Ann listens | She cares | She understands | She’s an expert | She helped me

Services

Here are the problems I treat and how they’re treated:

Bladder | Bowel | Pelvic pain | Sex | Men | Prolapse | Pregnancy | Postpartum | Transgender | Cancer


Men

What male pelvic issues do you treat?

It’s usually spoken of like this:

“It hurts to sit. It hurts to wear tight clothes. I have rectal spasms that cause intense pain. I’ve been on antibiotics for chronic prostatitis, but it never really goes away. It hurts to ejaculate. Ever since prostate cancer treatment, I leak urine even though I empty my bladder all the time, and can’t get/maintain an erection. I still have pain even though my vasectomy was months ago. Radiation therapy was years ago but I’m starting to have problems with controlling my bowels.”

10% of men experience pelvic pain symptoms due to pelvic floor dysfunction. They are often misdiagnosed as prostatitis, leading to unnecessary use of antibiotics. After prostate cancer treatment, men often experience urinary incontinence and erectile dysfunction and are told that it might go away after a year. There is much that physical therapy can do to help.

How can pelvic physical therapy help you?

Treatment options include:

  • External and/or internal pelvic floor evaluation to assess muscle function, tone, sensory awareness, coordination and check for strength

  • Specific pelvic floor exercises which may include strengthening if/when you are able to selectively isolate the pelvic floor muscles. With pain conditions, you actually may need to learn how to relax the pelvic floor muscles. The traditional Kegel exercise has a place, but there is much more to the pelvic floor—and about 50% of men do Kegels the wrong way! We’ll design a program based on what you specifically need..

  • Biofeedback can be very helpful.  For those who learn well by seeing, biofeedback can give you better awareness of how to use your pelvic floor and abdominal muscles.

  • Bladder and bowel retraining which starts with completing a bladder/bowel diary and education about what is normal. We’ll work to improve your bladder function and habits, so that your bladder and/or bowels aren’t ruling your life!

  • Manual therapy hands on treatment focused on improving the mobility of your soft tissue and the alignment and mobility of your joints.