8 Signs You May Benefit From Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy
Updated: Sep 5
Pelvic floor dysfunction is far more common than many people realize, and symptoms can affect both women and men at different stages of life. Problems with bladder control, bowel function, pelvic pain, sexual function, pregnancy, postpartum recovery, or prostate surgery may all involve the pelvic floor.
At CoreX Physical Therapy in Aurora, Colorado, Dr. Anhelina Anufryienka, DPT, provides individualized pelvic health physical therapy to help patients understand the source of their symptoms and develop a treatment plan based on their specific needs.
1. You Leak When You Laugh, Sneeze, Cough, or Exercise
Leaking urine when you cough, sneeze, laugh, run, jump, or lift is known as stress urinary incontinence.
Although urinary leakage is common, especially after pregnancy or childbirth, it should not simply be accepted as something you have to live with.
Pelvic floor physical therapy may help improve pelvic floor muscle strength, coordination, pressure management, breathing mechanics, and core control.
2. You Have Urinary Urgency or Frequency
Do you frequently feel like you have to rush to the bathroom? Do you urinate very often, wake up multiple times during the night, or worry about finding a bathroom when you leave home?
These symptoms may be associated with an overactive or poorly coordinated pelvic floor.
Treatment may include bladder retraining, pelvic floor muscle coordination, breathing techniques, behavioral strategies, and exercises designed specifically for your symptoms.
3. You Have Persistent Pelvic, Hip, Tailbone, or Lower Back Pain
Pelvic floor dysfunction does not always cause bladder symptoms.
Some people experience pain or pressure in the:
Pelvis
Lower abdomen
Tailbone
Hips
Groin
Genital area
Lower back
Pelvic floor muscles can become tight, painful, weak, or poorly coordinated. A pelvic health physical therapist can assess how the pelvic floor, hips, core, spine, breathing, and movement patterns may be contributing to your symptoms.
4. Sex Is Painful
Pain during or after intercourse is not something you should simply tolerate.
Conditions such as dyspareunia, vaginismus, pelvic floor muscle overactivity, scar sensitivity, and pelvic pain may involve the pelvic floor.
Depending on the findings, treatment may include manual therapy, relaxation and breathing techniques, mobility work, education, gradual strengthening, and strategies to improve pelvic floor coordination.
5. You Feel Pelvic Heaviness, Pressure, or Bulging
A sensation of heaviness, pressure, dragging, or bulging in the vaginal area may be associated with pelvic organ prolapse.
Pelvic floor physical therapy cannot change every anatomical aspect of prolapse, but it may help reduce symptoms and improve pelvic floor support, strength, coordination, lifting mechanics, and pressure management.
For many people, conservative treatment is an important first step in managing symptoms.
6. You Are Pregnant or Recently Had a Baby
Pregnancy and childbirth place significant demands on the pelvic floor, abdominal muscles, hips, and spine.
Pelvic floor physical therapy during pregnancy can help with problems such as:
Pelvic girdle pain
Low back pain
Urinary leakage
Pelvic pressure
Constipation
Exercise modifications
Birth preparation
After childbirth, pelvic floor rehabilitation may help with abdominal weakness, diastasis recti, urinary leakage, pelvic pain, C-section or perineal scar mobility, painful intercourse, and returning safely to exercise.
This applies after both vaginal delivery and Cesarean delivery.
7. You Have Constipation or Difficulty Emptying Your Bowels
The pelvic floor needs to relax and coordinate correctly during a bowel movement.
If the muscles remain tight or do not relax at the appropriate time, you may experience:
Straining
Incomplete emptying
Difficulty passing stool
Pelvic pressure
Frequent constipation
A feeling that stool is “stuck”
Pelvic floor physical therapy can help retrain the coordination between the pelvic floor, diaphragm, abdominal muscles, and bowel habits.
8. You Are a Man Experiencing Symptoms Before or After Prostate Surgery
Pelvic floor physical therapy is not only for women.
Men may benefit from pelvic health rehabilitation before and after prostate surgery, including prostatectomy.
After prostate surgery, some men experience urinary leakage, urgency, changes in bladder control, pelvic discomfort, or difficulty returning to normal activity.
Pelvic floor physical therapy may include pelvic floor muscle training, coordination exercises, bladder strategies, breathing and core training, and education about returning safely to exercise and daily activities.
Starting pelvic floor training before prostate surgery, when appropriate, may also help patients learn how to correctly identify and activate the pelvic floor muscles before the procedure.
Pelvic Floor Therapy Can Help Men With Other Pelvic Health Problems Too
Men may also experience pelvic floor dysfunction unrelated to prostate surgery.
Pelvic health physical therapy may be considered for symptoms such as chronic pelvic or perineal pain, urinary urgency or frequency, difficulty controlling urine, pain with sitting, discomfort associated with pelvic floor muscle tension, bowel dysfunction, or certain sexual-function concerns.
In some men, pelvic floor muscles are actually too tight rather than too weak, which is why simply performing more Kegel exercises is not always the right solution.
A proper assessment helps determine whether the muscles need strengthening, relaxation, coordination training, or a combination of approaches.
You Do Not Have to Wait Until Symptoms Become Severe
Many people wait months or even years before asking for help because they assume pelvic floor problems are normal after childbirth, aging, or prostate surgery.
They are common, but that does not mean they should be ignored.
Pelvic floor physical therapy focuses on identifying why the symptoms are occurring and creating an individualized treatment plan to improve function, movement, confidence, and quality of life.
Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy in Aurora, Colorado
If you are experiencing urinary leakage, pelvic pain, constipation, painful intercourse, pelvic pressure, pregnancy or postpartum concerns, or symptoms related to prostate surgery, CoreX Physical Therapy is here to help.
We provide private, one-on-one pelvic health physical therapy for women and men in Aurora and the Denver metro area.
Schedule a pelvic floor physical therapy evaluation with CoreX Physical Therapy to find out what may be contributing to your symptoms and what you can do about it.
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