Podcast, Dr. Kar Roberts discusses the significance of pelvic floor physical therapy (PT) and its impact on daily life. Emphasizing the interconnectedness of the body's systems, Dr. Kari explains how pelvic PT is crucial for addressing issues like urinary leakage, pain, and movement limitations. With the rise of social media and direct education, more people are becoming aware of the benefits. Pelvic PT isn't only about addressing current symptoms but also managing life transitions like puberty, pregnancy, and menopause. It's about enhancing overall quality of life.

Book a call with Dr. Kari Roberts today.

Check out Episode 21 - What to Expect At Your First Pelvic PT Visit

• Episode Transcript

  Dr. Kari: There is so much conversation around pelvic health physical therapy. Have you wondered what exactly is it and why is it so important?

  Well, if you have, then stay tuned because I'm going to get into it.

  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.

  Now, what exactly is pelvic floor physical therapy, also known as pelvic pt Pelvic floor therapy.

  In a nutshell,

  it is a physical therapist. This is my definition. I did not do research and see that the blah, blah, blah academy of said this. No, this is just right off the top of the dome of my definition of what pelvic floor physical therapy is.

  My definition is pelvic floor physical therapy is therapy that is from the perspective of the patient. It is therapy that is specific for, for your pelvis and everything around the pelvis and everything that encompasses or that has impact on the pelvis.

  So that's how it is from a patient's perspective, as a practitioner's perspective. In my opinion, pelvic floor physical therapy is provided from an orthopedic physical therapist that has a special interest in the pelvic floor and him or her takes their knowledge of orthopedics and fine tunes it with the pelvic floor area,

  does a variety of treatments that improve the function of the pelvic floor muscles as well as all of the joints and muscles that have an impact on the pelvic floor.

  Now, with both definitions, I said something about other things that have an impact on the pelvic floor. And that is really why pelvic floor physical therapy is so important.

  And that's why there's so much conversation about pelvic floor physical therapy these days.

  Because the pelvis, if you look at someone standing up, the pelvis is more or less the. The center of your body. It's kind of halfway between your head and your feet and it's right in the middle between left and right.

  Right, it's right smacked up in the middle.

  So a lot of things can impart the pelvis and then also the pelvis can have an impact on other things.

  Primarily when you think about pelvic floor function, we're talking about activities of daily living. So peeing pooping, having intercourse,

  things like that. Those are the main things and those are usually the things that have people come into physical therapy for the pelvic floor. However, other things can impact it and vice versa.

  You can have back pain that transitions to pelvic floor pain. You can have pelvic floor pain that transitions to back pain.

  You could have a foot or an ankle injury, and now all of a sudden you have issues with leakage or bladder control. You can have bladder control and then we find out that there's something going on with your foot.

  Get what I'm saying? You could be pregnant and have something change with your sexual function or your bowel movements,

  and then we can relate that to the change of mobility in your spine and in your shoulder girdle. So everything kind of crosses over and impacts each other.

  That is why pelvic physical therapy is so important,

  because it focuses on the pelvis. But then we branch out and we are really changing lives.

  Why is there so much conversation around pelvic floor? I think part of it is because people's lives are being changed in a very unique way.

  If you're someone that leaks when you pee, or leaks when you're about to pee, or you're constantly in and out of the bathroom, that's going to have a direct impact on your day to day life.

  That's going to impact sometimes where you go. You may not want to go someplace where you don't know that there's a clean restroom or, or it might impact how often you are eating and drinking because you may want to be able to control those urges or those accidents.

  Sometimes it can impact the job that you do or don't take because you need to have access to a bathroom.

  All of those things can really be impactful just from something that seems simple as having some urinary leakage. Or if you look at it from a recreational perspective, it can impact you with hiking or working out, running, exercise.

  Sometimes people leak when they're intimate with their partners and that can have a huge impact on not only their physical health, but their emotional and their mental wellbeing as well.

  So that is why I think that pelvic physical therapy seems like it's everywhere and why it's being talked about and why it's so important,

  because we are helping normalize things that are traditionally pelvic floor functions. But normalizing those functions can, can have you be able to enjoy your life better with exercise, intimacy,

  the way you eat, the places you go, going on car rides, flying, traveling, things like that it can be so impactful.

  So another reason why I think that pelvic floor seems like it's all over the place is social media.

  Because many of us that have cash based businesses, we are not in network with insurance companies.

  So it's not like you get a list of here are all your providers, we have to be out here educating the public and saying, look,

  you have this issue, we can help you. Your doctor might have tried this medication, we can still help you. And we are really leading the pack, if you will, as far as educating the masses.

  And because of that, you see the conversations in your TikTok, in your Instagram, in your YouTube shorts, we're seeing those conversations and then that kind of creates a loop where now you might see something, you talk it over with a girlfriend, a parent,

  a practitioner, a medical physician,

  people like that. And then now we have more conversations. So that's my two cents. What pelvic floor physical therapy is and why it seems like it's everywhere, why it seems like everybody's talking about it.

  Also, I think that pelvic floor physical therapy is key. Whenever you're going through transitions in life, especially as a woman coming into puberty, when your cycle change starts,

  you can have changes with those pelvic functions.

  When you are childbearing age and,

  you know, you might be developing fibroids or you might have other things going on that can impact the pelvic floor. When you're going through perimenopause and then menopause and those hormones start to start to shift, that can have impact on your pelvic floor.

  And then of course, if you are pregnant, carrying children,

  whether it's, you know, unfortunately ends in miscarriage, or if you have a C section or a vaginal delivery, if that is traumatic, or if it's smooth, either. Either way, all of those things that happen every single day impact your pelvic floor, impact your pelvic health.

  And we are your practitioners that can help you get through that. So that's just my little quick tidbit on what pelvic floor physical therapy is and how we can help you.

  If you're interested in maybe having a consultation or a phone call, please don't hesitate to reach out. I would love to answer any questions you have.

  If you're considering going in for physical therapy and you want to know kind of what it's like, like going to pelvic floor physical therapy, then check out episode 21, where I really walk through, step by step, what the steps are for your first initial visit with Pelvic Physical Therapy.

  Thank you for tuning in and I will be back in your earbuds with another episode next week.

  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 content and make sure you like and subscribe yourself so you never miss another episode.