Pelvic Health Physiotherapy

This is an area of physiotherapy where we can help you improve or recover from changes within the pelvis and pelvic floor muscles to optimise your overall health and wellbeing.

Some of the concerns women come to us with can be difficult to talk about and we aim to provide a safe welcoming environment in order to discuss, assess, diagnose and work together with you to devise a treatment plan that best suits your goals and lifestyle.

1 in 3 women will experience urinary incontinence at some stage in their lives and 20% of women will experience some form of pelvic pain. Many women may notice a heaviness or dragging in the pelvis and others might have concerns with activity or discomfort in pregnancy. Some women will want to prevent these types of concerns, while others will require help to recover from them. Whatever your reasons for seeing a pelvic health physio, we are here to help .

Not sure if pelvic health physio is the right option for you? Get in touch and we can answer any questions you may have. If we don’t think physio is the right fit for you we can direct you on to other amazing health professionals who can help.

Some of the common areas of pelvic health we treat at You First are:

Urinary incontinence, frequency or urgency

• Urinary incontinence or bladder leakage can come in different forms. You might experience leaking with coughing, sneezing, laughing or activities such as running and jumping, this is known as stress urinary incontinence. Or you may have leaking on the way to the bathroom which is usually associated with a strong urge to urinate, this is known as urge incontinence.
• Another bladder concern may be an increased need to empty your bladder, you may feel like you are being controlled by your bladder and always need to find the nearest toilet!
• Physio is recommended as first line treatment for these concerns and can help up to 80% of women to become completely dry or significantly reduce their symptoms.

Pregnancy / antenatal physiotherapy

• During pregnancy your amazing body will go through many changes. Physiotherapy can help guide you through this by developing an individualised exercise programme to keep you doing the things you love.
• We are also able to help prepare your body for delivery, with the primary focus being on prevention of any birth related injury. We will cover birthing positions and perineal massage as well.
• We can also address any pelvic girdle pain, lower back pain and provide support garments such as belts or maternal tubi-grip to keep you moving.

Postnatal

• Everyone’s postnatal recovery looks different which is why we take the time to really listen to your birth story and work with you to develope your individual recovery plan.
• Postnatal physio appointments are recommended from 6 weeks onwards
• If you have sustained a maternal birth injury since October 2022– we can lodge your claim with ACC and help you through the process to recovery. You do not need to see your GP first.

Peri/ Post Menopause

• A female body goes through many changes during the life stages. The changes in hormonal levels that occur with the menopause can directly impact our pelvic health. You may not have experienced any of these changes until now and it can be quite scary, confronting and difficult to talk about. Learning about what is happening in your body can be powerful and working together with health professionals can be a wonderful starting point.

Pelvic Organ Prolapse

• Pelvic organ prolapse is the term used for the descent of one or more of your pelvic organs, these are the bladder, bowel or uterus. This can be associated with the symptoms of heaviness, dragging or bulging feeling in the pelvis or vagina. These symptoms can be greatly concerning and/or uncomfortable to women experiencing them.
• You might become aware of such symptoms at times of hormonal changes such as postnatal or peri/menopause. Or your symptoms may be due to another cause entirely.
• Physio is a recommended first line treatment to help address lifestyle factors that may be impacting your symptoms, strengthen pelvic floor muscles to increase support. Sometimes this enough and other times you may need more support where we can discuss options such as the use of pessaries to support your prolapse and appropriate referral.

Pelvic pain

• Pelvic pain impacts 20% of women at some stage in their life and is not something you should just endure. It can affect all aspects of your life and be caused by many different conditions that have a variety of symptoms. Some of these may be
• Endometriosis or adenomyosis
• Pain with sex (dyspareunia)
• Period pain (dysmenorrhea)
• Pain with vaginal examinations / painful smear tests
• Vulvodynia or vaginismus
• Coccyx pain / coccydynia
• Pelvic girdle pain or pubic symphysis pain
• Bladder, urethral or rectal pain
• Pain in or around the pelvis impacting your daily activities, sport or exercise
• Common physio treatments can include pelvic floor relaxation and/or strengthening. Pain education and management strategies indicated via assessment.
• We will also work alongside other health professions including GPs, gynaecologists, psychologists, dieticians and more to get you achieving your goals no matter how big or small.

Bowel concerns and constipation

• Bowel health really impacts our overall health. You may be experiencing faecal or wind incontinence, bowel urgency or constipation. Physio will help you determine and understand the cause of these symptoms and how to best manage. This may include making changes to your bowel habits, working on specific exercises including strength or relaxation. Treatment may also include referral to a dietician, nutritionist or colorectal specialist should this be indicated.

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