5 Common myths about Pelvic Organ Prolapse

“I was just showering and reached down and suddenly noticed a bulge”

“I had no idea something was wrong until my doctor examined me and told me I have a stage 2 cystocele”

“I started feeling heaviness in my pelvis, then was wiping after I went to the bathroom, and noticed something was there!”

Pelvic organ prolapse impacts a lot of people. Some studies show that between 50-89% of people experience prolapse after vaginal birth (if they’re examined and someone is looking for it!), however, people can experience prolapse when they have never been through pregnancy or childbirth. Prolapse is one of the “scary diagnoses” as I tend to call them– not because I think it’s actually scary– I don’t– but because there is so much AWFUL information about prolapse out there. And when people suddenly learn about this, they dive deep into a rabbit hole of research, and often end up scared about what the future holds for them. BUT– I’m here today to tell you that: 1) Prolapse is actually very common and 2) there is so much you can do to help this problem!

To digress slightly– Working with people dealing with prolapse is a passion of mine, and I’m super excited to be teaching a LIVE class on managing pelvic organ prolapse with my friends and colleagues, Sara Reardon & Sarah Duvall. It’s going to be happening this Sunday at 4pm EST, and registration is limited! I hope you’ll join us for this awesome class! (Note: If you’re reading this after the event, and missed it– no worries! The recording will be available– just click the link above!)

What is Pelvic Organ Prolapse?

Before we jump into the myths surrounding prolapse, let’s talk about what it actually is. Pelvic organ prolapse refers to a loss of support around the bladder, uterus or rectum, and this causes descent one or more of these organs into the walls of the vagina. The organs themselves are supported by fascia, ligaments, connective tissues and… you guessed it! Muscles! So, how can loss of support occurs? Well, it could be due to straining of these tissues like would happen during pregnancy and childbirth, particularly if people have injuries during birth like stretch injuries to the nerves of the pelvis, tears in the connective tissue and fascia, or tears in the pelvic floor muscles themselves. This can also be due to chronic straining of the tissues that might occur with age, chronic lifting (with poor mechanics) or chronic coughing problems. Other factors like hormones, body size and joint hypermobility can also be involved.

What does prolapse feel like?

Maybe you’ve been diagnosed with prolapse, maybe you just think this is a problem you have, or maybe you know that you have this problem. Regardless, let’s chat about what prolapse can feel like. These are some of the things people who have prolapse can feel:

A bulge coming out of the vagina
Pressure in the pelvis or perineum
Lower back ache
Difficulty emptying the bladder
Difficulty emptying the bowels
Heaviness or a dragging feeling in the pelvis

Symptoms are often better first thing in the morning, then worsen as the day goes on (thanks so much gravity!). Symptoms vary person to person based on where they have prolapse and the severity of their prolapse.

So, now that we know what it is and what it can feel like, let’s jump into prolapse myths.

Common Myths Surrounding Pelvic Organ Prolapse

Myth #1: “You’ll likely need surgery at some point.”

I hear this one all the time. A well-intending physician tells their patient that they have prolapse, then follows it with, “we can fix that whenever you’re done having children” or something along those lines. While some people do end up needing surgery– particularly with more severe prolapse or if their prolapse is significantly impacting their function, many people are able to manage well conservatively with specific exercises or pessaries.

Myth #2: Prolapse is probably the cause of your pelvic pain, pain during sex, or genital pain.

So, you’ll see that I listed low back pain in the symptoms, but I didn’t list other types of pelvic pain. While I get that prolapse can look like it would be painful, it typically is not a painful condition. It’s an annoying condition, and can lead to behaviors that may cause pain (like constantly trying to grip your pelvic floor muscles to prevent things from falling down!). Prolapse can cause a back ache that worsens as the day goes on, and this is due to the ligaments around the organs stretching as the descent occurs. Additionally, the pressure/bulge can be uncomfortable, and people may feel like something is being pushed on during sex. That being said, we very often find that people have prolapse and something else going on when they are dealing with significant pain.

Myth #3: Because prolapse is structural, physical therapists likely won’t be able to help.

So first, support of the organs requires coordination of forces– ligaments and fascia are involved for sure, but muscles are also involved. All that aside, prolapse is a problem related to pressure management– so it matters what is happening at the pelvis, but also, what is happening outside of the pelvis that is impacting the pressure system.

Pressures within the intrathoracic and intraabdominal cavities can impact what is happening in the pelvis. Several muscles are involved in this pressure system, including the glottal folds at the top, the intercostal muscles, the respiratory diaphragm, the transverse abdominis muscle, the multifidus, and the pelvic floor muscles. These muscles work together in a coordinated way to help manage pressure and spread the load (so it is not funneled down to the pelvic floor).

Physical therapists help people with pelvic organ prolapse by helping them manage their pressure system as optimally as they can. This means looking at posture, spinal mobility, movement patterns, hip function, breathing habits, and so much more! It also means optimizing the function of the pelvic floor muscles. With this approach, we see good improvements. A Cochrane review of 13 studies in 2016 found that most people saw good improvements in their prolapse symptoms and their severity of prolapse on exam. A multicenter trial published in 2014 found that individualized pelvic floor training led to good improvement in symptoms and severity of prolapse.

Myth #4: Pessaries are for “old people”

Not true. Pessaries are amazing medical devices that help to support the walls of the vagina and can be very useful for reducing symptoms of prolapse. There are lots of different types of pessaries, and generally, people who wear them really find them to be helpful! In fact, this study found that 96% of the people who were appropriately fit with a pessary were satisfied and thought it helped with the severity of their symptoms.

Myth #5: If you have prolapse, you should never do certain exercises and movements so your problem doesn’t get worse.

I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again– there are no bad exercises– BUT there may be times when certain exercises may not be optimal for you. Ultimately, the best thing to do is to work with a professional who can watch you move, watch you exercise, and see how you modulate pressure during these movements. Then, they will be able to make recommendations specifically for you– help you modify where you need to modify, observe your form during movement, and then strategize with you to make a plan to get back to whatever movements you would like to get back to!

If you’re experiencing prolapse, or you think this might be you– there is hope available! I’m very excited to be working with Sara Reardon and our special guest, Sarah Duvall to jump further into this topic in our upcoming class this Sunday 10/25 at 4pmEST on Managing Pelvic Organ Prolapse. Come join us LIVE and get all of your questions answered! If you can’t make the live, no worries!! A recording will be available.

What prolapse questions do you have? Let me know in the comments!

~ Jessica

How to build a stellar bowel routine

May 13, 2020 ~ jesspreale ~ Leave a comment

Bowel problems are so frustrating. Let’s be real. Constipation remains the #1 GI complaint in the country and impacts millions of people (pun unintended, but I’ll take it!). I love writing about pooping, and we love treating poop problems at Southern Pelvic Health (both virtually & in-person!!). The cool thing about poop, is that often the smallest changes in our habits can make BIG differences. A lot of this is due to the physiology of the digestive tract. Our habits—what we do during the day—can hugely impact this physiology, and that’s what I want to talk with you about today.

