Pinnacle Women’s Health & Therapy

04/28/2022

Pregnancy is like running a marathon…. Training is needed to minimize the risk of injury and complete the challenge as successfully as possible!

Starting out your pregnancy with strong pelvic floor and core muscles helps to decrease the damage these muscles experience under the strain of carrying a growing child. However as your pregnancy progresses and you get closer to birth women need to learn how to properly breathe and relax their pelvic floor muscles as they will require stretching 2-3x their normal length. So while Kegels/pelvic floor muscle and core strengthening are important in the first to the middle of their last trimester, relaxation and lengthening of these muscles is the most important skill in the third trimester to reduce the risk of tearing and injury to your pelvic muscles, bones and organs.

04/05/2022

Erin received her bachelors degree in Biology from George Mason University in 2004. She later received a Doctorate of Physical Therapy from Boston University in 2007. After, graduation, Erin began working in the Washington D.C area at a hospital based outpatient clinic treating a variety of patients with orthopedic and neurological conditions. While there, she and another colleague began to see a need for pelvic floor physical therapy services and decided to start a program to serve the needs of their community. After several years of building the program, Erin moved to Austin,TX were she worked exclusively at a specialty clinic serving both men and women with pelvic floor dysfunction and served as the lead physical therapist. She then moved to Northwest Arkansas in 2012. After the birth of her two children and experiencing pelvic floor dysfunction herself, Erin knew she wanted to continue to help guide and support more women during pregnancy and postpartum. Erin is honored and excited to be part of the team at Pinnacle Women’s Health and Therapy. She lives in Bentonville with her family and loves to ride her bike and hike on the amazing trails of NWA, sip coffee with her friends, and read lots of autobiographies!

03/24/2022

Meet our therapist Kara Harvey!
I graduated from the University of Central AR in 2007 with a bachelors degree in Health Sciences. I immediately entered into physical therapy school and graduated in 2010 with my Doctorate of Physical Therapy, also from the University of Central Arkansas ( one of the top rated programs in the US). I have practiced as a physical therapist since September of 2010. My main focus was pediatrics after graduation but in 2017-2018 I completed training through Herman and Wallace to become pelvic floor physical therapist. I have been treating both pediatric and pelvic floor patients since that time. I love pelvic floor because it empowers women to be in tune with their body and become knowledgeable of what is and what is not normal concerning all areas related to the pelvic floor. Progress is typically quick and some women have lived with common but definitely not normal impairments for so long and I love to change that for them!

03/15/2022

If you have been interested in a pelvic floor evaluation, now is the time! Call during Spring Break and prepay for an evaluation, and it will only be $99. Please send us a message or call us if you have any questions.

11/11/2020

08/13/2020

Let’s touch on the during childbirth.
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The head of the fetus pushes the coccyx posteriorly (extension).
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The anterior Sacrococcygeal ligament is stretched, and the posterior Sacrococcygeal ligament shortens.
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If the coccyx is stuck in flexion (due to scar tissue) relaxing does not work on scar tissue. So, if the dysfunction is already there prior to giving birth, that might by why the coccyx fractures.
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This is another reason why a pregnant woman should be evaluated before AND after childbirth!
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07/14/2020

Physical Activity Guidelines If you aren’t already doing so, you should look to start some form of exercise that strengthens...

07/22/2019

We agree 100% Under the Woman Hood!

They do.
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Every
Single
Va**na
Matters
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When a woman presents a request to get help for pelvic health impairments or prevention and she is denied — Veeery little boils my blood more than an unsupportive provider, significant other, family, friend, boss, etc. 😑🙈😣 .... buuut, I’ll stop myself (and my rising blood pressure) here and say, most often this lack of support comes from a lack of education and understanding about pelvic health professionals and what we do (that better be the reason anyway 😒).
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This is why I highly encourage that we be prepared with what to say in response to someone who isn’t being supportive of our desire to see a pelvic health professional. Read through my posts here, my blogs, follow other wonderful pelvic health PTs on social media. Email us! Call us! We can walk you through a short, but powerful spiel to whoever you need to convince to allow you the right to seek help for your va**na! Or help you find a way around the barrier(s)!
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This obviously isn’t the case for everyone (thank goodness), but it is a really unfortunate reality for some. And this post is for the some. ♥️
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Va**na lives matter. Women’s health matters. YOU MATTER, GIRL!


Feel free to repost (& tag me up so I can give it some love)!
📷: a friend asked if this was hanging in my office - best idea. 🖼
**nalivesmatter

07/16/2019

Great information! Please give us a call if you have any questions!

07/01/2019

Do you have the breathe app? PERFECT for timing your breathing with kegels! Remember...inhale and relax, exhale and contract. Try it out and let us know if you have any questions!!

06/25/2019

Image permission via Cosmopolitan   By Stephanie Prendergast   The Facts 21% of women undergoing va**nal delivery had levator ani avulsion1 29% of women undergoing va**nal deliveries had p***c bone fractures2 60% of postpartum women reported Stress Urinary Incontinence (SUI)3 64.3% of women report...