What is pelvic floor physiotherapy?

Pelvic floor physiotherapy or urogynecological physiotherapy is a branch of physiotherapy that aims to assess, treat, improve and prevent alterations that may occur in the pelvic floor area, both in men and women.

What pelvic floor dysfunctions can pelvic floor physiotherapy help with? Below we list some common dysfunctions among the population and that with the correct treatment could be reduced and even eliminated.

  • Urinary incontinence
  • Voiding urgency
  • Fecal or gas incontinence
  • Organ decay (prolapse)
  • Pelvic pain
  • Constipation
  • Sexual dysfunctions (dyspareunia, vaginismus, erectile dysfunction&)
  • Abdominal diastasis

In order to assess whether a physiotherapy treatment will be beneficial for the patient, it will be important to take a medical history, which records the general health of the person, the profession (to know if he spends many or few hours standing, or if he lifts weight) in addition to whether he regularly practices sports activities, bladder dynamics and defecation, as well as gynecological and obstetric history (in the case of women) and questions about sexual relations. This information is usually collected through a questionnaire.

A shaped pelvic floor will have good musculature both in this area, and throughout the abdominal girdle such as the pelvis, abdomen and diaphragm. To know the state of the musculature will require a physical examination, it is important that the physiotherapist explains at all times what the assessment will consist of and the techniques that will be used, as well as the possible risks or side effects, so that the patient knows them and gives their consent.

In any urogynecological physiotherapy treatment, the treatment of the physiotherapy sessions themselves will be combined with the performance of exercises at home by the patient, these exercises will be indicated and explained by the physiotherapist, in order to be done in a correct way to maximize the benefits.

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