How do you maximize the efficiency of your digestive system and build a stellar bowel routine so you can poop better?

To understand this, let’s look at the digestive system a little more closely.

When you eat food, digestion begins in the mouth. Chewing helps to break up the food, and your saliva begins to break down the nutrients. Chewing alone is an essential part of digestion. In fact, most of us don’t tend to chew enough. I’ve been there! Years of working as a physical therapist at busy practices, led to a habit of inhaling my food rather than eating slowly and actually enjoying the process. Did you know that in order to adequately digest an almond, you have to chew that almond over 20 times? I learned that a few years ago when I interviewed Jessica Drummond- an incredible clinical nutritionist who also happens to be a pelvic PT. You can see the whole interview here if you’re interested!

After we swallow our food, the food travels down the esophagus into the stomach. Here, the stomach churns the food, mixing it with acid and juices and continues the process of digestion. When food enters the stomach, this triggers an important reflex called the gastrocolic reflex, which pushes prior meals and snacks through the rest of the digestive tract. This reflex is SUPER important to know to help stimulate regular movement in the GI system.

The food then exits the stomach and enters the small intestines. Did you know that if you uncoiled your small intestines, they would be 20 feet long? The intestines are where the majority of digestion occurs. Juices from the pancreas and gall bladder are added in here to aid in processing our nutrients. Food moves throughout these coils, then enters into the large intestine via the ileocecal valve.

The large intestine, or colon, is the major water recycling plant in the body. The colon recycles about 70% of the fluid we take in to use throughout the body. It continuously removes fluid from our stool…. So, what do you think happens if you don’t drink enough fluid? Or what do you think happens if your colon moves a little too slowly? Yep, that’s right. You end up with hard and dehydrated stool. When stool enters into the last part of the colon, the rectum, the stretching of the walls of the rectum trigger another reflex. First, an incredible reflex called the “sampling response” takes place. In this reflex, a small amount of contents are allowed to enter the anal canal. Your nerves here sense what is present, and tell your brain if the contents are liquid, gas or solid. (Amazing, right?!) Now, this reflex can sometimes be dysfunctional. So, if you struggle with feeling a strong need to poop, and when you get to the bathroom, it’s only gas? That’s this reflex. OR, if you feel like you have some gas to release, and when you release it, it’s actually a little bit of stool? That’s a sampling problem as well. And guess what—we can actually do things to retrain and improve this reflex.

As the stool is filling the rectum, and stretch occurs, the brain will receive the message of what is in the rectum, and gets to decide what to do about it. If there is just gas, you may choose to release it or wait a bit to release it. If it is liquid, your brain knows you better get to the bathroom QUICK! Liquid stool is hard to hold back for too long—the muscles fatigue—THIS is why chronic diarrhea can lead so often to bowel accidents! And if the stool is solid, you can actually defer and postpone the urge, until an appropriate time to go. The challenge there is that postponing frequently can make it so the muscular walls of the colon help you less when it is actually time to go to the bathroom.

When it is an appropriate time to go, you then sit on the toilet, relax your pelvic floor muscles, and this stimulates a defecation reflex which will allow the rectum to empty via the anal canal. Sometimes, we need to generate some pressure to assist this process, and sometimes, the muscular walls of the colon take care of it themselves.

So, let’s get down to it.

How do you use the process of digestion to build your bowel routine?

Step 1: Eat at regular intervals during the day to regularly stimulate your gastrocolic reflex.

Remember, this pushes things through the system, so it needs to happen often. The colon LOVES consistency, and HATES change. So, skipping meals? Eating really large meals sometimes, then nothing the rest of the day? All of this can impact your bowel function.

Step 2: Slow down & chew your meals.

Remember, chewing begins digestion, so, stop what you’re doing and eat mindfully and peacefully. Also, digestion requires a lot of parasympathetic activity—this is your resting & relaxing nervous system—so, slowing down and making time to eat can help stimulate that too.

Step 3: If you need the bowels to move better, eat “bowel stimulating” foods/drinks around the time of day you normally go to the bathroom.

What stimulates the bowels? Warm drinks (especially coffee—because the caffeine is actually an irritant to the GI tract!) are a great place to start. Also, spicy foods can help stimulate the GI system to move.

Step 4: Sit on the toilet around the same time each day, preferably, after a meal.

Remember that gastrocolic reflex? That reflex is helping to move things through the system, so after a meal is a great time to spend a few minutes relaxing on the toilet.

Step 5: Exercise!

Yep, exercise also stimulates the peristalsis of the GI tract! So, aim to get in regular bouts of exercise. And, it doesn’t need to be too extreme? Even going on a 10 minute walk can help get things moving.

What does this actually look like in practice? Here’s a sample routine!

Jane wakes up in the morning and takes the dogs on a short 10 minute walk. She gets home and makes a cup of coffee and her breakfast. She eats breakfast slowly, taking time to chew her food. (Jane also makes sure that she is getting plenty of fiber and whole fruits/veggies in her diet—because this matters too for her stool consistency!). After breakfast, Jane goes and sits on the toilet. She sits in a nice comfortable position, relaxes, breathes, and thinks about her day—spending 5 minutes without trying to force anything to happen. After a few minutes, she starts to feel the need to have a bowel movement. She uses what she learned in the “How to Poop” article, and gently pushes with good mechanics to assist her rectum in emptying her bowels. Jane then goes about her day, eating small amounts every few hours to stimulate her GI system.

Now, it’s your turn my friend! How is your bowel routine? What can you change to actually use your physiology and poop better?

Want more on pooping? Check out these articles:

How to Poop

Dyssynergic Defecation or When the Poop Won’t Come Out

Sex, Drugs…& No Poop?

Have a great rest of your week!

~ Jessica

5 Ways Pelvic PTs Can Help with IBS

April 11, 2019April 10, 2019 ~ jesspreale ~ 3 Comments

This month is IBS Awareness Month!

Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) can be an incredibly life-impacting condition, affecting around 10-20% of the population (80% of those individuals being female!). The exact cause of IBS is unknown, but it is thought to likely be multifactorial.

IBS is characterized by abdominal pain paired with constipation and/or diarrhea. When many people hear about IBS, they may not automatically think that working with a physical therapist could be useful; however, there is so much that physical therapists can do to help improve symptoms related to IBS. Here are a few!

1.) Assist the client in developing optimal bowel habits.

