Understanding Constipation and How Pelvic Floor Therapy Can Help
Constipation is more than just infrequent bowel movements—it’s a condition that often includes straining, hard stools, or a feeling of incomplete emptying. While diet, hydration, and exercise are crucial for bowel health, many people overlook the role of their pelvic floor muscles in this common issue.
How Does the Pelvic Floor Affect Constipation?
Your pelvic floor muscles play a key role in controlling bowel movements. If these muscles are too tight (hypertonic) or uncoordinated, they can make it difficult to relax and pass stool. This is known as dyssynergic defecation, a common but often overlooked cause of constipation.
How Can Pelvic Floor Therapy Help?
Pelvic floor physical therapy offers a tailored approach to relieving constipation:
Muscle Relaxation: Therapists use manual techniques to release tight pelvic floor muscles.
Biofeedback: Learn to coordinate your pelvic muscles properly during bowel movements.
Education and Strategies: Discover better bowel habits, posture, and breathing techniques for easier elimination.
Takeaway
If constipation is affecting your daily life, pelvic floor therapy may provide the relief you need. A trained therapist can help restore proper muscle function, improving both your comfort and bowel health.
Don’t let constipation hold you back—take the first step toward feeling better today!
Why Does Sex Hurt? Exploring the Causes of Painful Intercourse and How to Find Relief
Sex is often seen as an act of connection and pleasure, but for many people, it can be a source of discomfort or pain. This condition, known as dyspareunia, affects people of all genders and can be caused by a variety of physical, emotional, and psychological factors. If sex is painful for you, know that you’re not alone—and that solutions are available.
Common Causes of Pain with Sex
Pain during sex can be broadly categorized into physical and psychological causes, though the two are often interrelated.
1. Pelvic Floor Dysfunction
The pelvic floor muscles play a key role in sexual function. If these muscles are too tight (hypertonic), weak, or uncoordinated, they may cause pain during penetration or deep thrusting. Conditions such as vaginismus (involuntary muscle spasms) and pelvic floor myalgia are common contributors.
2. Hormonal Changes
Low estrogen levels, often seen during menopause, postpartum, or while using certain hormonal contraceptives, can lead to vaginal dryness and thinning of the vaginal walls (vaginal atrophy). These changes can make penetration uncomfortable or painful.
3. Infections and Inflammation
Yeast infections, bacterial vaginosis, or sexually transmitted infections can cause irritation, swelling, and discomfort.
Conditions like vulvodynia (chronic pain in the vulva) or vestibulodynia (pain at the vaginal opening) can result in burning or stinging sensations during sex.
4. Endometriosis
Endometriosis occurs when uterine-like tissue grows outside the uterus, often causing severe pelvic pain. Deep pain during intercourse, particularly with deep penetration, is a hallmark symptom.
5. Interstitial Cystitis (IC)
Also known as painful bladder syndrome, IC can cause pelvic discomfort and pain during sex due to bladder irritation.
6. Scarring and Trauma
Scar tissue from surgeries (e.g., cesarean sections, hysterectomies), childbirth tears, or pelvic injuries can reduce flexibility in the pelvic area, leading to pain during sexual activity.
7. Psychological and Emotional Factors
Emotions significantly influence the body’s response to sexual activity. Anxiety, past trauma, fear of pain, or relationship stress can lead to tension in the pelvic muscles, exacerbating pain. Psychological factors may also reduce arousal and lubrication, further contributing to discomfort.
8. Other Medical Conditions
Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) or chronic constipation may increase pelvic floor tension and discomfort.
Neurological conditions like pudendal neuralgia can cause pain or burning sensations in the pelvic region.
Seeking Help for Painful Sex
It’s essential to address pain during sex, as it can affect emotional well-being, relationships, and quality of life. Here are some steps to consider:
1. Consult a Healthcare Provider
A gynecologist, urologist, or primary care physician can help diagnose underlying medical conditions contributing to pain.
2. Pelvic Physical Therapy
Pelvic floor physical therapists specialize in assessing and treating issues related to pelvic floor muscles, scar tissue, and posture that may be causing pain. Treatment often includes:
Manual therapy to release muscle tension.
