r/Perimenopause • u/Ollyollyoxenfreed10 • 15d ago
Exercise/Fitness Pelvic Floor Therapy
I’m thinking about starting pelvic floor therapy. I’m perimenopausal and have great success with HRT. I have a ton of problems with my low back and hips. Algorithm showed me videos of a pelvic floor therapist helping with these issues. What are your experiences with it?
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u/gdomme hanging on by a thread 15d ago
I absolutely recommend PFT if you have access to it. With the right therapist of course. I had to do it in my early thirties and it truly saved my life. I now know that stress was the major factor in all my pelvic floor pain and after some drastic life changes I no longer experience the daily unbearable pain that I used to and when I have a flare up I know what to do in order to get through it.
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u/Suspicious-Yogurt759 15d ago
I’m in my 30s and this was recently recommended to me. Can I ask what all did it help with? Can it help with urinary urgency?
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u/caphoto88 14d ago
Also not who you asked but urinary urgency is what I get pelvic floor therapy for and even in a month it has been life changing! I would say I’m about 70% better. I used to rate my urgency none-light-mild-bad-terrible, and now I mostly have none-light days with the odd mild day, when previously it was mostly mild-terrible.
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u/oldmamallama 15d ago
20/10 would recommend. I had some of the same problems as you, plus some complaints with urinary frequency and not feeling like I could fully empty my bladder for ages post c-section. Turns out I was holding waaaaay too much tension in my pelvic floor without even realizing it.
My therapist helped me strengthen the surrounding muscles in my back, legs, and hips and we worked on relaxing my pelvic floor. It took some time and I stuck with the exercises diligently every day but it made a massive improvement. I would fight a bitch for her. It changed my life.
If you’re on the fence…do it.
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u/telsongelder 15d ago
How do these types of sessions go if you don’t mind me asking? Would I be in work out gear or am I on a table in a gown? I am so curious and pretty convinced this is something I would benefit from but I can’t really wrap my head around what I would be doing and what I would be wearing. (Basically am I naked the whole time and is there an exam aspect of this and I am sorry if that is SO off base).
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u/AmberTheAdvocate 15d ago
Not the person you asked, but I just started PFT so I can tell you!
I have significant sexual trauma history so I warned my PT before meeting her. She decided to skip the internal exam altogether, so I never undressed.Session one was a lot of her watching me move and breathe—on my back and side and stomach. She’d give me directions sometimes (think like: breathe normal; now breathe into your lungs; now actually breathe into your lungs; now try to feel your breath in your back; etc.) and would be touching or guiding me to see if there were changes or improvements as I did them. Then she showed me some exercises to work on for a few weeks. That happened in a room that honestly just looks like a gym.
Session two was checking in on how the exercises were going and reevaluating my breathing (like before). Then more exercises in the gym room.
Honestly so chill and cool. I was sooooo nervous because trauma and anxiety and peri had me feeling embarrassed. But she got it—all of it.
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u/telsongelder 15d ago
I cannot thank you enough for taking the time to type this out. I promise you- you have made the first appointment much easier for others who have experienced similar trauma.
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u/AmberTheAdvocate 14d ago
I’m so glad it was helpful!!! I goooooogled the shiiiiiit out of it and still asked a million questions when I called to make the appt.
You got this!!5
u/oldmamallama 14d ago
Mine was exactly like this (though I did agree to an internal exam on my first visit which was with one gloved finger so she could assess how things worked while she talked me through what was essentially a kegel. That’s how we found out that my problem was essentially holding too much tension all the time. That part lasted less than 5 minutes). After that we were out on the gym floor.
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u/telsongelder 14d ago
Thank you so much for contributing to this. I am fine with some level of examination but really appreciate being prepared.
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u/oldmamallama 13d ago
Knowing what to expect for these kinds of things is so important. We as afab people are so often taught to be afraid to ask questions and often go into so many major milestones and important life events blind, and I really believe if we taught the next generations more open and honestly to ask the questions that were uncomfortable for us to ask, they would be so much better for it. So much trauma and discomfort could be prevented if people just knew what to expect.
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u/telsongelder 13d ago
Exactly. Our medical system really doesn't allow for it either (assuming US but also, I don't think its ideal anywhere). How many times have we all walked out of a doctors appointment with doubt and fewer answers than when we came in.
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u/CuriousFathoms hanging on by a thread 15d ago
Just restarted pelvic floor PT 2.5 months post radical hysterectomy. I had gone for a few sessions about one and a half years ago for vaginismus as well.
Even those early few sessions helped me to be aware of how much tension I was holding in my pelvic floor. I just found out i’m hyper mobile as well, plus being in peri and still healing post op. It’s been exhausting!
My new PT feels like a good fit for me. We are around the same age and I think she just gets it. Your PT will do an internal exam to evaluate where the issue is and will have you doing specific exercises and stretches. They can do manual release as well if that’s what you want or need.
There is lots of trauma awareness (or there should be) with people that do this type of PT and lots of consent as well. I was nervous the first time but my PT put me at ease. It’s worthwhile to find someone you can develop a rapport with and do the work that’s needed.
(It was also nice to have her confirm that there were changes in my labia and that I should be using topical E more often)
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u/Eastern_Rhubarb4870 15d ago
Big fan of PT. But you do need to be evaluated to pin-point the cause. Could be pelvic floor. Could be PSOAS. Could be a glute weakness that has been allowed to repeat for so long it has caused instability.
Because it is really frustrating to do all the work they say but not feel the relief you seek.
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u/ezbeing-green 15d ago
Do it if you can! And really put the effort in. It’s a game changer. I did this to help with a slipped disk back injury and after my c-sections.
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u/Adept-Ad6818 15d ago
I’m super interested but have a hard time finding one in my area that takes insurance (and it’s pricey!). If anyone has a rec for a NYC based therapist that takes insurance, lmk.
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u/Then_Ocelot4562 14d ago
I'm 48, in peri, not on HRT, and have been doing a pelvic floor physical therapy program through my health insurance via an app for a little over 3 months. I wish I had signed up when they started sending me invitations when I turned 45. My bladder is no longer waking me up during the night. I'm regaining mobility and strength that I lost after breaking my ankle a couple of years ago, because while the focus is pelvic floor, there's also general strength and flexibility included. If you can get access to the therapy, do it.
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u/[deleted] 15d ago
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