PhysioPartners offers a safe, welcoming, and healing environment for LGBTQIA+ individuals.
Multidisciplinary pelvic health services offer a trauma-informed approach to treating the following conditions:
- Urinary incontinence
- Bowel incontinence
- Pelvic pain
- Pregnancy and post-partum concerns
- Constipation
- Pelvic organ prolapse
- Pain or breathing issues from binder use
Our Specialists
Patients can see Dr. Maureen O'Connell in our Lakeview and Glenview locations, Dr. Debbie Victor in Lakeview, and Dr. Rachel Philipp in Lakeview and the Loop.
Pelvic Pain
A pelvic health therapist can treat individuals experiencing pelvic pain, including genital pain, tailbone pain, buttock pain or pain in the pelvis that radiates to the front or back of the thighs. Therapists can assist with decreasing pain during sexual intimacy, sitting, and athletic activities. A variety of musculoskeletal problems throughout the low back, hips, pelvic girdle, and even the knee and ankles can contribute to changes in the pelvic floor musculature, sometimes leading to pain. A physical therapist or occupational therapist can help address these limitations and help the body work efficiently with less pain.
Constipation
Constipation is a common diagnosis that many individuals leave untreated, but it can effectively be treated by a pelvic health physical therapist or occupational therapist. Signs and symptoms of constipation can include infrequent bowel movements, hard stools, excessive straining, bloating, flatulence, decreased appetite, and depression. A pelvic health therapist can treat constipation through education on proper defecation techniques, nervous system desensitization, pelvic floor muscle re-education, addressing bowel habits, diet and hydration, and assessing for musculoskeletal tension limiting bowel evacuation.
Urinary Incontinence
An involuntary leakage of urine. Four types of urinary incontinence are successfully treated by physical therapists and occupational therapists.
Stress Urinary Incontinence
Leakage of urine that occurs during coughing, sneezing, laughing, exercise and lifting. Leakage occurs when the intra-abdominal pressure exceeds the urethral closure pressure and can also be contributed to by tight muscles in the pelvic floor that change the angle of the muscles around the bladder. These muscles can then “push” on the bladder instead of assist with bladder closure. A history of low back pain and pelvic pain can also add to a change in these muscles and exacerbate this condition.
Urge Urinary Incontinence
Leakage of urine can be associated with a strong, sudden urge to urinate. Those experiencing this condition will frequently leak urine when they hear the sound of running water or as they are running to the bathroom.
Mixed Urinary Incontinence
A combination of both stress and urge urinary incontinence. Those experiencing mixed incontinence may leak during coughing, sneezing, laughing, as well as have a strong urge to urinate.
Functional Incontinence
Occurs when someone is limited in mobility and cannot make it to the bathroom in time or when there is inadequate access to an appropriate bathroom.
Anal Incontinence
An involuntary leakage of flatus, solid, or liquid feces. Anal incontinence can be successfully treated by physical therapists and occupational therapists. Causes can include inflammatory bowel diseases, post-radiation, neurological conditions, pelvic floor weakness, pelvic floor tightness, or constipation.
Incontinence Treatment
Physical therapist and occupational therapist care for incontinence may include a combination of therapeutic exercises to strengthen and relax the pelvic floor and abdominal muscles, as well as muscles surrounding the hips and spine. Other treatment options may include bladder training and education on bladder irritants.
Click here to request an onsite appointment with one of our pelvic therapy specialists, Dr. Maureen O'Connell, Dr. Rachel Philipp and Dr Debbie Victor.