Exercises to improve strength and coordination.
Education on relaxation and breathing techniques.
3. Lubrication and Moisturizers
Using high-quality lubricants during sex or vaginal moisturizers for daily use can help reduce friction and dryness.
4. Counseling or Therapy
If emotional or psychological factors play a role, therapy can help address past trauma, anxiety, or relational concerns. Sex therapists or counselors trained in intimacy issues can be particularly helpful.
5. Medical Treatments
Depending on the cause, treatments may include hormonal therapies, medications for infections or inflammation, or procedures to address specific conditions like endometriosis.
Takeaway
Pain during sex is not something you have to endure or ignore. While it may feel isolating, it’s a common issue with many possible causes and treatments. Understanding your body and seeking professional support are crucial first steps in finding relief and reclaiming intimacy.
If you’re experiencing pain with sex, reach out to a trusted healthcare provider or pelvic physical therapist. You deserve a fulfilling and pain-free sex life, and help is available.
Need Guidance? If pain during sex is affecting your life, contact our pelvic physical therapists to assess, diagnose and treat your sexual health.
Understanding the Overlap Between Back Pain and Urinary Issues: How Pelvic Physical Therapists Bridge the Gap
Back pain and urinary issues often seem like unrelated concerns. Back pain may conjure thoughts of strained muscles or herniated discs, while urinary issues may point to bladder or pelvic dysfunction. However, these two conditions frequently intersect due to the body’s complex musculoskeletal and nervous system connections. Pelvic physical therapists (PTs), who are also trained as orthopedic PTs, are uniquely equipped to address this overlap.
The Connection Between Back Pain and Urinary Dysfunction
The pelvis and spine share critical anatomical and functional relationships. The pelvic floor muscles, which play a key role in urinary control, are intricately linked to the lumbar spine, sacrum, and hip joints. When one area is dysfunctional, it can directly or indirectly impact the other.
Here are some common scenarios:
Nerve Involvement: The lumbar and sacral spinal nerves (particularly the pudendal nerve) control pelvic floor function. A herniated disc or lumbar stenosis may compress these nerves, causing both back pain and urinary symptoms such as urgency, frequency, or leakage.
Muscle Imbalances: Chronic low back pain often leads to compensatory muscle patterns, which can overburden or weaken the pelvic floor. This may result in incontinence or pelvic organ prolapse.
Postural Changes: Poor posture, whether from prolonged sitting or injury, can misalign the pelvis and lumbar spine. This alignment issue can stress the bladder or pelvic floor muscles, creating urinary symptoms.
Stress and Tension: Stress-related conditions such as pelvic floor hypertonicity can manifest as both low back pain and bladder discomfort, as the pelvic floor muscles are in constant overdrive.
The Role of Pelvic Physical Therapists in Treating the Overlap
Pelvic PTs are uniquely qualified because they are also trained in orthopedic physical therapy principles. This dual expertise enables them to assess and treat both the musculoskeletal and visceral aspects of pain and dysfunction.
Comprehensive Evaluation
Pelvic PTs take a holistic approach to understand the root cause of your symptoms. They assess:
Spinal mobility and alignment
Pelvic floor muscle function (strength, endurance, and coordination)
Posture and gait patterns
Core stability and breathing mechanics
Tailored Treatment Plans
Treatment often involves a combination of techniques, such as:
Manual Therapy: To release tight muscles, improve joint mobility, and address fascial restrictions.
Pelvic Floor Training: Strengthening or relaxing the pelvic floor as needed to restore balance.
Core Stabilization Exercises: Targeting deep abdominal and back muscles to support the spine and pelvis.
Neuromuscular Re-education: Retraining the brain and body to work together more effectively.
Behavioral Modifications: Guidance on bladder habits, posture, and ergonomics to prevent recurrence.
Why Choose a Pelvic PT for Back and Urinary Issues?
While many orthopedic PTs can treat back pain, not all are trained to address the nuanced relationship between the pelvis and urinary system. Pelvic PTs bridge this gap, offering a unique skill set that can address both conditions simultaneously, reducing the time to recovery and improving overall quality of life.