We’ve discussed in detail several times how our habits can be extremely connected to our bowel function. This is also very true for individuals dealing with IBS–whether struggling with constipation, diarrhea or both! Training bowel habits includes developing a consistent bowel routine, optimizing dietary habits, and even toilet positioning/defecation strategies. These factors basically aim to help make sure your habits are working for you instead of against you. Sometimes these components require a more multidisciplinary team. This can include working with your GI physician, pelvic PT, as well as a dietician, functional medicine provider, and other specialties.

2.) Global downtraining and stress management.

Did you know you have an extensive neural network throughout your GI system? This network has been termed “the second brain” due to its ability to function even when cut off from the rest of the system. It’s also often called “the emotional brain of the body,” which makes sense when we think about how often we feel our emotions in our gut (i.e. “butterflies in your stomach” or “my gut reaction”) All is this means that our GI function can often be influenced by our stress, emotional regulation, and general psychological well being.

Qin et al. (2014) stated, “More and more clinical and experimental evidence showed that IBS is a combination of irritable bowel and irritable brain.” They went on to add that psychological stress can impact intestinal mobility, motility, secretions and permeability. They concluded that, “IBS is a stress-sensitive disorder, therefore, the treatment of IBS should focus on managing stress and stress-induced responses.”

Pelvic PTs utilize strategies promoting downtraining and neuromuscular relaxation to help calm the nervous system and promote a more parasympathetic dominant state. This can be done through movement, relaxation strategies, mindfulness/meditation, and many other techniques. Want to get started on mindfulness now? Check out this prior post on Mindfulness, Meditation and Pain.

3.) Specific exercises aimed at promoting better movement.

This may not seem connected at first, but the reality is that when people aren’t feeling well or when someone is struggling with constipation/diarrhea, people tend to move less. This can often impact bowel function as regular exercise tends to stimulate more regular bowel movements. This 2019 review of 14 studies involving exercise interventions aimed at improving IBS symptoms found that exercise does seem to have a role in helping bowel function (Note: many of these studies were not so great, and found to have a high risk of bias, so more studies are definitely needed!)

Schuman et al. (2016) performed a review of 6 randomized-controlled trials looking at the role of yoga in helping people with IBS. I’ll be honest, I absolutely love yoga and find the pairing of breathing, mindfulness and movement to be so beneficial to myself and my patients. So, I was not surprised to see this review showing that the groups participating in yoga had decreased bowel symptoms, IBS severity and anxiety.

Additionally, it is common for someone with chronic constipation and/or diarrhea to have restrictions in the movement of their hips and spine. Restoring this movement through specific exercise can facilitate better function of the muscles around the pelvis, including those involved directly in bowel function.

4.) Treat the myofascial components of the problem.

We have discussed the viscerosomatic and somatovisceral reflexes in the past. Basically, when a person has an organ problem (in this case, IBS), we often will find that the myofascial tissues around the organ can become restricted and sensitive. This can be interconnected where myofascial dysfunction can worsen a visceral problem and a visceral problem worsens myofascial dysfunction. Thus, addressing both sides of the problem can often be very optimal. From a musculoskeletal standpoint, this means identifying structures around the abdomen and pelvis which may be sensitive or not moving as optimally. This can often include the abdominal wall, hip muscles, thigh muscles, buttocks muscles and the muscles around the low and mid back.

5.) Treat underlying or co-existing pelvic floor problems.

Prott et al. (2010) found that there were relationships between pelvic floor symptoms and anorectal function in individuals with IBS. Dysfunction of the muscles of the pelvic floor can present as weakness, which can lead to either difficulty holding back stool or poor support around the rectum. It can also include overactivity and poor relaxation of the pelvic floor muscles. This can contribute to pain, but also can influence how well the muscles can open for defecation , or hold back when they need to. Additionally, people can experience difficulties with coordination of the pelvic floor– basically, when the muscles do not contract or relax when they should. Dyssynergic defecation occurs when the pelvic floor muscles contract instead of relax when a person has a bowel movement. This can be a significant problem for those struggling with constipation. I wrote a whole article on that, and you can find it here. Sphinctor dyssynergia can occur in individuals with IBS as well as other types of constipation, and can be treated with pelvic PT (lots of treatment options, including SEMG biofeedback which has been found to be helpful for people with and without IBS).

IBS can be so impacting to a person’s life, and you don’t have to suffer alone! I encourage you to build your multidisciplinary team and start getting the help you need to get the most out of life!

What strategies have you found most helpful in dealing with IBS? As always, I’d love to hear from you!

~Jessica

How to Poop

December 3, 2018December 4, 2018 ~ jesspreale ~ 4 Comments

3 years ago, I wrote a post on dyssynergic defecation that over time has become the most viewed post I have ever written. Y’all, people are struggling with pooping. Bowel health is something we all tend to take for granted until it stops working right. So, what is dyssynergia? Basically, dyssynergia refers to a state where your muscles are working against you when you have a bowel movement. Instead of the muscles coordinating well to open and relax to allow the stool to come out, the muscles will contract and fight against the stool coming out. This is a big problem for people struggling with constipation. In fact, this review suggested that around 40% of people with constipation have this problem.

How do you properly poop?

“Why aren’t we ever taught these things?!” I hear this all the time from patients after we discuss the often basic techniques to improve bowel and bladder health. In reality, these habits should be learned and passed down through families, but the reality, more often than not, is that that majority of people do not learn proper habits until problems start happening. So, let’s get started, and get to healthy pooping.

Step 1: Use Optimal Pooping Posture & Positioning

Yes, how you sit on the toilet really does matter. The optimal toilet positioning is one that will allow the muscles around the rectum to relax. This helps to open the angle between the rectum and the anus, and will allow stool to pass more easily. Our friends at Squatty Potty have made major $$$ on this concept with their handy stool. They do have some great videos, and this one listed here gives a nice overview on why a squatted position is more optimal for defecation.

Now, as an aside, should everyone sit with their knees elevated that high on the toilet? That’s going to be a big NO. The optimal position for you may not be the optimal position for the person next to you. The key here is that you need to be as comfortable as possible while sitting on your throne. If your hips hurt, or your back feels tight, etc. when you are squatted like this, change the angle until you find the best position for you.

Step 2: Take Your Time

We all know those people who grab a book and head to the bathroom, only to be seen 30+ minutes later, right? Well, they actually do have the right thought process. Many people get into a pattern of sitting on the toilet and immediately straining and pushing to empty their bowels. This is not often necessary, and actually overrides the normal processes of your colon and rectum. The best habit is actually to 1) Head to the bathroom as soon as you can when you feel the urge to have a BM and 2) Sit and relax on the toilet, giving your body at least 5 minutes to get things moving on its own. If you do need to push or help the body in the process, move on to the next step.

Step 3: If You Need to Push, Push Properly.

