If you’re suffering from pelvic floor pain, physiotherapy can help relieve your pain and improve the quality of your life. Approximately 15% to 25% of the world population experience chronic pelvic pain and 20% of them are women. This condition is found more in women due to pregnancy and childbirth.
However, pelvic floor physiotherapy in Toronto provides specialized therapy services based on the patient’s health conditions. They detect the underlying cause of the issue and recommend suitable therapy through their special therapy sessions. Your cooperation with the therapist is essential in healing your overall health and pelvic discomfort.
Physiotherapy is a non-surgical and non-medicative treatment of the affected area by utilizing different exercises or techniques to relieve the pain. It will restore the body’s mobility, flexibility, and strength to perform better in daily activities. After undergoing therapy sessions for pelvic discomfort, your quality of sleep gets better and you may now have better control over urination than before.
What is a Pelvic Floor Pain?
The pelvic floor is the area of the lower abdomen that contains the supporting muscles of the reproductive and urinary systems. These muscles support the uterus in women and the urethra and rectum in men. They also help in controlling the bowel movements. The pelvic area also includes the hipbone and the bone below the spine which are important for mobility.
The pain in this area is called pelvic floor pain and is caused by the weakness or stiffness of pelvic muscles. These muscles are also attached to the tailbone, therefore, pain in this region causes a lot of problems such as lack of flexibility, restriction in the body movement, or lack of coordination with other body muscles that may lead to dysfunction of the pelvic floor.
If the pain persists for 6 months, it becomes chronic and can cause serious health problems. It can lead to severe pain in the buttock, pubic bone, or pelvic joints. It also causes discomfort in the lower back, or abdomen muscles with the feeling of burden in that region. In some individuals, the pain feels like menstrual cramps.
Therefore, going to the doctor in the early days of suffering is better than keep waiting for recovery by itself. Taking medications is also the solution, but when combined with physiotherapy, you can achieve optimal results in less time.
How Physiotherapy Can Relieve Pelvic Pain?
Physiotherapy can help lessen the discomfort caused by pelvic floor pain by incorporating different exercises into your daily life activities. In addition, you also need to maintain a healthy diet to get control of bowel movements and urination. Let’s see how physiotherapy can relieve pelvic discomfort.
Initial Examination
Initially, your physical therapist will take the examination to check the strength and endurance of your pelvic muscles. The examination may be external or internal. External checks examine your hips, abdomen, and back and test their flexibility with various postures and exercises.
In internal diagnosis, the muscles are checked by incorporating the finger into the vagina or rectum. The therapist wears gloves and lubricates it before inserting the finger. This will help in analyzing the tension in pelvic muscles to make a personalized treatment plan. However, an internal checkup is not necessary for every patient.
Trigger Point Therapy
It involves the treatment of pelvic floor muscles by applying pressure on the affected area that causes pain or discomfort. The affected areas are called trigger points and are mostly explained as knots that are sensitive to touch. This can be caused by long-term stress or injury.
Trigger point therapy can be done externally or internally to overcome the issues you’re suffering from such as muscle contraction, improper bowel movements, and feeling pain while running or walking. However, before doing internal therapy, anesthesia has been injected. You can do internal therapy at home by following the therapist’s instructions.
Kegels
Kegels is a group of exercises done to give strength to the pelvic muscles by continuous contraction and relaxation of pelvic floor muscles. These exercises can improve urinary control and sexual health. However, kegels can cause injury to the muscles when done alone or with improper guidance.
Therefore, it is necessary to seek professional guidance before starting a new exercise.
Biofeedback
In biofeedback, certain electrodes are placed between the vagina or anus to analyze the contraction in the pelvic muscles. The outcome is visible on the monitor seen by the therapist. The PT uses these results and analyzes the internal conditions to create a personalized treatment plan.
This process is also used to monitor the progress of the therapeutic exercises so that they can be adjusted accordingly.
Alternative Physical Activities
There are also other exercises that you can do to reduce pelvic pain. One of these is electrical stimulation which helps reduce pain and muscle contraction. It can be done by using a special device and under the proper guidance of a therapist. Other techniques may include stretches, relaxation methods, and myofascial release to lessen the pain and other symptoms.
Symptoms of Chronic Pelvic Pain
Experiencing the pain in the pelvic region can cause a lot of serious issues. It may be caused by the failure of pelvic muscles to relax and the inability to coordinate with neighboring muscles. The following are the common signs of chronic pelvic pain:
- Frequent urination
- Pain starting from bellybutton to knees
- Hip joint pain
- Interstitial Cystitis
- Intense heat sensation in the vagina
- Severe constipation
- Frequent diarrhea
- Accidental urination while sneezing, coughing, laughing, or exercising
- Frequent involuntary flatulence
- Insomnia
- Anxiety
- Feeling of pressure in the pelvis
- Unpleasant intercourse experience
- Memory problems
- Discomfort with prolonged sitting
- Difficulty in walking, running, or riding
It is recommended to take therapy sessions after giving birth to prevent future pelvic-related problems.
Final Thoughts
If you’ve been suffering from pelvic floor pain for 6 or more months and want to recover it without taking medications, physiotherapy is an excellent method. Manual therapy and therapy with specialized machinery are used to do your physical therapy. You are also advised to do different exercises and incorporate them into your daily routine to get well soon.
FAQs
Can physiotherapy help pelvic pain?
Yes, it can assist treat pelvic pain as well as other body problems and health issues, and it is a research-proven therapy.
What is the best exercise for pelvic pain?
There are various exercises like cat stretch, side stretch using a chair, pelvic circles, or other specialized exercises such as trigger point therapy and Kegels. However, the best fit for you is the recommended one by your therapist after doing your diagnosis.
Does walking reduce pelvic pain?
Pain does not reduce pain but it can alleviate it by contracting the pelvic muscles. However, you can reduce pelvic pain by doing specialized exercises.
What food should I avoid for pelvic pain?
You should avoid red meat, packaged food, caffeine, and alcohol as they can cause dehydration and inflammation of pelvic tissues.