If you’re experiencing back pain with urinary symptoms, you don’t have to manage them separately. A pelvic PT can provide the specialized care you need to uncover the connections and restore your health holistically.
Ready to take the next step? If you’re dealing with overlapping back pain and urinary concerns, consult our pelvic physical therapists to regain control of your body and comfort in your life.
Kegels have long been touted as the go-to exercise for pelvic floor health, especially for people dealing with issues like incontinence or postpartum recovery. While they can help isolate and strengthen the pelvic floor muscles, Kegels alone often fall short of delivering true functional benefits.
Why? Because our bodies don’t operate in isolation. For your pelvic floor to function optimally, it needs to work in harmony with your entire core and adapt to the dynamic movements of daily life. Without this integration, Kegels can become an exercise in futility.
The Problem with Kegels
Lack of Functional Application: Kegels focus on contracting and releasing the pelvic floor muscles, but this movement rarely mirrors real-life demands. Your pelvic floor isn’t just called upon when you’re sitting still; it’s working when you lift, squat, walk, and breathe.
Over-Isolation of Muscles: By isolating the pelvic floor without addressing its relationship with surrounding muscles (like the diaphragm, deep core, and glutes), you risk creating imbalances. Overly tight or weak pelvic floor muscles can lead to dysfunction, just like any other muscle in the body.
Failure to Address Coordination: The pelvic floor works as part of a team. It should naturally contract and relax in response to movement and changes in intra-abdominal pressure (like when you sneeze or lift something heavy). Kegels don’t train this coordination, which is essential for functional pelvic health.
The Functional Alternative
To truly improve pelvic floor function, exercises must integrate the pelvic floor into whole-body movements. Here’s how:
Link the Pelvic Floor to Breathing: Your pelvic floor and diaphragm are closely connected. Practicing diaphragmatic breathing can help you engage the pelvic floor naturally during inhalation and exhalation, training it to respond to pressure changes.
Incorporate Functional Movements: Exercises like squats, lunges, and deadlifts—when performed with proper alignment and core engagement—naturally involve the pelvic floor. These moves train the pelvic floor to support your body during the activities you perform daily.
Focus on Stability and Coordination: Exercises like bird dogs, bridges, and planks can help integrate the pelvic floor into larger movement patterns, ensuring it works cohesively with other muscles.
Final Thoughts
Kegels aren’t inherently bad—they’re just not the whole story. Isolating the pelvic floor can be a useful first step for some, especially in early stages of rehab. But if you want lasting results and improved function, you need to think bigger.
Train your pelvic floor to move and respond as part of a coordinated system, and you’ll not only strengthen this critical muscle group but also improve your overall movement and quality of life.
Say goodbye to endless Kegels and hello to functional movement for true pelvic floor health!
What is Desire Discrepancy, and What Can I Do About It?
Desire discrepancy is a common challenge many couples face—it happens when partners have different levels of sexual desire. More often than not, my female patients complain that they feel as if they are broken because they do not want to have sex with their partners. They often describe that they feel as though they “should” be more into sex and feel tremendous amounts of shame for their lack of interest.
News flash for all of y’all: we may assume that this is a female-specific problem. This is not true. Desire discrepancy can occur in any relationship by any particular person. Same-sex and queer couples can present this issue. Likewise, there are plenty of men with lower libidos than their female partner.
Desires naturally ebb and flow. Many factors feed into our sex life even though we associate most of sex with our genitals. Our stressors, lifestyle, hormonal changes, children, sleep cycles and general health can all tremendously impact how we relate to our sexuality.
The bottom line here that we all really need to understand a couple of things:
What value does sex bring into our lives? Is it a release? Physical touch? Intimacy? Reflecting on what sex means to you and being vulnerable enough to have that conversation with your partner is the first step in conquering this issue. The real challenge here is that SHAME wants to fault your desires and needs.
Good, giving, game of Dan Savage rules when it comes to our sexuality. We have to be willing to at least entertain or explore our partner’s needs in regards to our sexuality in a judgement free space.
SEX WILL CHANGE! This is inevitable. Our hormones change, our bodies change, we age. There are facts. Understanding 1 & 2 will keep these conversations open and make sexuality something that can be adaptable through the lifespan.