Is it ok to sometimes need to push a little to get the poop out? Absolutely! Our bodies are made to be able to do this when needed to assist in getting the stool out. Did you know your GI system actually has several reflexes that aid in pooping? The intrinsic defecation reflex is a reflex that is stimulated when stool enters the rectum. This reflex will trigger the sequence of events that leads to defecation. When this reflex is suppressed (via another reflex, the Recto-anal inhibitory reflex), the colon will be helping you less in getting the stool out. This means that you may need to do a little pushing to assist in the process. So, how do you push?

Proper pushing requires a few things 1) abdominal muscle activation 2) pelvic floor muscle relaxation and 3) breathing. So, if you are holding your breath when you push, that is NOT proper pushing. Before we get started, it can be helpful to test yourself and see what your current habits are. To do this, place your hands on your belly while you sit on the toilet. Perform a fake “push” and see what happens. Did you hold your breath? Did your belly push out into your hands or pull in away from the hands? What did you feel happen at your pelvic floor?

So, now, let’s talk about how to push properly. First, be sure you are in your optimal toileting position. Now, place your hands on your belly and relax your belly forward. Do you feel how relaxing your abdominal wall allows your pelvic floor muscles to also relax? Interestingly enough, the pelvic floor and the transverse abdominis muscles have a neurological relationship. Thus, for the majority of people, these muscles contract together. So, since the transverse abdominis muscle will pull the belly in (leading to pelvic floor muscle contraction), we want to do the opposite–> keep the belly out. Next, with your “belly big,” take a deep slow breath in. Then, as you blow out, think about blowing into your belly, gently tightening the muscles of your abdomen without allowing the belly to draw in. We call this “belly hard.” Lastly, as you are doing this breathing, think about relaxing, lengthening and opening your pelvic floor as you gently bear down (“pelvic floor drop”). So, in summary, this is what we are aiming for:

Belly Big— relax the belly forward and take a breath in.
Belly Hard— As you exhale, push into the belly, tensing the abdominal muscles, but not shortening them!
Pelvic Floor Drop— while you are exhaling, gently bear down, allowing your pelvic floor to open and relax

(Note- several amazing clinicians have developed these concepts and verbiage that best connects with people. Pauline Chiarelli has a great book called Let’s Get Things Moving: Overcoming Constipation, and she discusses this in detail there. “Belly Big, Belly Hard, Pelvic Floor Drop” is a phrase we teach in our H&W Curriculum, and I believe it is also a phrase used by Dawn Sandalcidi, an excellent pelvic PT and faculty member out in Denver, CO.)

Who knew pooping was so complicated?

Please let me know if you have any questions! If you’re a pelvic PT, I would love to hear from you–especially if you have other strategies you like to use to help people learn how to poop! Let me know in the comments!

~ Jessica

Clinical Expert Interview with Susan Clinton, PT on Sensory Balloon Retraining for Bowel Dysfunction

July 24, 2017July 20, 2017 ~ jesspreale ~ 6 Comments

In continuing my video series with clinical experts, I interviewed Susan Clinton, PT, DscPT, OCS, WCS, COMT, FAAOMPT (Yes, those are a TON of initials!!) regarding balloon training as a treatment for bowel dysfunction. Susan is well-known in our profession as an expert on bowel dysfunction, and her video definitely did not disappoint!

Curious about this treatment? Check out the interview below! If you want to learn more, here are a few research articles that mention balloon training as a treatment tool (this one and this one) Hope you enjoy!

Head, Shoulders, Knees…and Pelvic Floor!

February 28, 2017 ~ jesspreale ~ 4 Comments

I spent my first few years of practice going deep into the pelvis… and my most recent few years, desperately trying to get out. Now, I know that may seem like a strange statement to read coming from me, the pelvic floor girl. But bear with me. I love the pelvic floor, I really do. I enjoy learning about the pelvis, treating bowel/bladder problems, helping my patients with their most intimate of struggles. I like to totally “nerd out” reading about the latest research related to complex nerve pain, hormonal and nutritional influences, and complicated or rarely understood diagnoses. However, the more I learned about the pelvic floor, the more I discovered that in order to provide my patients with the best care I can possibly provide, I needed to journey outside the pelvis and integrate the rest of the body.

You see, the pelvic floor does not work in isolation.

It is not the only structure preventing you from leaking urine.

It is not the sole factor in allowing you to have pleasurable sexual intercourse.

It is not the only structure stabilizing your tailbone as you move.

It is simply one gear inside the fascinating machine of the body.

And, the incredible thing about the body is that a problem above or below that gear, can actually influence the function of the gear itself! And that is pretty incredible! One of the patients that most inspired me to really start my journey outside of the pelvis was an 18-year-old girl I treated 4 years ago. She was a senior in high school and prior to the onset of her pelvic pain had been an incredible athlete– playing soccer, volleyball and ice hockey. Since developing pelvic pain, she had to stop all activities. Her pain led to severe nausea, and was greatly impacting her senior year. When I examined her, I noticed some interesting patterns in the way she walked. With further questioning, she ended up telling me that a year ago, she experienced a fracture of her tibia (the bone by her knee) while playing soccer. She was immobilized in a brace for about a month, then cleared to resume all activity. (Yep, no physical therapy). Looking closer, she had significant weakness around her knee that was influencing the way she moved, and leading to a compensatory “gripping” pattern in her pelvic floor muscles to attempt to stabilize her hips and legs during movement. So, we treated her knee (She actually ended up having a surgery for a meniscal tear that had not been discovered by her previous physician), and guess what? Her pelvic pain was eliminated. BOOM. If you want to read more about her story, I actually wrote the case up for Jessica McKinney’s blog and pelvic health awareness project, Share MayFlowers, in 2013.

So, what else is connected to the pelvic floor? Here are a few interesting scenarios:

Poor mobility in the neck and upper back can actually lead to neural tension throughout the body– yes, including the nerves that go to the pelvic floor. (I’ve had patients bend their neck to look down and experience an increase in tailbone pain. How amazing is that?)
Being stuck in a slumped posture can cause a person to have decreased excursion of his or her diaphragm, which can then put the pelvic floor in a position in which it is unable to contract or relax the way it needs to.
Grinding your teeth at night? That increased tension in the jaw can impact the intrathoracic pressure (from glottis to diaphragm), which in turn, impacts the intra-abdominal pressure (from diaphragm to pelvic floor) and, you guessed it, your pelvic floor muscles!
An ankle injury may cause a person to change the way he or she walks, which could increase the work one hip has to do compared to the other. This can cause certain muscles to fatigue and become sore and tender, including the pelvic floor muscles!

Pretty cool right? And the amazing thing is that this is simply scratching the surface! The important thing to understand here is that you are a person, not a body part! Be cautious if you are working with someone who refuses to look outside of your “problem” to see you as a whole. And if you have a feeling in your gut that something might be connected to what you have going on, it really might be! Speak up!

