5 things to expect before your first Pelvic Floor Therapy session
First of all, let’s acknowledge the emotions behind someone who is considering a pelvic health assessment. You may be feeling confused and/or frustrated about why your body is responding a certain way. You may be embarrassed to reach out for help or talk about your symptoms. You may possibly feel discouraged. You may be compelled to be relieved of the symptoms as quickly as possible. There are many reasons one may reach out to a pelvic floor therapist for an evaluation. Whether it’s an issue someone has been dealing with for years or a new onset, I commend anyone who takes the initiative for actively participating in the improvement of their pelvic health.
PF therapy can be similar to typical OT/PT in the sense that there is an assessment, follow ups, and usually a home exercise program. It can be a unique experience though because pelvic health is still fairly new. Medical studies still have limited data to support or disclaim many protocols, medicines, and surgical procedures. It’s a bit of the wild west in medicine at the moment, especially when working with complex pain diagnoses such as endometriosis. Due to its role in so many areas of functioning, considerations to other areas such as gastrointestinal, and respiratory system may be addressed during someone’s care. Therapists may connect with other professionals including physiatry, neurology, gastroenterologists, urogynecology, and OBGYNs as necessary.
With that in mind, here are 5 things to expect before your first session:
Get used to trash talk.
Be prepared to talk in detail about poop, pee, and sex. Your therapist will likely have specific questions related to these topics, especially if one of these is an area of concern.
Be ready to learn and consider making lifestyle changes, rather than ‘be healed’.
A lot of pelvic floor therapy is coaching and educating clients to develop a better awareness of their bodies.
Feel free to say ‘no’ if you are not comfortable.
Pelvic floor therapy is often the first place (and sometimes only place) one can receive an internal assessment of the muscle tone that makes up the pelvic floor. This will help guide a therapist’s intervention plan. Internal assessments are the gold standard to determine pelvic muscle tone, but is not a requirement for therapy. There are other means to measure this.
External assessments may also be a part of an evaluation.
A therapist will assess the mobility and integrity of external tissues.
Advocate for your needs.
From the topics of discussion to the external/internal assessments, it’s apparent that a pelvic floor evaluation is an intimate experience. Find someone who makes you feel comfortable.