Pelvic floor therapy in Womack, MO. Pelvic floor causes more than just physical pain; it can impact your self-perception and happiness. If pelvic floor dysfunction is preventing you from dominating on the field, beginning parenthood, or just getting through a day with the same assurance and ease you used to, pelvic floor physical therapy could be what you require to regain your lifestyle. With research-supported treatment plans, pelvic floor therapy in Womack, MO can lead to:
- Improved bladder and bowel control
- Reduced pain and swelling
- Enhanced sexual function and pleasure
- Increased self-assurance and well-being
Axes Physical Therapy in Womack, MO specializes in developing customized treatment plans that gets pelvic floor patients back to the pursuits they enjoy most securely and effectively. If you are interested in gaining more information about pelvic floor therapy or wish to arrange an appointment with one of our physical therapusts, please contact us online today or contact to the Axes location nearest you. We’re here to help you restore control and assurance in your pelvic health.
How the Pelvic Floor Works
The pelvic floor is a group of muscles, ligaments, and fibers that form a supportive hammock-like structure at the base of the pelvis. It acts like a “floor” or a base for the organs in the pelvic region, including the bladder, uterus, urethra, and rectum. The pelvic floor protects organs and your spine from external pressure while helping manage several everyday functions.
The pelvic floor provides a number of vital functions for the body:
- Helps regulate your bladder and bowels by giving you authority over the squeezing and relaxing of muscles
- Supports organs in the pelvis and avoids them from descending
- Resists abdominal pressure from lifting, coughing, or other activities
- Supports optimal sexual function
- Provides sturdiness and alignment to the core and back
- During pregnancy, expands to accommodate a growing fetus and assists in childbirth
- Assists in blood and lymph circulation, contributing to sustain healthy tissue
Pelvic Floor Anatomy
The pelvic floor muscles stretch from the tailbone at the back to the pubic bone at the front, while also linking to the hip bones on each side. These muscles have openings or canals for the urethra (through which urine is passed), the vagina, and the anus (through which stool is passed).
Picture the pelvic floor as a woven network of muscles and tissues that forms a sturdy foundation, holding the pelvic organs in place and preventing them from dropping down. It works like a reinforcing sling to uphold the position and function of pelvic organs.
The primary muscles of the pelvic floor are called the levator ani and the coccygeus. The levator ani has three parts: one that wraps around the rectum and helps you to hold in your stool (puborectalis), one that connects the front and back bones of your pelvis and maintains the urethra and rectum (pubococcygeus), and one that connects the side and back bones of your pelvis and sustains the organs inside your lower belly (iliococcygeus). The coccygeus connects the side and back bones of your pelvis and works to keep your pelvis stable.
The pelvic floor muscles have important roles. They aid in controlling the release of urine and stool by contracting and relaxing at the right times and contribute in sexual function and pleasure by supporting the organs involved in sexual activity. When the pelvic floor is compromised or becomes too tense, it results in pelvic floor dysfunction.
Causes, Signs, and Symptoms of Pelvic Floor Dysfunction
Pelvic floor dysfunction is a condition where you experience difficulty relaxing and aligning your pelvic floor muscles for ideal function.
Signs and Symptoms
- Difficulty urinating or having bowel movements
- Feeling like your bowel movements are incomplete
- Leakage of urine or feces
- Regularly feeling the need to use the bathroom
- Feeling like you need to strain urine or feces
- Pelvic pain
- Pain during sexual intercourse
- Erectile dysfunction and trouble reaching orgasm
- Organ prolapse
Potential Causes
- Pregnancy and childbirth
- Pelvic surgery or trauma
- Obesity
- Aging
- Menopause
- Chronic constipation or straining
- Chronic coughing or sneezing
- Heavy lifting or high-impact exercise
- Psychological factors like stress or emotional trauma
- Nerve damage
- Surgery
Pelvic floor dysfunction doesn’t just affect people of a single certain age, gender or physical ability. While it can affect anyone deeply, it’s important to remember that proven, evidence-backed treatment plans exist with professional physical therapy in Womack, MO. At Axes, we offer an entire team committed to assisting you recover the joy of participating in the pursuits you love most in life.
How Physical Therapy Can Help With Pelvic Floor Dysfunction
If you are suffering from pelvic floor dysfunction, you may feel disappointed, embarrassed, or hopeless. But a diagnosis is not the same thing as a permanent condition. With pragmatic treatment plans customized for you by your Womack, MO physical therapist, you can reclaim control over your life and experience a pain-free existence.
Pelvic floor therapy involves exercises that can strengthen, stretch, or coordinate the pelvic muscles. The benefits of physical therapy for pelvic floor dysfunction in Womack, MO include:
- Improved pelvic floor muscle strength — Strengthening pelvic floor muscles can aid in improving bladder and bowel control, reduce symptoms of urinary and fecal incontinence, and offer better support for the pelvic organs.
- Improved pelvic floor muscle coordination — Enhancing coordination supports vitals functioning, such as the ability to relax and contract the muscles during urination, bowel movements, and sexual activity.
- Pain management — By targeting less resilient or more rigid muscles and addressing painful spots, physical therapy can assist in diminishing or eradicating the pain you endure due to pelvic floor dysfunction.
- Pre- and postpartum care — Pelvic floor therapy is frequently advised for expecting mothers and those who have just given birth. It can assist in preparing the pelvic floor for childbirth, reducing the chance of postpartum pelvic floor dysfunction, and facilitating healing from changes and trauma to the pelvic floor connected to childbirth.
- Sexual health improvement — By concentrating on particular muscles and tackling any subsurface issues, therapy can boost sexual excitement, orgasm, and overall sexual gratification.
