Empower Pelvic Clinic – Albury
Pelvic Pain
Pelvic pain includes endometriosis, adenomyosis, bladder pain and other chronic pelvic pain. Pelvic pain can often result in overactive and painful pelvic floor muscles. When pelvic floor muscles become overactive, these can significantly worsen your pain. Seeing a pelvic floor physio can be very helpful to reduce pelvic pain.
Your pelvic floor physio will start by taking a comprehensive history of your pain. Your physio will then, with your consent, assess your pelvic floor and provide treatment accordingly.
Pregnancy
Antenatal pelvic floor preparation for birth
Pelvic floor physiotherapy can assist with preparing you and your pelvic floor for a vaginal birth. This may assist in the prevention of birth related pelvic floor injury and perineum (the area between the vagina and anus) tears. This typically includes assessment of your pelvic floor strength and flexibility, skin and connective tissue flexibility, and pushing technique. Your physio will then give you exercises to help improve the flexibility and strength of your pelvic floor to help reduce your risk of birth trauma.
General physiotherapy throughout your pregnancy
Physiotherapy can assist with aches and pains including pelvic girdle and back pain, carpal tunnel and varicose veins. This may include therapeutic exercise, braces and support wear, supportive taping, activity modification and manual therapy.
Pregnancy related pelvic floor concerns
Including constipation, pelvic organ prolapse, stress incontinence and vulvar varicosities. Your physiotherapist may recommend pelvic floor strengthening, or prescribe other support wear to help manage your symptoms.
Prolapse
Prolapse can be uncomfortable and distressing for many women, with almost 50% of women who have had a baby experiencing it to some degree. Treatment from a pelvic floor physiotherapist often includes pelvic floor strengthening, activity modification, load management, prevention and treatment of constipation and pessary fitting where needed.
Bladder Concerns
Incontinence
Leakage of urine is common, effecting up to 50% of adult women. While it is common, it is not normal. Daytime urine loss usually falls into 2 types: stress incontinence (e.g. with a cough, sneeze or exercise), or urge incontinence (you need to go suddenly and can’t get to the toilet in time). Incontinence may also happen during the night, which is called enuresis.
Physiotherapy can help with incontinence. This usually includes through assessment of the cause of incontinence and treatment including different methods of pelvic floor strengthening, better load management, bladder retraining strategies and other strategies. In some cases of stress incontinence a pessary may also be recommended.
Frequency and Urgency
Urinary urgency is the sudden, strong urge to rush to the toilet to empty your bladder. Frequency is the need to go to the toilet more often than you feel is normal. A pelvic floor physio can thoroughly assess your urgency and frequency symptoms and provide comprehensive treatment to help.
Children
Children have pelvic floors too!
Pelvic floor physiotherapy can be very helpful for children with daytime accidents, urinary urgency, soiling (poop accidents), constipation and bedwetting. Pelvic floor physiotherapists with additional training specifically in kid's bladder and bowel health can treat children.
A pediatric physio appointment usually involves taking a complete history of your child’s bladder and bowel health, fluid intake and nutrition and history around their birth and development. Your physio will then give you strategies and treatment to help. Assessment and treatment for children is non-invasive, with the majority of treatment around improving toileting habits, toilet/ potty set up, routines, rewards and management of constipation.