Don’t give up, there may be an answer you haven’t found yet.

Don’t give up, there may be an answer you haven’t found yet.

By: Marin Cole

This blog is for the men and women who have seen doctor after doctor, done their own research, and have maybe even been told that your symptoms are normal and it just is what it is. I am talking about those of you who experience pelvic pain, or poor bowel or bladder control. I want to tell you what you can expect at your first visit of pelvic floor physical therapy at Empower Your Pelvis that may be different from these other experiences.

We LISTEN. We VALIDATE. We EDUCATE. Pelvic pain is complex, and it often takes a village of providers to achieve your goals, but something I can guarantee you will receive from one of our physical therapists is a listening ear. And in my experience, my patients who feel their issues have not been heard start noticing changes with just the validation that their pain is not in their head. If you have been told by a provider that “sometimes people just have pain,” what do you have to lose by trying pelvic floor physical therapy? It is non-invasive, it does not involve medication, and maybe you will learn a thing or too that will help you take charge of your bowel and bladder health as well!

My patients who come to physical therapy with the goal of not having surgery are SO HAPPY when they come in after a few visits and realize they met that goal. So many of my patients are under the impression that if they have any sort of urinary leakage then surgery or diapers are their only solution. It is our goal as physical therapists to provide you with the knowledge of your condition so you know your options when it comes to treating your symptoms. 

Something else I find a lot of people experience is nervousness coming to see a pelvic floor physical therapist!! I absolutely understand why they would be nervous. They are going to see a physical therapist for pain with sex, or loss of bladder control. Aren’t physical therapists supposed to help you walk again or get you back to playing a sport? Yes, that is the training we all have gone through to get our doctorate, but we have all decided to take additional courses to be able to help people with pelvic floor dysfunction. 

So next time you talk with a friend, a parent, or another healthcare provider and they tell you that your pain is normal, or leaking urine is just part of aging, find a pelvic floor physical therapist. We hear this constantly, and we want people to know that we are here to help. 

I want to end with one of my favorite quotes. “Everything will be okay in the end. If it's not okay, it's not the end.”