- Education and self-management — Your tailored pelvic floor therapy plan won’t exclusively consist of monitored exercises. By providing education and guiding you in methods you can utilize on your own, your Axes physical therapist helps you actively participate in your own care and empowers you to sustain a routine that supports pelvic floor health.
At Axes Physical Therapy, we have a team of experienced pelvic floor therapists in Womack, MO who can support you in enhancing your pelvic well-being and function. While some cases of pelvic floor dysfunction may necessitate operative intervention, most individuals in Womack, MO will likely experience sustained and significant progress through non-invasive physical therapy techniques.
What Womack, MO Pelvic Floor Therapy Involves
Your initial pelvic floor therapy session in Womack, MO will comprise an evaluation of your current pelvic floor condition. The following sessions will focus on implementing your customized treatment plan.
Assessment and Evaluation
The journey of pelvic floor therapy begins with an initial evaluation. In this appointment, your Womack, MO physical therapist will dedicate time to familiarize themselves with you and your symptoms. They will inquire about your medical history, lifestyle, and goals. Additionally, they will perform a physical examination and musculoskeletal assessment of your trunk and pelvis to assess your present condition. With your consent, a pre-pelvic floor therapy assessment in Womack, MO may additionally include an internal examination to better assess the muscle strength level. Alternatively, biofeedback sensors can be utilized instead of an internal examination.
The assessment and evaluation carried out by your physical therapist will help in recognizing the potential causes of your pelvic floor dysfunction and enable the formulation of an effective treatment plan to help you in resuming the activities you enjoy.
Pelvic Floor Therapy Treatments and Exercises
Upon reviewing the findings from your assessment and evaluation, your pelvic floor therapist in Womack, MO will create a personalized treatment plan tailored to your needs. This plan will incorporate defined goals, exercises, and projected results to guide your therapy.
Exercises for Pelvic Floor Therapy
Improving muscle strength and coordination is vital for any pelvic floor therapy plan. Exercises that may be included in your physical therapy treatment plan in Womack, MO are:
- Kegel exercises to relax and tighten the pelvic floor muscles
- Diaphragmatic breathing to coordinate your breath with your pelvic floor motion
- Flexibility exercises to increase flexibility in tight muscles
- Resistance exercises to strengthen weak muscles
- Functional training to integrate new muscle actions into routine activities
The exercises your Womack, MO physical therapist prescribes for your pelvic floor dysfunction will vary based on your particular needs, but will all be aimed at rehabilitating your body and muscles for optimal health. Depending on your present health and level of pelvic floor dysfunction, exercises may begin with you reclining on your back and progress to seated and standing positions.
Manual Therapy
Manual therapy, such as instrument-assisted soft tissue mobilization, is a hands-on technique that involves your physical therapist applying pressure or working on specific areas of your pelvis. It may include myofascial release (releasing tight knots in your muscles), nerve decompression (freeing up compressed nerves), joint manipulation (improving the mobility of your joints), deep tissue massage (relaxing tense muscles), or skin rolling (lifting and rolling the skin to reduce adhesions).
Biofeedback Training
Biofeedback training employs a device to gauge and display the activity of your pelvic floor muscles on a screen. It help you understand how to manage and harmonize your pelvic floor muscles by giving you instant feedback on how they contract and release. This feedback helps you better understand understand how to engage and release the muscles appropriately, optimizing your muscle alignment and mastery.
Behavioral and Lifestyle Modifications
Physical therapy isn’t just a catalog of exercises to cross off – it also provides you with entrée to professional, research-supported insights that improve your everyday life. Your physical therapist may recommend you with:
- Adjustments to your nutrition
- Liquid control
- Proper body alignment and safe lifting methods
- Tactics for dealing with constipation
- Further tips for a more wholesome daily life and way of living
Augmenting the exercises and techniques utilized in pelvic floor therapy with these adaptations fosters better pelvic floor function and overall well-being.
Other methods in pelvic floor therapy may involve therapeutic ultrasound, electrical stimulation, vaginal dilators, weighted cones, medications, and additional alternatives.
Axes Physical Therapy’s Approach to Pelvic Floor Therapy in Womack, MO
At Axes Physical Therapy, we firmly believe in offering customized and empathetic treatment to our patients. Owned and operated by a devoted physical therapist in Womack, MO, our practice places our clients at the center and strives to achieve favorable patient results. We realize that pelvic floor dysfunction can present as a delicate and demanding condition. That’s why we approach every patient with the utmost respect, compassion, and personalized attention.
We also embrace the belief in providing evidence-based and integrative care to our patients. We employ up-to-date research and advanced technology to inform our treatment plans and methodologies. In addition, we present a range of other physical therapy services that can complement your pelvic floor therapy, including:
- Orthopedic rehab
- Sports physical therapy
- Neurological physical therapy
- Geriatric physical therapy
- Pre- or post-surgery rehab
If you are exploring pelvic floor therapy in Womack, MO at Axes Physical Therapy, we are here to help. We have several convenient physical therapy locations in the Womack, MO area, all dedicated to attaining your ideal pelvic health.
Call Axes Physical Therapy for Your Womack, MO Pelvic Floor Therapy Today
Don’t let pelvic floor dysfunction to keep you from living your best life. At Axes, our devoted physio and occupational therapists in Womack, MO have a unified mission: getting you back to the activities you value the most. Whether pelvic floor dysfunction is preventing your playing in your favorite sport or making it challenging to manage your day, we will tailor our physical therapy treatment plan specifically to you and your ambitions. Request an appointment through our website or reach out to the closest location to you to start your rehabilitation with Axes Physical Therapy in Womack, MO today.
