Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy In Owings Mills, MD
Restore Pelvic Floor Function and Strength, and Regain your Quality of Life.
Find the relief you are looking for from pelvic pain and discomfort, urge or stress incontinence, bladder or bowel dysfunction and pregnancy or post partum conditions through specialized treatment known as pelvic floor physical therapy. We welcome both male and female patients for many different diagnoses and conditions as listed below.
Most of our pelvic floor patients are referred by various medical specialists which ensures that other serious medical conditions have been ruled out.
Our practice also sees all types of patients with all kinds of orthopedic, musculoskeletal or neurological conditions we may address the need for good strength and function of the pelvic floor as part of management of other conditions we may be treating, including low back pain, poor posture, weak abdominals, Rectus diastasis and poor core stabilization.
Poor lifting techniques, weak abdominals, straining with exercise or with constipation and poor breathing patterns may also have an adverse effect on the pelvic floor structures and muscles and worsen pain or create organ prolapse and pelvic floor dysfunction.
Choosing the Proper Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy
We will choose the proper pelvic floor physical therapy based on your referral diagnosis, prior medical tests and treatments, symptoms and our examination.
Before we begin your individualized treatment program, we will first conduct a physical exam. This will include an external and where indicated an internal vaginal or rectal exam to assess tenderness, muscle tension and tone, tissue integrity and muscle strength, co-ordination and endurance. We will discuss with you the type of pelvic floor physical therapy we feel is best for you.
Most patients with weakness of the pelvic floor muscles will be prescribed strengthening exercises commonly called Kegel exercises. Some patients have tried these exercises in the past without success. We find many patients are performing them incorrectly or with insufficient repetitions or intensity or substituting other muscles without realizing it. We use Biofeedback via a specialized computer program and a sensor on the pelvic floor muscles to assess the muscle contraction. The patient can see this in real time on the computer screen and make adjustments as they contract their muscle.
During each visit we will check your response to your last visit and your overall progress and make changes or progressions to your treatment plan.
On average, pelvic floor physical therapy is performed twice a week initially then weekly over about six weeks. Pre-op prostatectomy patients will be seen two to four visits as needed.
Each Initial Evaluation and Treatment lasts about one hour, while subsequent sessions may be 40-60 minutes.
While most patients notice significant results from Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy, some patients may be referred back to their physicians for other medical or surgical interventions.