One of the questions I always ask patients in my office with pelvic floor dysfunction is if they feel any pelvic heaviness. I will be the first to say that the term “pelvic heaviness” is pretty vague and likely interpreted differently from one patient to the next. BUT, I actually love that this is a vague term because if the answer is “yes” or “sometimes”, we can jump into further discussion about what exactly they feel and when. (If the answer is “no”, I still ask some follow up questions just to make sure we are on the same page). Read the blog to learn more.

If you have followed me on social media or read any of my previous blog posts, you likely know that I do not like blanket statements when it comes to most things in physical therapy. Exercise in pregnancy is absolutely one of those things! Over the years there have been a lot of movements and exercises deemed “pregnancy safe” or “not safe”, most of which do not have substantial evidence to support that stance. In this post, I’m going to dive into what is and is not recommended, as well as my stance on exercise during pregnancy.

In previous blog posts (like this one) we have talked about the link between the pelvic floor and hip pain. In this blog post we talked about the link between pelvic organ prolapse and hip pain. But what about pain further down the leg? Could pelvic organ prolapse be causing leg pain outside of the hip? Let’s dive in.

Symphysis pubis dysfunction is common during pregnancy, but it is not something you have to suffer through! In this blog post I’m going to explain what symphysis pubis dysfunction is, and what you can do about it during pregnancy.

Part 2 of 10 things I’ve learned in 10 years as a physical therapist.

May marks 10 years since I graduated from Mount St Joseph University’s Doctor of Physical Therapy program. I started doing a series of posts on Instagram last week about 10 things I’ve learned in 10 years as a PT. I figured this would also be a great topic to put into a blog post, so in this post I’m sharing the first 5 things I’ve learned.

You may know conscious breath work, or pranayama, can help manage pelvic pain. But how? Read the blog to learn more.

In this blog, Dr. Alexis shares her birth story of baby #3.

The foot is commonly overlooked when it comes to pelvic floor symptoms such as leaking, heaviness, and prolapse. Read the blog to learn about how the foot ad pelvic floor are connected.

Yoga is a helpful adjunct tool to traditional medical care and pelvic floor physical therapy. How is yoga beneficial for men and women healing pelvic pain? Read the blog post to learn about how yoga can help relieve acute and chronic pelvic pain.

Pregnancy aches and pains, especially pelvic pain, has been normalized. Women are often told it’s part of being pregnant and will get better postpartum. Although many of these aches and pains are common during pregnancy, there is a lot we can do in pelvic floor therapy to reduce pain and help you have a more comfortable pregnancy.

In previous blog posts (like this one) we have talked about the link between the pelvic floor and hip pain. The muscles in the pelvic floor have a significant effect on joints in the area, including the lower back, SI joint, and hips. But what about pelvic organ prolapse (or POP)? Does pelvic organ prolapse cause hip pain? Let’s dive in.

Most of my prenatal and postpartum patients have heard (or seen on social media) mixed things about postpartum exercise. Can you start doing some type of exercise right away? Should you be staying in bed for the first 5 days? Should you be back to your pre-pregnancy exercise routine by 6 weeks, or are you supposed to start exercising at 6 weeks? All of these questions (and so many more) come up in these appointments. Let’s unpack this topic!

The 6-week mark is used because of tissue healing guidelines, but nothing magical happens at 6 weeks that allows postpartum moms to just jump back into any activity they want. If they had any other surgery or major injury, they likely would be referred to physical therapy. Yet most postpartum moms still aren’t referred to any kind of pelvic floor therapy. Read the full blog to learn strategies to help you recover in the first 6 weeks postpartum.

When patients reach out to me interested in pelvic floor therapy, it is typically because they are experiencing symptoms such as urinary leaking, painful intercourse, constipation or other bowel dysfunction, or are pregnant or postpartum. Patients with hip pain typically think to see an orthopedic physical therapist or a physician. However, the pelvic floor may actually play a major role in reducing and eliminating hip pain. Read the full blog to learn more.

A common thing I hear from my patients or folks in the community is that they feel like their hip flexors are always tight. Many times they say "no matter how much I stretch, they just never loosen up!". So the question becomes, are your hip flexors really "tight"? As in, is that muscle shortened? Why does it feel that way? And why doesn't stretching help?

I often see patients who experience urine leaking with both things like coughing, sneezing, laughing AND with things like running, jumping, and lifting weights. Sometimes the reason for loss of urine with these two scenarios are the same, but sometimes there are other factors that are specific to leaking with running and jumping that need to be addressed. Read the blog to learn more.

Constipation is a symptom that many of my patients with back pain and/or pelvic floor dysfunction experience. Sometimes patients are coming in because of bowel dysfunction, but more often than not I am seeing them for something else and as we work through their intake form, we find that constipation could be contributing to their symptoms. In this blog post, we’re going to dive into how to why constipation happens, how to know if you’re constipated, and how constipation can affect your pelvic health.

I often describe my approach to treatment as “holistic physical therapy”. Recently I had someone ask me what I meant by holistic, as they always think of physical therapy as being holistic since we aren’t performing surgery or using injections. This is a great point, so I thought I would write a blog further explaining what I mean when I say holistic physical therapy.

When it comes to pain management, there are two things I commonly hear from patients. The first: “No pain, no gain”. The second: “I was having pain, so I didn’t do anything for 2 weeks”. These two statements sit on complete opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to pain management. And in my experience, neither of these patients end up feeling better from these philosophies.