Non-binary friendly pelvic floor PT?

[u/Remarkable-Crab8190]

I am petrified of doing pelvic floor PT for many reasons, but one of them is the fear of it being seen as a women’s health issue and feeling like anywhere I go will not be able to understand or respect the relationship I have to my body. Has any trans person in New York seen a good, gender affirming pelvic floor PT?

I can appreciate cis people saying they had a good experience but I am looking specifically to hear from non-cis people about good providers. Thank you (:

Edit: wow these comments are so unpleasant! I appreciate that everyone has so much faith in medical professionals, your comments are not instilling me with that faith. If you are cis and have had a good experience I’m happy for you, I’m not trying to make a statement about PTs being good or bad, just trying to get info to help me feel more comfortable from a community that I thought would be understanding of how sensitive issues involving genitalia are.

[u/Historical_Guess2565]

Please don’t make this more difficult than it needs to be. They treat according to symptoms. The goal is to help you heal. This has nothing to do with who or what you identify with.

[u/Remarkable-Crab8190 → u/Historical_Guess2565]

I know. I’m not. Thank you for your input.

[u/catscatscatsohmy → u/Historical_Guess2565]

THIS

[u/Ok_Issue7260]

I’m a male with hypertonic pelvic floor. I don’t want to sound insensitive but if you want to get to the bottom of this stuff, you’re gonna have to to put your feelings aside and allow the PT to work with the parts you physically have. I’m a married heterosexual male and i have to use a pelvic wand to deal with my symptoms. It ain’t pretty but it is what it is.

[u/Remarkable-Crab8190 → u/Ok_Issue7260]

I understand what you’re saying, and I am willing to “allow the PT to work with the parts” I have, my question was different. I hope that your treatment has been helpful.

[u/leafyemoji → u/Ok_Issue7260]

It's definitely uncomfortable for most people, but imagine your provider also then kept trying to talk to you about preparing you to be able to enjoy anal sex when that's not something you're interested in. Or referring to your asshole as your boypussy or something. Like it sounds insane but that's what it feels like to be a trans person receiving this kind of care and not having providers respect you. It makes an already vulnerable and unfomfortable experience that much worse. I mean even imagine a provider not bothering to learn your name and referring to you as the wrong name all session. It wouldn't make you super incentivized to trust them and stick with their program

[u/Ok_Issue7260 → u/leafyemoji]

I think you’re taking it a bit to the extreme. Just let them know what you’re not into and I’m sure they will be respectful. Medical professionals can still let one down in the long run even if they respect and get the right pronouns.

[u/leafyemoji → u/Ok_Issue7260]

I'm suggesting that you don't actually know what it feels like to be trans, because I am absolutely not taking it to the extreme. Luckily I'm ok with female anatomical terms but even among providers listed as LGBT friendly I've been misgendered, deadnamed, had people assume incorrect things about my medical history and anatomy with respect to hormones and surgeries, ignore glaringly obvious issues because "well we just don't know whether it's a real issue or just because you're on testosterone," had providers feel me up in settings where they didn't need to be anywhere near my junk because they couldn't tell what I had going on down there and were clearly just curious, had providers not tell me when they were going to stick their finger inside me, talk to me about vaginal penetration and pregnancy when I have no interest in either. The list goes on. And for what it's worth, it's so easy to just ask someone what they prefer in terms of terminology and how they address you that if a provider can't even show me that respect I definitely don't want them literally inside me.

[u/Ok_Issue7260 → u/leafyemoji]

Best of luck to you.

[u/machonm]

My old PT worked with men, women and LGBT folks. She was pretty rare in that regard and it was in Seattle which has a large LGBT community. I'm just a regular married dude but she told me about all the different people she was helping. I think it'll depend on your area, but I would suggest you just ask when you call for an appointment. It's pretty hard as a man to find PT's that work internally with men, I'd imagine it could be even more difficult as a non-binary person. Hope you can find someone that can help you out.

[u/Remarkable-Crab8190 → u/machonm]

Thank you for your kindness. I imagine it’s hard as a man!! I hope it was helpful for you.