At its core, desire discrepancy isn’t about “fixing” anyone. Instead, it’s about understanding the unique factors that influence desire, such as stress, emotional connection, and physical well-being. One powerful tool to navigate this difference is mindfulness.
How Mindfulness Can Help
Mindfulness, the practice of being present and fully engaged in the moment, can shift the way couples approach desire and intimacy. Here’s how:
Managing Stress: Stress is a major libido killer. Mindfulness exercises like deep breathing or guided meditation help calm the nervous system, creating space for desire to re-emerge naturally. Arousal needs us to be in a parasympathetic state. By managing our stressors through mindfulness, we can actually be in a state to be present.
Improves Emotional Connection: Mindfulness fosters nonjudgmental awareness, allowing partners to listen and empathize with each other’s feelings about intimacy without defensiveness or shame.
Enhances Body Awareness: Practices like body scans or mindful touch can help individuals reconnect with their own sensations and desires, paving the way for deeper intimacy. I agree that disembodiment is a beautiful coping mechanism from time to time but we need to be inside of our bodies to experience pleasure.
Builds Communication Skills: When couples approach conversations about their desires and their shame with mindfulness, they can express needs and even boundaries with more ease which fosters mutual understanding.
Mindfulness Exercise to Try
The 5-Minute Connection Practice:
Sit facing your partner.
Spend one minute making eye contact without speaking. Notice your breath and your partner’s presence. Do not feel bad if this is awkward. Notice the feelings or thoughts and let them come and go.
Take turns sharing one sentence about how you’re feeling in the moment. Listen fully without interrupting or problem-solving. You are allowed to feel great, terrible or anywhere in between.
End by thanking each other for the connection.
This simple practice (even if you laugh the entire time) can help you feel more attuned to your partner and create a foundation for open dialogue about your pleasures, desires or just feelings in general. .
Desire discrepancy doesn’t have to create lasting distance between partners. Oftentimes, it can become a point to connect and evolve as a couple. With mindfulness exercises that are self-guided or partnered, you can turn it into an opportunity for growth, understanding, and deeper intimacy.
The postpartum period, or the fourth trimester, is a transformative yet challenging time for new mothers. Physical recovery, emotional well-being, and hormonal balance are all critical during this phase. Acupuncture, rooted in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), offers a natural and holistic approach to supporting postpartum recovery. Here’s a detailed look at its benefits:
1. Pain Relief and Physical Recovery
Postpartum Pain: Acupuncture helps alleviate pain related to childbirth, such as perineal discomfort, cesarean section recovery, and back pain. By promoting circulation and reducing inflammation, it supports tissue repair and accelerates healing.
Pelvic Floor Dysfunction: For mothers experiencing pelvic pain or incontinence, acupuncture can improve blood flow to the area, aiding muscle recovery and reducing discomfort.
Evidence:
A study published in The Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology Research highlighted acupuncture’s effectiveness in reducing postoperative pain and enhancing recovery following cesarean sections.
2. Postpartum Hormonal Balance
The hormonal fluctuations after childbirth can lead to mood swings, fatigue, and irregular lactation. Acupuncture stimulates the endocrine system, promoting hormonal balance and supporting the body’s natural recovery processes. This helps regulate:
Estrogen and progesterone levels
Oxytocin release, which supports breastfeeding and emotional bonding
Evidence:
Research in Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice found that acupuncture supports hormonal balance and improves lactation in new mothers.
3. Emotional Well-being
Postpartum Depression (PPD): Acupuncture can reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety by stimulating the release of endorphins and serotonin, improving mood and promoting relaxation.
Stress and Fatigue: The calming effects of acupuncture help manage the stress of adapting to new motherhood, improving sleep quality and energy levels.
Evidence:
A meta-analysis in PLOS ONE (2018) confirmed that acupuncture effectively reduces postpartum depression symptoms and enhances emotional well-being in new mothers.
4. Breastfeeding Support
Acupuncture can improve lactation by stimulating points associated with milk production and relieving blockages or mastitis. It also helps reduce nipple pain and engorgement, making breastfeeding a more comfortable experience.
