Pelvic Health Services | Smart Athlete Physiotherapy

PELVIC HEALTH SERVICES

Pelvic floor dysfunction (PFD) is a term used to describe a variety of disorders including pelvic pain and various types of incontinence or constipation. PFD can occur when the muscles lack tone increasing symptoms of incontinence or pelvic organ prolapse. Additionally, excessive tone in pelvic floor muscles lead to difficulty with evacuation of urine or stool, sexual dysfunction, and/or pelvic pain. 

PFD in the female athlete has been described by some experts as an “epidemic” with statistics showing as high as 1 in 4 females reporting symptoms. In fact, one of the risk factors for stress incontinence is playing professional sports. Athletes are constantly subject to impact through 1 the lumbopelvic region (i.e. heel strike, jumping, and landing). However, the problem facing these women is either they do not want to talk about their symptoms, or they consider dysfunction to be “normal.” 

At Smart Athlete Physiotherapy, we hope to be a part of a change in addressing PFD. Our desire is that women feel comfortable to discuss this issue in hopes of finding a way to address their symptoms. At our clinic you will work with a women’s health physio in a private setting throughout your course of care. This allows for a customized session including manual therapy and personalized exercises to help you change your pelvic floor. 

During your initial evaluation, you will work with our pelvic floor therapist to determine your type of dysfunction and help establish a treatment plan. She will conduct a thorough evaluation including a detailed history, musculoskeletal examination, and postural assessment. When indicated your treatment may also include an internal exam to determine the tonicity of the pelvic floor for improving the specificity of your treatment goals. Our goal is to treat the whole person and not just the dysfunction.

Conditions treated include:

  • Urinary or Fecal Incontinence
            (stress, urge, or mixed)
  • Constipation related to PFD
  • Sacroiliac dysfunction
  • Coccyx pain (coccydynia)
  • Abdominal pain/scar tissue adhesions
  • Dyspareunia (painful sexual intercourse)
  • Pelvic organ prolapse
  • Pelvic floor muscle weakness
  • Cesarean and vaginal delivery rehabilitation
  • Pre or post natal low back pain
  • Diastasis Recti
  • Postpartum core weakness
  • Pudendal nerve entrapment

1 J Hum Kinet. 2014 Dec 9; 44: 91-96 Published online 2014 Dec 30. doi:10.2478/hukin-2014-0114 PMCID: PMC4327384.
Prevalence of Stress Urinary Incontinence in Elite Female Endurance Athlete Anna Poswiata, Teresa Socha and Józef Opara