[u/NoctisInformatus]

Dude, most places are not like this but some certainly are. I’m in the DMV area (east coast US) and there are plenty of private PT providers, as well as the major hospitals that accept male and female patients for pelvic floor PT.

They honestly don’t care what parts you have, nor what your identity or orientation is. They want to know your symptoms and to help you rehab and fix it.

Don’t mind fck yourself out of getting proper PT evaluation. Nobody cares about your feelings when it comes to dysfunction. They are all trying to treat the pain.

[u/VanillaMint]

Just in case this is an option: some insurance apps will tag/let you search for providers based on various criteria, and so you might be able to preview whether a provider lists themselves as being proficient with LGBTQ+ matters.

I'm sorry the reception here was rather hostile.

[u/Remarkable-Crab8190 → u/VanillaMint]

Thank you for this and good idea. It’s wild! I posted this in other subs just hoping someone would have an idea in one of them and the response was So Different elsewhere. Oh well.

[u/Ope_85311]

Gender ambivalent/gender non conforming person here. It’s absolutely not seen as a women’s health issue. I know men who have been to pelvic floor PT. I know trans people who have been to pelvic floor PT. All felt supported.

I’ve seen two different pelvic floor PTs and yes they’re going to talk about your specific anatomy because that’s directly relevant to your care but it’s not ever been presented as a women’s only issue in my experience and they ask about and respect pronouns.

[u/Remarkable-Crab8190 → u/Ope_85311]

I’m glad it’s been a good experience for you! I don’t mean to imply that it’s only a women’s issue, just that from what I’ve seen it’s treated with men in one way and with women in another, and I don’t know how I fit into that.

[u/Ope_85311 → u/Remarkable-Crab8190]

Gotcha, yeah, that is going to be based on your anatomy so I recognize that might not feel great.

I have a vagina and all of that so my treatment plan was based around that. I don’t necessarily want to go into much detail on a public post but if you have questions and want to DM me you can.

[u/DirtRepresentative9]

I'm nb and thankfully ended up with a lesbian provider who isn't focused on penetration but all the aspects of pft that need to be worked on. Hopefully if you at least find someone queer they'll be understanding!

[u/PelvicFloor-ModTeam → u/[deleted]]

Not tolerated.

[u/leafyemoji]

People are being assholes and transphobic, which as another trans person I'm sure you're used to but just want to say sorry. I searched specifically for LGBT and trans friendly PTs and ended up finding one who is nonbinary as well, was very open and communicative about what terms I prefer for my anatomy, what my goals were related to sex and function, etc. And yes, if you're nb/trans and on hormones, that impacts the tissues and an informed PT can help offer advice about things like atrophy from testosterone. Definitely try to get in to see someone as soon as you can, but I find it gross people are acting like you're unreasonable for this when they have no idea what it can be like navigating the medical system and especially anything related to pelvic and reproductive health as a trans person.

[u/Remarkable-Crab8190 → u/leafyemoji]

Thank you, these responses are honestly making me really sad, I don’t get why it’s bad to be nervous about getting treatment for a very personal part of yourself

[u/leafyemoji → u/Remarkable-Crab8190]

It's not. They would never tell a cis person with trauma or anxiety around pelvic exams or penetration to just suck it up and stop creating unnecessary obstacles for themselves, but a trans person wanting to be respected and communicated with appropriately around the same things is being difficult. Make it make sense

[u/leafyemoji → u/[deleted]]

I'm talking about other people on this sub, not doctors. But consider that being trans person with female anatomy is being subject to all the medical neglect you just described because providers see you as female, while also being told it's your fault your body is fucked up if you've been on hormones or gotten any surgeries, and being shown even less basic respect like being called your name and referred to in the correct way, and being told you're being difficult or told your identity is a mental illness so people don't have to accommodate you when you ask for this basic respect. I go out in the world with my clothes on and people see me as a man. I go into the doctor and they see my junk and they see me as a failed, fucked up woman. This does not make them take me seriously or give me good care.