One of the most frequently asked questions we get as pelvic floor specialists from our female patients is “is it normal that I have pain with sex?” While it is common, it is not and does not have to be accepted as “normal.” According to statistics from the American College of Gynecology (ACOG), 75% of...
The brain, bladder, and pelvic floor are a system that need to work in harmony together. An issue with any of those regions in the system will affect the others regions and can lead to bladder dysfunction. Dysfunction may appear as: leaking before you make it to the toilet (urge incontinence), leaking during activity or...
Breathing has become an industry in this country. Books, apps, and countless health articles revolve around the various styles of breathing, all boasting the mental and physical benefits that can be unlocked with different techniques. As pelvic health physical therapists in Boulder County, we often assess a patient’s breathing pattern during our first evaluation and...
If you deal with pelvic floor tension, you or a physical therapist has likely discovered tight adductors as well. Due to shared fascial connections and synergies between the muscle groups, the pelvic floor and adductors are closely related in regards to tension held within them. Pelvic floor tension can affect adductor tension and vice versa,...
Pelvic organ prolapse (POP) is the descent or tissue laxity of the front (bladder), back (rectum), or top (cervical) aspect of the vaginal wall. With less support from connective tissue and muscles of the pelvis, the bladder, uterus, or rectum can press on the vaginal wall contributing to increased pelvic pressure or bulge sensation. The...
At our Boulder pelvic physical therapy clinic, we often see the cause of a pelvic floor dysfunction being tension, not weakness, of pelvic floor muscles. This applies not just to those that identify as female, but those identifying as males as well. Muscles that are holding more tension than they should, cannot properly function. So...
What is the pelvic floor doing while I climb? Should I do kegels? Can I climb while pregnant? “In the end, climbing was one of the only things my body felt good doing for the entirety of my pregnancy, and I climbed throughout, enjoying my final pregnant climbing session just 12 hours before going into...
Yes men, you do have a pelvic floor. In fact, aside from different genitalia, all genders have the same pelvic floor muscle and nerve make up. Even in the absence of delivering babies, the male pelvic floor and surrounding area can be susceptible to dysfunction. The following diagnoses/presentations/symptoms can all be indicative of a pelvic...
One common symptom treated in pelvic floor physical therapy in our Boulder and Lafayette clinics is urinary urgency and frequency. These symptoms can be due to a number of musculoskeletal or nervous system dysfunctions: hypertonic pelvic floor or abdominal muscles, irritated pudendal or genitofemoral nerves, a high sympathetic nervous system state, learned behavior, etc. Patients...
Bowel movements are a part of our normal routine, but painful bowel movements don’t have to be. A common cause of painful bowel elimination is anal fissures. These tiny tears in the anal canal are quite common and have a significant impact on quality of life. Among patients studied in a 2014 cohort, prevelance of...