As always, I love to hear from you! Have you learned of any interesting connections between parts of your body? For my fellow pelvic PTs out there, what cool clinical correlations have you found?

Have a great Tuesday!

Jessica

Wanna read more? Check out this prior post on connections between the diaphragm and the rest of the body!

Your bladder and bowels need a diary.

June 8, 2016 ~ jesspreale ~ Leave a comment

This past weekend, I had the wonderful experience of assisting at Herman & Wallace’s Level 1 Pelvic Floor Course, held here in Atlanta. I have been assisting at these courses for the past 4 years now, and I absolutely love it. There’s nothing better than helping clinicians who are new to the field of pelvic health learn and grow in this fantastic specialty. I love the excitement, the slight fear (I mean, many of these folks are doing their first vaginal exams at these courses), and the growing passion for helping men and women with pelvic floor problems. And the most exciting thing is knowing that they are going out in their communities to begin offering this service to people who really need it. And, now you know how much that really means to me.

The initial level 1 course covers an introduction to pelvic floor dysfunction (all diagnoses), and covers bladder dysfunction in more detail. One of the prerequisites of the course is for all participants to complete a bladder diary which is then evaluated in the class. So, why keep a bladder or bowel diary?

First, let’s be honest, we are all horrible historians. Many of us can barely remember what we ate for breakfast, let alone remember all the details of our bathroom habits! Let me ask you this:

How many times did you urinate yesterday?
How much fluid did you drink? What exactly did you drink?
What did your poop look like? When did you poop?

If you’re like me, it’s probably tricky to recall these exact details. (Well, you may be slightly better at recalling than I am, now that my pregnancy brain is in full effect!). And, if you are having any problems with your bowels or bladder, these details really do matter. Here are a few examples:

Patient #1: Mary (obviously not her name) was a lovely 65 year old retired nurse experiencing urinary leakage on her way to the restroom several times each day. She had tried exercises, dietary changes, and medications, and her problem kept persisting. Her bladder diary was eye opening for both of us! We learned that she only leaked urine when she would hold her bladder for over 6 hours! After years of holding her bladder for entire shifts, she got into some pretty bad habits. Once we changed this, her leakage went away completely!

Patient #2: Sara(also, not her name) was a 10 year old girl having bowel accidents daily. Once we did a diary, we found out the problem! Her mother was a hair stylist who saw clients out of her home. Sara was afraid to have a bowel movement while her mom’s clients were there, and had started having accidents from getting too constipated! The three of us quickly determined a “code word” for Sara to tell her mom when she needed to go, and within 2 weeks, the problem was solved!

So, as you can see… these little diaries can be oh so powerful! So, let’s get into the details!

Who should do a bowel or bladder diary? Well, in my mind, everyone should try it at some point! It’s so cool to see what your patterns really are… but for sure, anyone who is having problems like urinary urgency or frequency, urinary leakage, constipation or bowel leakage.

How long should you keep one? Typically, I like people to track for at least 3 days. Preferably, two of those days should be “regular” and one can be “different.” For example, if you are working, you may choose two days to be work days, and one to be over the weekend.

What should you look for? The best thing to do if you are having problems is to bring your diary to your health care provider. He or she will be able to analyze it completely, and give you insight into what may be happening. However, I do think there is some benefit in doing a little sleuthing yourself. Here are a few things to identify:

How often are you going? Normal bladder frequency is typically around 5-8 times each day, and less than 1 time each night. Normal bowel frequency varies quite a bit from 1 time over 3 days to 3 times each day.
How strong are your urges when you go? Generally, I recommend grading urges on a 0-3 scale (from no urge –> gotta go right now!). Were most of your urges very small? Were you running to the bathroom all day?
How much did you urinate? The best way to track this is to actually measure your output (usually a cheap plastic cup or a dollar tree measuring cup works well). Normal output of urine is 400-600 mL per void. You can also try just counting the seconds of your stream, however, this does tend to be less accurate. We generally tell people that each stream should be at least 8 seconds.
What did your poop look like? Was your stool soft and formed? Little rabbit pellets? Did you have to push hard to empty your bowels or did they come out easily? Did you have any discomfort or pain?
What was your diet like? Do you notice any trends in what you eat or drink? Were you drinking some well-known bladder offenders (like caffeinated drinks, soda, coffee, artificial sweeteners or sugary drinks)? Did you eat at really regular intervals? (You know I love my bowel routines!)
Did you notice any trends? Did you always go to the bathroom when you had the littlest urge? Was most of your leaking with coughing or sneezing? Does running water send you running to the bathroom? Did you always have a bowel movement after your morning coffee?

As you can see, so much wonderful information can be gleaned from these diaries, so if you’re having problems, get started today! Knowledge is power, and once we become aware and identify trends in our habits, we can make the changes needed to really help us get the most out of our bodies!

If you want to get started today, try using one of these free templates available online (John Hopkins’ Bladder Diary, Continence Foundation Diary, or Movicol’s “Choose your Poo!” Diary) There are also wonderful apps available now for tracking bowel/bladder function! This is a sample of a diary I frequently use in the clinic (see below).

So, get tracking! And, on a serious note– don’t forget that these diaries can also help to determine if you are having a more serious problem, so please, please please, see your health care provider for an evaluation if you are having the types of problems we discussed today!

Happy Wednesday!

~Jessica

Got pelvic health problems? There’s an app for that!

April 18, 2016June 1, 2016 ~ jesspreale ~ 11 Comments

Technology in our current time is incredible. With our smartphones so quickly at our finger tips, we have apps for pretty much everything. Need to find a good restaurant near by? There’s an app for that. Want to quickly edit your photos into beautiful photo masterpieces? Just download the app. Last year over Christmas, I even found an app that turned anyone’s face into Santa Claus. (The results were amazing if you’re wondering).

And pelvic health is no different. There are so many apps available for people with pelvic problems or for general men’s and women’s health needs. I absolutely love apps for my patients that help them with the problems they’re experiencing or enhance their home programs. Here are some of the great ones out there! (Note: Special thanks to my colleagues on the Women’s Health Physiotherapy Facebook Group who added their suggestions to this list. I plan to keep this updated regularly so it can be a great resource for colleagues and our wonderful patients!) Enjoy!

