Hey Danielle,
This newsletter, I want to give a shoutout to another Sex and Intimacy Champion that’s blazing her own OT trail as a Pelvic Floor Therapist!
Pelvic Floor Therapy is a growing specialized area of practice for OT Practitioners and is an opportunity for us to use our holistic approach to consider how complex anatomy, client-specific context, and engagement in meaningful occupation collide together to form pelvic function. Consider the barriers to occupational performance in the following scenarios:
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A college student with MS has missed class due to fecal incontinence during flare-ups
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A person with a penis has noticed scrotal pain and difficulty getting an erection. This has definitely put a damper on their sex-life, and has even made wearing a condom uncomfortable
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A new mother notices they have been peeing a bit when participating in their favorite workout class
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A person has noticed an increase in pain with vaginal penetration, even as they’ve tried to include more foreplay and lube into their sex routine
While some of these are related to sexual activity, pelvic dysfunction can obviously spill over into other ADLs/IADLs and affect quality of life and occupational performance.
Behold: Danielle Shea and her OT pelvic floor practice TheraPelvic!! She recently wrote up a blog entry called For the Love of Vulvas that makes a great resource for all vulva-havers on routine self-examination. Additionally Danielle has completed our Sexuality OT Certification program to add to her clinical practice!
In my personal experience, I’ve had many patients for sex and intimacy that are ALSO seeing pelvic floor therapists. When I worked at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, before going into private practice in 2020, half of my referrals came from the Pelvic Floor Physical Therapist! Sexuality is made up of so many factors that sometimes patients will need to see more than one specialist to address all their concerns. Best practice is to complete a comprehensive evaluation and then determine if they could benefit from a referral for something a bit more hands-on. Some indicators that a pelvic floor therapist should be on board include:
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Urinary/fecal incontinence that is not resolved with scheduling and body awareness interventions
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Persistent pain or altered function after deep genital/pelvic trauma (think musculoskeletal injury, traumatic births, scar tissue)
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Pelvic pain that may include hip and/or lower back pain
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Prolapse of pelvic organs
So I’m curious to hear, what is your experience with pelvic floor + OT? What else would you like to know!? Reply to this email and get at me with questions, I’d be happy to feature more related content in the future! |