Let me start off by saying nothing can replace individualized attention and prescription from a licensed physical therapist. These are three of the most common stretches I give to my patients who are experiencing pelvic pain, however not everyone gets all of these stretches. For some people one or more of these stretches may make them feel worse. No exercise or stretch should cause you pain, and if it does please stop doing it and seek professional advice. Ok, now that my

Many clients tell me they never heard of pelvic floor therapy until they met me or googled their symptoms. Unfortunately most doctors aren't spending enough time with their patients to ask the right questions and refer patients to pelvic floor therapy. A colleague of mine developed this quiz to see if pelvic floor PT might be beneficial. You can take the quiz below and find out if you would benefit from pelvic floor PT. This is from the Cozean Pelvic Dysfunction Screening P

I see a lot of clients due to neck pain. Often this neck pain is due to our society and technology and sitting in front of the computer for many hours during the day. Most neck pain does not occur from “sleeping wrong” but more often from what we are doing during our waking hours. Here are my top four tips to help relieve neck pain. 1. Check your desk set up. If you work at a computer for most of your day make sure your screen is just below eye level, your feet are support

Here are 5 things you can do to make your back and hips more comfortable throughout your pregnancy. It is common to have some back/hip/pelvic pain during pregnancy. Some of it is inevitable due to hormonal changes, however there are some exercises you can do to help ease or prevent the pain. This should not be taken as prescriptive medical advice, but some things that have helped my clients. As always, nothing substitutes for in person medical advice. During pregnancy horm

I have had a few clients and friends recently ask me my opinion on tampons. Are tampons safe? Are there harmful ingredients in tampons? Are organic tampons better? There are lots of opinions by many different people and manufacturers, but I set out to do some research and found a few reliable resources. There are tons of articles written by each tampon company, but that is likely very biased information. I did find a few facts and research articles that I think are as unbi

What treatment options are there for endometriosis? Is hysterectomy the only option? No, find out how physical therapy can help and why hys

I haven't ran in over a year. I'm not an avid runner and I don't like running competitively. To me running is a time to be outside, move my body and clear my mind. Last August my foot started hurting when I ran. I don't know why. I don't remember injuring it, but it started hurting. The physical therapist side of me said I needed to stop running and let it heal. The side of me that wants to be fit and in shape had a hard time with that, but I eventually listened. I neve

This story has a happy beginning and a happy ending, but a lot of struggle in the middle. I went on vacation to Cambodia with one of my friends who has family in Cambodia. We traveled all over the country. I met her family; they don’t speak English and I don’t speak Khmer (Cambodian) but we traveled together. I saw ancient temples, war prisons, lots of shopping markets and I got to swim in the sea. I went there fully prepared for travel. I have traveled often and to some

This is the third part of my series on low back pain and again based off a talk I gave to a business group I spoke to on this topic. The previous two blogs were more about why PT is effective and how it can save money when you have low back pain. This blog is the more practical side of what you can do if you have low back pain. Again, research shows that physical therapy and exercise are the best ways to treat low back pain, and not rest, pain medication or surgery. This i

Physical therapy and exercise! NBC recently published a story on back pain and the most effective treatments. https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/low-back-pain-top-cause-disability-gets-wrong-treatments-n858781 Physical therapy and exercise have been shown to be the best treatments for low back pain according to a study published in the Lancet Journal, however most people are getting prescription pain drugs when they tell their doctor they have low back pain. This has

Shoulder pain and injuries are one of the most common ailments I treat and have treated throughout my career. Shoulder pain can be complicated, or it can be very simple. Every person is different. I’ve had patients who feel better after one session and some who need months of therapy. I believe that most people can heal without surgery, and research backs this up, but having the right therapist with good eyes to see and ears to hear what your complaints are to be able to

I recently attended a workshop hosted by Tiffany of Entice Me (https://www.enticeme.co/) on toxic toys. This was so informative that I want to share it with you. Tiffany has done tons of research on what materials our sexual products are made of. She has contact with manufacturers and carries only safe, non-toxic toys in her online store. This was great information for me since many of my clients suffer from pelvic pain or painful intercourse. She also talked about lubri

Injuries among distance runners are common, from 501-80%2 according to sources. Some of the most common injuries are Achilles tendonitis, ankle sprain, runner’s knee, hamstring strain, plantar fasciitis, and shin splints. Many of these injuries occur because of improper training techniques or muscle imbalances, and most can be prevented. Proper training should include a warm up and cool down, stretching, replacing your running shoes regularly, cross training, rest and follo

Is sex more painful than pleasurable for you? It shouldn’t be and it doesn’t have to remain that way. Physical therapy can help. It seems odd, right? Most people think of physical therapy for their back or knee, but some physical therapists have special training in the pelvic region. Our pelvis is shaped like a bowl with the bottom of the bowl having not much bony structure, but rather is covered by muscles. This group of muscles is called the pelvic floor. Physical the

As we have already discussed getting an MRI costs more money than getting treatment for your pain or injury. As cited in my previous blogs, research shows surgery is no better than non-surgical treatment for many conditions such as knee pain, rotator cuff tear and back pain. So, if I probably don’t need surgery and an MRI is going to cost me more money, than why do I need one? What do you expect to find from getting an MRI? This is not a rhetorical question. You need to s