10/10/2025
Pelvic floor physical therapy is not…instructing you how to do a kegel and practicing that 100 times per day.
Or squeezing a ball between your knees thinking that will fix your incontinence.
But it’s about connecting to your pelvic floor muscles and understanding what they are doing throughout the day. It’s about finding the muscle imbalances in AND around the pelvis.
It’s understanding breath control and how that impacts pressure in the pelvic floor.
It’s about checking for restrictions in the muscles that can limit their ability to work properly – the pelvic floor, hips, back, abdominal wall (meaning everything that is around the pelvic floor).
It’s knowing how your pelvic floor muscles respond to stress and the tension that it creates…and then the solutions to find a better balance in your body.
So many people are looking for answers to their hip pain, back discomfort, pelvic pain and other symptoms that imaging doesn’t give the answers to. And surgery sounds like a quick fix, but commonly creates more problems after the fact.
That’s because the answer is finding out what is going on with the muscles in and around the pelvic floor. There must be a good balance of length and strength for them to work properly.
Coordination is key and helping people connect to feel what their muscles are doing is very rewarding. Body awareness is the name of the game and intention of movement plays an important role.
As pelvic floor PT’s, kegels should not be the first line of defense when it’s such a small piece of the puzzle.
Recently a patient came in for pelvic PT from the surgeon as a last-ditch effort to prevent a prolapse repair. The patients was skeptical about HOW this could help and what impact it could have on her symptoms (pressure, heaviness in her pelvic floor that got worse with increased activity, being on her feet and at the end of the day).
We as pelvic PT’s always love a good challenge and she was 100% motivated to put in all the effort to make it work. Her case was not focused on how many kegels can you do a day to help reduce your symptoms.
First, we looked at the best position for her pelvis and internal organs to strength the muscles surrounding the pelvic floor. This is her basic program that she can always fall back on, return to if she has a flare or change in her symptoms. Then we moved to more upright positions for breath control and strengthening ALL while making sure that this didn’t cause a build-up of tension in her pelvic floor.
And the best part is that the next step is to get her moving.
We can’t expect as pelvic PT’s that our patients will get better by doing everything laying on a table. We don’t live on a table all day?! We have to get them back to MOVING and functional positions so that everything they learn in PT translates into their daily activities. Lunges, squats, deadlifts are the start while adding on breathing, core and pelvic floor support.
This is the fun part and patients tend to agree. When we can teach our patients how to take what they learn here and have it show up throughout their day, in their gym workouts…that’s when the magic happens. That’s when our patients don’t only get better in the short run, but they get better for the long haul. They learn how to take care of their body everyday and their pelvic health soars.
The outcome - reduce her prolapse, prevented surgery AND her symptoms are gone. What an impactful story and reminder that healing can happen when you find the right people to help you!
Are you ready to be a part of this kind of change? Are you ready to make an impact on others’ lives and their pelvic health? Reach out to me today if you are ready to take Pelvic floor PT to the next level providing the highest level of care and having a mentor along the way.
Learning and growth are essential being a part of this team.
Hiring Pelvic PTs and PTA’s interested in Pelvic Health.