Bladder/Bowel problems:

iDry: Free version includes a tracker for pad usage and bladder leakage. Premium version includes options for interventions (including pelvic floor exercises!), a more detailed chart tracker, reminders, and options to send to your health care providers!
UroBladderDiary: This app costs $1.99 but allows tracking of urinary frequency and volumes, leakage, and fluid intake. Also allows tracking of urgency level. Allows conversion to a PDF to e-mail to health care provider.
Bathroom Map: For those struggling with strong urinary or bowel urgency and/or incontinence, this app may become your best friend! It uses your location to quickly identify all of the restrooms nearby. It also grades each bathroom as green, yellow or red to indicate the availability of the restroom, comfort and cleanliness of the facility.
Poo Keeper: This app is a quick tracker for someone struggling with bowel problems. Allows you to snap a quick photo of your stool and track your stool consistency.
BM Classic: For those with bowel problems, this app not only allows you to track your bowel frequency and stool consistency (using the awesome Bristol Stool Scale), but also allows you to track stress level, water intake, and dietary habits. Could be a great resource for someone struggling with bowel problems.

Pelvic Floor Exercises:

Squeezy: This app was designed by pelvic physiotherapists in the UK and is endorsed by the NHS. It allows for a personalized exercise program, has reminders, visuals and keeps a record.
Kegel Trainer: This app includes information on how to use pelvic floor muscles, and has various levels of exercise based on different contraction/relaxation intervals. Free version only includes first level, paid goes up to 15 levels. Includes reminders and an exercise tracker.
Pelvic Floor First: This is an awesome organization out of Australia, and I have used their website and handouts frequently for my clients for the past several years. Their app definitely does not disappoint! It offers a nice progressive exercise routine for someone struggling with pelvic floor weakness (like we commonly see with urinary incontinence, pelvic organ prolapse, and postpartum difficulties). The programs go from Starting Out (30 min), Moving On (40 min) to Stepping Up (50 min). Just be sure to chat with your pelvic PT before you jump in the program!
If you prefer a device for strengthening (and your pelvic PT thinks that would be helpful to you!), the following are apps that sync to insertable devices: Pericoach, Elvie, KGoal
BWOM: This app is great because it starts with a short quiz to help identify where someone may have a pelvic floor problem. It then has exercise programs (available for a small $$) based on that problem, including relaxation exercises! Designed by pelvic physios.
GoldMuscle: This app is focused on improving sexual performance rather than on those who may have pelvic health problems, so definitely has a different look to it. It includes various programs to focus on both endurance and quick contractions of pelvic floor, allows you to track progress, and get reminders for your exercises.

Pelvic Pain/Relaxation Apps:

RelaxLite with Andrew Johnson: This is one of my personal faves. Basically, it’s a 10-15 min guided progressive relaxation. He has a paid version too with lots of additional upgrades, but the free meditation is great!
Headspace: Free version includes a free 10 minute meditation to teach basics of meditation. Upgrade provides access to tons of different meditation options. Great way to start learning meditation.
Calm: Another great meditation app. Free version includes the “7 days of Calm” introductory program to learn the basics of mindful meditation, and also incluees access to soothing sounds to help relieve stress. Upgrade allows access to all of the different meditation programs (for sleep, calm, etc)
Insight Timer: Meditation community app, includes a timer to track meditation with different sound options, and includes over 1300 guided meditations. Also includes discussion groups and meet-up groups.
Binaural- Pure Binaural Beats: This app allows you to listen (use headphones) to various sounds to promote brain wave activity correlated with relaxation, meditation, problem solving and activity. And all of it’s free!

Women’s Health:

iPeriod: Paid versions only. Use to track periods, ovulation and fertility; Graphs of data available and includes availability to export data to take to physician visits. Lots of personalization options too!
Clue: Period tracker that predicts dates for your next period, and also allows you to track symptoms as they relate to your cycle (including pain, which is awesome!)
My Days: This app tracks and predicts periods, ovulation and fertility. Also allows options to track basal metabolic temperature, cervical mucus and cervix for those trying to become pregnant.

Pregnancy/Postpartum:

Pregnancy Pelvic Floor Plan: This app by the Continence Foundation of Australia has both a tracker to see weekly milestones during pregnancy, but also has great information on pelvic floor health. Includes option to receive regular reminders to perform pelvic floor exercises.
Gentle Birth: This app promotes a positive pregnancy and birth experience. Includes mindfulness, breathing techniques, affirmations and hypnosis, combined with evidence based research. Customized programs based on the woman’s needs. Free for a sample program, then requires paid subscription.
Mind the Bump: Meditation app geared toward pregnancy/postnatal populations. Includes different meditations for different periods of time (first trimester-postpartum)
Pregnancy Exercise- Weekly Workout: This app by Oh Baby! Fitness (based out of Atlanta, and generally very evidence-based!) includes a new exercise for every week of pregnancy based on pilates, yoga and strength training. Through 10 weeks is free, then $5 to unlock the rest of the weeks.
Rost Moves: This app provides recommendations for body mechanics/movement options when performing different regular home activities. Especially a great app for new moms or pregnant women with pelvic girdle/low back pain.

Hope you found this helpful! Did I miss any of your favorite apps?? Let me know in the comments below! I plan to update this page regularly for new apps we discover! Have a great week! ~ Jessica

Why get Pelvic PT first? And, join me for a webinar Thursday 12/10!

December 8, 2015 ~ jesspreale ~ Leave a comment

If you didn’t know, December 1st was a day that all PTs came together to share with the public all of the benefits of seeking PT! My colleague, Stephanie Prendergast, founder of the Pelvic Health and Rehabilitation Center in California, wrote an amazing blog post on why someone should get pelvic PT first. I thought it was great (as you know…I post lots of Stephanie’s stuff), and Stephanie gave me permission to re-blog it here. So, I really hope you enjoy it. If you aren’t familiar with Stephanie’s blog, please check it out here. You won’t regret it.

On another note, I will be teaching a live webinar Thursday 12/10 on Pelvic Floor Dysfunction in the Adult Athlete. I really hope to see some blog followers there! Register for it here.

Now… enjoy this great post by Stephanie. ~ Jessica

Why get PT 1st? Here are the Facts. By Stephanie Prendergast

Vaginal pain. Burning with urination. Post-ejaculatory pain. Constipation. Genital pain following bowel movements. Pelvic pain that prevents sitting, exercising, wearing pants and having pleasurable intercourse.

When a person develops these symptoms, physical therapy is not the first avenue of treatment they turn to for help. In fact, physical therapists are not even considered at all. This week, we’ll discuss why this old way of thinking needs to CHANGE. Additionally, we’ll explain how the “Get PT 1st” campaign is leading the way in this movement.

We’ve heard it before. You didn’t know we existed, right? Throughout the years, patients continue to inform me the reason they never sought a physical therapist for treatment first, was because they were unaware pelvic physical therapists existed, and are actually qualified to help them.

Many individuals do not realize that physical therapists hold advanced degrees in musculoskeletal and neurologic health, and are treating a wide range of disorders beyond the commonly thought of sports or surgical rehabilitation.

On December 1st, physical therapists came together on social media to raise awareness about our profession and how we serve the community. The campaign is titled “GetPT1st”. The team at PHRC supports this campaign and this week we will tell you that you can and should get PT first if you are suffering from a pelvic floor disorder.

