How Can Pelvic PT Help Endometriosis?

How Can Pelvic PT Help Endometriosis?

By Heather Evans 

We get this question a lot. I totally understand. Endometriosis is a disease – what could physical therapy possibly do? Let me answer that question by saying it can entirely change your pain and your function…but let’s break down some specifics.

First of all, if you don’t know, endometriosis is a disease in which tissue similar to the lining of the uterus grows outside of the uterus. Common areas of lesions include in the abdominal cavity (between and on the various organs themselves), but it can extend throughout the body to places such as the diaphragm and spine. Commonly seen signs of endometriosis include very painful periods, pain with sex, and infertility. That being said, there is a vary wide variation here. Some women have pain all throughout their cycle, other women have no pain however endo is discovered during fertility testing. Treatment often includes surgery, medication, dietary changes, and – here we go – physical therapy.

While we cannot remove the endo lesions themselves, we can significantly reduce endo symptoms because over 80% of women who have this disease also have pelvic floor muscle tension. Why? Well, one of the main symptoms is pain, and what do our muscles do when we are in pain? Tighten up and guard. So where do we often see these muscles guarding when endo is in the pelvis and abdomen? You guessed it – the pelvic floor.

When I see a patient with endometriosis, treatment includes posture analysis, breathing education, internal and external manual therapy to decrease tension, education on good daily lifestyle habits that decrease pain, bowel health education (bowel dysfunction is also very common with endo), and guidance in a home stretching program to gain flexibility and strength where it is needed. Also, I teach the patient how she can perform her own manual stretching at home to further decrease pain and improve her ability to live her daily life without restriction.

Want further information? Check out our two online courses Empowering You with Endometriosis Levels 1 and 2. Level 1 is created for women who are in a fairly severe amount of pain and are just beginning to progress toward movement and stretching. Level 2 is more advanced and includes slightly more challenging activities. Both include tons of information on endo itself, nutrition strategies, mindfulness education, self-massage, stretching, strengthening, and more!