Did you know that a majority of people with pelvic pain have “tight” pelvic floor muscles that are associated with their symptoms?

Physical therapy is first-line treatment that can help women eliminate vulvar pain

Chronic vulvar pain affects approximately 8% of the female population under 40 years old in the USA, with prevalence increasing to 18% across the lifespan. (Ruby H. N. Nguyen, Rachael M. Turner, Jared Sieling, David A. Williams, James S. Hodges, Bernard L. Harlow, Feasibility of Collecting Vulvar Pain Variability and its Correlates Using Prospective Collection with Smartphones 2014)

Physical therapy is first-line treatment that can help men and women with Interstitial Cystitis

Over 1 million people are affected by IC in the United States alone [Hanno, 2002;Jones and Nyberg, 1997], in fact; an office survey indicated that 575 in every 100,000 women have IC [Rosenberg and Hazzard, 2005]. Another study on self-reported adult IC cases in an urban community estimated its prevalence to be approximately 4% [Ibrahim et al. 2007]. Children and adolescents can also have IC [Shear and Mayer, 2006]; patients with IC have had 10 times higher prevalence of bladder problems as children than the general population [Hanno, 2007].

Physical Therapy is first-line treatment that can help men suffering from Chronic Nonbacterial Prostatitis/Male Pelvic Pain

Chronic prostatitis (CP) or chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CPPS) affects 2%-14% of the male population, and chronic prostatitis is the most common urologic diagnosis in men aged <50 years.

The definition of CP/CPPS states urinary symptoms are present in the absence of a prostate infection. (Pontari et al. New developments in the diagnosis and treatment of CP/CPPS. Current Opinion, November 2013).

71% of women in a survey of 205 educated postpartum women were unaware of the impact of pregnancy on the pelvic floor muscles.

21% of nulliparous women in a 269 women study presented with Levator Ani avulsion following a vaginal delivery (Deft. relationship between postpartum levator ani muscle avulsion and signs and symptoms of pelvic floor dysfunction. BJOG 2014 Feb 121: 1164 -1172).

64.3% of women reported sexual dysfunction in the first year following childbirth. (Khajehi M. Prevalence and risk factors of sexual dysfunction in postpartum Australian women. J Sex Med 2015 June; 12(6):1415-26.

24% of postpartum women still experienced pain with intercourse at 18 months postpartum (McDonald et al. Dyspareunia and childbirth: a prospective cohort study. BJOG 2015)

85% of women stated that given verbal instruction alone did not help them to properly perform a Kegel. *Dunbar A. understanding vaginal childbirth: what do women understand about the consequences of vaginal childbirth.J Wo Health PT 2011 May/August 35 (2) 51 – 56)

Did you know that pelvic floor physical therapy is mandatory for postpartum women in many other countries such as France, Australia, and England? This is because pelvic floor physical therapy can help prepartum women prepare for birth and postpartum moms restore their musculoskeletal health, eliminate incontinence, prevent pelvic organ prolapse, and return to pain-free sex.

Did you know that weak or ‘low tone’ pelvic floor muscles are associated with urinary and fecal incontinence, erectile dysfunction, and pelvic organ prolapse?

Physical Therapy can help with Stress Urinary Incontinence

Did you know that weak or ‘low tone’ pelvic floor muscles are associated with urinary and fecal incontinence, erectile dysfunction, and pelvic organ prolapse? 80% of women by the age of 50 experience Stress Urinary Incontinence. Pelvic floor muscle training was associated with a cure of stress urinary incontinence. (Dumoulin C et al. Neurourol Urodyn. Nov 2014)

30 – 85 % of men develop stress urinary incontinence following a radical prostatectomy. Early pelvic floor muscle training hastened the recovery of continence and reduced the severity at 1, 3 and 6 months postoperatively. (Ribeiro LH et al. J Urol. Sept 2014; 184 (3):1034 -9).

Physical Therapy can help with Erectile Dysfunction

Several studies have looked at the prevalence of ED. At age 40, approximately 40% of men are affected. The rate increases to nearly 70% in men aged 70 years. The prevalence of complete ED increases from 5% to 15% as age increases from 40 to 70 years.1

Physical Therapy can help with Pelvic Organ Prolapse

In the 16,616 women with a uterus, the rate of uterine prolapse was 14.2%; the rate of cystocele was 34.3%; and the rate of rectocele was 18.6%. For the 10,727 women who had undergone a hysterectomy, the prevalence of cystocele was 32.9% and of rectocele was 18.3%. (Susan L. Hendrix, DO,Pelvic organ prolapse in the Women’s Health Initiative: Gravity and gravidity. Am J Obstet Gynecol 2002;186:1160-6.)

Pelvic floor physical therapy can help optimize musculoskeletal health, reducing the symptoms of prolapse, help prepare the body for surgery if necessary, and speed post-operative recovery.

Did you know….

In many states a person can go directly to a physical therapist without a referral from a physician? (For more information about your state: https://www.apta.org/uploadedFiles/APTAorg/Advocacy/State/Issues/Direct_Access/DirectAccessbyState.pdf)

You need to know….

Pelvic floor physical therapy can help vulvar pain, chronic nonbacterial prostatitis/CPPS, Interstitial Cystitis, and Pudendal Neuralgia. (link blogs: http://www.pelvicpainrehab.com/patient-questions/401/what-is-a-good-pelvic-pain-pt-session-like/, http://www.pelvicpainrehab.com/male-pelvic-pain/460/male-pelvic-pain-its-time-to-treat-men-right/http://www.pelvicpainrehab.com/female-pelvic-pain/488/case-study-pt-for-a-vulvodynia-diagnosis/)

Pelvic floor physical therapy can help prepartum women prepare for birth and postpartum moms restore their musculoskeletal health, eliminate incontinence, prevent pelvic organ prolapse, and return to pain-free sex: http://www.pelvicpainrehab.com/pregnancy/540/pelvic-floor-rehab-its-time-to-treat-new-moms-right/

Early pelvic floor muscle training hastened the recovery of continence and reduced the severity at 1, 3 and 6 months in postoperative men following prostatectomy. (Ribeiro LH et al. J Urol. Sept 2014; 184 (3):1034 -9). (Link blog: http://www.pelvicpainrehab.com/male-pelvic-pain/2322/men-kegels/

A study from the University of the West in the U.K. found that pelvic exercises helped 40 percent of men with ED regain normal erectile function. They also helped an additional 33.5 percent significantly improve erectile function. Additional research suggests pelvic muscle training may be helpful for treating ED as well as other pelvic health issues. (link blog:http://www.pelvicpainrehab.com/male-pelvic-pain/2322/men-kegels/

….that you can and should find a pelvic floor physical therapist and Get PT 1st.

To find a pelvic floor physical therapist:

American Physical Therapy Association, Section on Women’s Health:

http://www.womenshealthapta.org/pt-locator/

International Pelvic Pain Society: http://pelvicpain.org/patients/find-a-medical-provider.aspx

Best,

Stephanie Prendergast, MPT

Stephanie grew up in South Jersey, and currently sees patients at Pelvic Health and Rehabilitation Center in their Los Angeles office. She received her bachelor’s degree in exercise physiology from Rutgers University, and her master’s in physical therapy at the Medical College of Pennsylvania and Hahnemann University in Philadelphia. For balance, Steph turns to yoga, music, and her calm and loving King Charles Cavalier Spaniel, Abbie. For adventure, she gets her fix from scuba diving and global travel.

Dyssynergic Defecation (or…when the poop just can’t get out)

October 27, 2015March 30, 2020 ~ jesspreale ~ 166 Comments

I’ll admit it… I like treating pooping problems. I know that grosses some people out, but it’s true. I think it’s because bowel problems really really impact people’s lives. I mean, pooping is a super basic human activity–so when it’s not working the way it should, it’s really awful.

I have recently had quite a few patients who are having difficulty evacuating their bowels. Now, there are multiple reasons why this could occur (I know, I’ve written about constipation a lot already, see here for evidence)–but today, we’re going to chat about one in particular, dyssynergic defecation or sphinctor dyssynergia.

What exactly is dyssynergic defecation?

Basically, your pelvic floor muscles work with your colon reflexively. When your colon is contracting to push the poop out, and you are sitting on the toilet ready to empty your bowels, the muscles should relax and open to allow this to occur. Sometimes, this relationship becomes dysfunctional, and basically, you think you are pushing and relaxing the sphinctor muscles, but instead, the muscles are contracting and closing the sphinctor. I know what you’re thinking– Jessica, I would know if I were actually contracting my muscles instead of relaxing them while I poop. But, no, you wouldn’t. In fact, many patients are shocked when I show them the actual coordination of their muscles.

Typically, incoordination of the pelvic floor muscles is paired with poor coordination of the abdominal muscles, and often impaired sensation of the rectum. Dyssynergic Defecation is diagnosed typically by an anorectal examination, and anorectal manometry/defecography testing (like this, with an MRI, or by assessing muscle activity with EMG while the person attempts to expel a balloon, or other testing options)

Why does it happen?

Dyssynergic defecation is very common in people who have constipation. In fact, this review suggested that close to 40% of people with constipation have this incoordination pattern. There are several factors that can contribute to dyssynergic defecation. This review estimated that close to 30% of adults with dyssynergic defecation patterns had constipation as children, and found that 46% had frequent straining to empty hard stool. But there are other factors that can contribute as well, such as:

pregnancy
traumatic injury
low back pain
history of sexual abuse/trauma
poor behavioral habits related to bowel health
nothing (like many other things, we sometimes just don’t know why it happens)

What are the signs and symptoms?

As we discussed previously, dyssynergic defecation is extremely common amongst those struggling with constipation (typically meaning < 3 BMs per week, as well as symptoms of abdominal discomfort, bloating, and/or difficulty emptying bowels). This article looked at the most common reported symptoms of those with dyssynergic defecation, and found that many experienced the following:

Excessive straining to have a bowel movement
Feeling of incomplete evacuation after a bowel movement
Abdominal bloating
Frequent hard stools
Frequently utilizing digital maneuvers to empty stool (this means, using a finger to either help pull stool out of the rectum, or using a finger to press inside the vagina to help empty)

What can you do about it?

The great news is that men and women (and kids too!!) with a dyssynergic defecation pattern can respond very well to conservative treatment! Pelvic physical therapists are typically the providers of choice when it comes to helping people with these problems, and work closely with GI and Colorectal Physicians to help these men and women. Treatment typically involves a few different components:

1. Developing amazing bowel habits. You know that has to be first on my list. If your bowel habits are not stellar, we can try to help your muscles all we want, but you will still have difficulties emptying. So, first things first, we need to make sure your dietary habits rock, you have a great bowel routine, and you know how to sit on the toilet in the most optimal way. Wondering what that toilet position is? Check out this sort of funny, mostly weird video by my favorite potty comedians and stool developers (pun intended), Squatty Potty.

2. Surface EMG Biofeedback training to improve muscle coordination: Biofeedback training uses surface electrodes placed at the anal sphinctor muscles and the abdominal muscles to identify the type of pattern a person uses to expel a bowel movement. Once we identify the pattern you currently use, we can work together to improve the pattern so that your sphinctor muscles relax when you generate abdominal pressure to empty your bowels. Seems pretty basic, right? But the right biofeedback training can make a HUGE difference–and the current research really supports this treatment for anyone with this problem. (See this article, this one, that one, and this one!)

3. Making sure your pelvic floor muscles are strong, FLEXIBLE, and well-coordinated. So, we’ve talked in detail about the pelvic floor muscles on this blog. Remember, we all want muscles that can contract AND relax. And, for dyssynergic defecation patterns, the relaxation component is extremely important! Often times, people who have difficulty relaxing their muscles to have a bowel movement tend to have tender, overactive pelvic floor muscles to begin with. So, treatment will also focus on improving awareness of the pelvic floor muscles, learning to relax the muscles (dropping and lengthening them), and often will include some manual therapy (yes, internal vaginal or rectal) to help reduce the tenderness and improve the mobility of the muscles.

4. Balloon retraining. People love hearing about this one… but it really is an awesome and effective treatment for so many men and women!! (Research supports it also– see here and here!) This treatment basically uses a small balloon that is attached to a catheter and is inserted into the rectum, and slowly inflated. Often times, people with dyssynergic defecation patterns have decreased sensitivity in the rectum, so they will not feel the presence of stool (or a balloon!) in the rectum when they typically should. Based on what we find initially, we can use the balloon to improve the sensation in the rectum. We can also use a slightly filled balloon to work on proper expelling techniques. I know what you’re thinking, Wow Jessica, this sounds like a super fun and awesome treatment. I know, but honestly, it’s very very helpful for people who need it!

Now, this just scratches the surface in terms of what all we pelvic PTs do to help with dyssynergic defecation. But, I wanted to get the conversation started! This tends to be a topic many people don’t talk about… in fact, I have had men and women travel SO far just to get the initial diagnosis! And, I need that to stop… hence this blog post today. Lastly, if you are having problems with constipation and think you may have this problem– Go see a GI/Colorectal Physician! Honestly, make an appointment today! And, contact your local pelvic PT. If you live in Atlanta or the surrounding area, give me a call! It’s time to get your bowels back in order (or even in order for the first time!).

I always look forward to hearing from you! So please, ask any questions or make any comments below!!

~ Jessica

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