What is pelvic floor therapy?

Pelvic floor therapy, also known as pelvic floor rehabilitation, pelvic floor physical therapy (PFPT) or occupational therapy (PFOT), is a specialized treatment aimed at improving pelvic floor function and alleviating symptoms of pelvic floor disorders. 

Pelvic floor therapy assesses the pelvic floor for movement, strength, coordination, and overall function. Your muscles need to both contract and relax to maintain daily functions like going to the bathroom, exercising, lifting your little ones, or when having intercourse. Pelvic therapy is much more than just doing kegels, and very seldom does it even include kegels- often they put a further strain on the muscles and actually cause worsening symptoms!

Our pelvic floor rarely functions alone, instead our bodies move as a system, relying on many functions to work together. Kegels are voluntary activation and relaxation of the pelvic floor muscles alone, and can often worsen symptoms. Despite its importance, many people are unfamiliar with the pelvic floor and its significance to overall health and well-being.

In this blog post, we will delve into the basics of the pelvic floor, its functions, common issues, and how pelvic floor therapy can help maintain optimal pelvic health.

What is the pelvic floor?

What does the pelvic floor do?

A well-functioning pelvic floor anticipates our movements and contracts and relaxes to facilitate movement and function. The pelvic floor provides stability for the back, hips, and pelvic bones, helping us to move in the activities we perform daily. The pelvic floor directly supports the pelvic organs, including the bladder, rectum, & uterus. The muscles activate to hold urine and bowels until you reach the toilet, and assists in the circulation of fluids throughout the body. The pelvic floor muscles lengthen to assist in urination and bowel movements. Good motion of the pelvic floor muscles, both contraction and relaxation, also contribute to sexual satisfaction.

Functions of the pelvic floor:

Support: The pelvic floor provides essential support for the organs in the pelvic region, helping to keep them in their proper position.

Continence: The pelvic floor muscles help control the release of urine and bowels, allowing for voluntary bowel and bladder emptying once you reach the bathroom.

Sexual Function: The pelvic floor muscles are involved in sexual arousal and orgasm, contributing to sexual pleasure and satisfaction.

Stability: The pelvic floor helps to stabilize the back, hips, and pelvic bones as well as contributes to core stability.

Circulation: The pelvic floor helps to move fluids throughout the body.

What is Pelvic Floor Dysfunction?

Pelvic floor dysfunction includes those concerns that we tend to normalize due to our stage of life, let others dismiss as “normal”, or those concerns we have been told are all “in our head.” Spoiler alert! It is not in your head, common does not mean normal, and “getting older” is not an answer. Your concerns are real, and the pelvic floor is often a large contributor. Pelvic floor dysfunction in some form is really common, so much so that about 50% of us will deal with pelvic floor dysfunction at some point in our lives. The onset can be after a fall on the tailbone, during pregnancy or birth, times of increased stress and tension, changes in hormones, changes in routine or activity levels, or following abdominal or pelvic surgeries.

What can pelvic floor physical therapy or occupational therapy help me with? 

• Urinary Incontinence: Urinary leaking for any reason at any point in your life is not normal! Often leaking occurs with coughing, sneezing, yelling, jumping, or exercising. Leaking can also occur when you are trying to make it to the bathroom on time or accompanied by a bladder trigger, such as water running. 

• Strong & Urgent Bowel or Bladder Urge: Needing to go right then in there, without much warning.

• Pelvic Heaviness or Pelvic Organ Prolapse: Feeling of heaviness or pressure at or around the vagina or rectum. At times, you are able to visualize tissues that may not have been there before or feel something at the vaginal opening while performing hygiene. 

• Pelvic or Genital Pain: Hip, pelvis, or low back pain, pain with urination, or pain in the lower abdomen, pain or discomfort with wearing a tampon.

• Pain with Sex: Discomfort or feeling like you are hitting a wall during intercourse, pain with orgasm, pain with entrance, pain with erection

• Constipation: Difficulty passing stool, having pain with bowel movements, or inconsistently going to the bathroom. 

• Urinating Too Frequently: For most of us, we should be urinating every 2-4 hours and a maximum of 2 times a night to pee. 

How does pelvic floor therapy eliminate my symptoms?

There are many things that could be occurring to cause the symptoms. Your pelvic floor therapist will evaluate what is going on and make a plan to correct, leading you back to confidently performing the activities you love without concern. 

Often this includes:

• Manual Therapy: Hands-on techniques to release tension and improve muscle function.

• Education: Teaching techniques for bladder and bowel retraining, proper body mechanics, and lifestyle modifications.

• Mobility: Movement & stretches centered on pelvic floor lengthening

• Strengthening: Strengthening the system or part of the system that needs muscular balance. Kegels are not it - we work to strengthen the entire body based on you and your body mechanics specifically. 

What can I expect at pelvic floor therapy?

At Bloom Pelvic Therapy, we make seeking pelvic therapy a comfortable experience - one that will help you to learn and maximize your pelvic floor function for years to come. All sessions are 1:1 with your pelvic floor therapist in a private room.

What does a pelvic floor therapy evaluation look like?

In the initial visit of pelvic therapy, you can expect your therapist to ask about you and your goals, history, any injuries, and your experience with pain- things that seem to increase the pain, or make them better. We spend time doing this, because we know that oftentimes pelvic floor concerns are dismissed and many people’s experiences and stories are not heard. We promise to fully hear your story–each piece matters! 

The therapist will assess your back, stomach, hips, pelvis, your movement patterns, muscle range and strength. With your consent, they may perform an internal pelvic floor muscle assessment to assess the internal muscles of the pelvic floor. 

You will leave your first visit with increased understanding and actionable items to start correcting any issues and maximizing pelvic floor function.

What is an internal pelvic floor assessment?

Your pelvic floor therapist will discuss an internal muscle assessment with you, why it is indicated in your specific case, what to expect and how it is performed, then allow you to ask any and all questions you have. An internal pelvic floor muscle assessment is never required, although it is a great first step to gathering information about how the pelvic floor is working and how it contributes to the source of difficulty.

The internal muscle assessment is very helpful to getting to the root cause, but never required. We can certainly get a very good understanding of what is going on with the pelvic floor based on your symptoms and history, along with what needs to be corrected to get rid of your pelvic floor concerns. At times, clients will defer their internal assessment for a session or two until they feel comfortable. This is perfectly fine- we want you to be comfortable! 

What do pelvic floor therapy sessions look like?

Pelvic floor therapy follow ups look different for each person and in each phase of treatment. Follow up sessions are still one-on-one with your pelvic floor therapist within a private and comfortable room. Sessions could look like a typical session at the gym but with guided exercises, similar to your home workout programs, a yoga session with breathing and movement, hands-on manual therapy on the treatment table, or a combination of the above–whatever it is that you need that day. 

We individualize each session for each unique person, looking at the whole body, and targeting their goals specifically. Our sessions are all focused on getting you back to doing the things you love without fear or worry.

Some of our clients come to us with very specific goals:

• Doing double-unders without leaking

• Move in yoga without feeling pain in the hip 

• Have intercourse without pain

• Get back to running without pressure

• Be able to wear leggings again

Some clients come with very general thoughts or even just trusting a recommendation from a friend: 

• My friend said I needed to do pelvic therapy

• I read online pelvic floor therapy was great in pregnancy & postpartum

• My doctor said pelvic floor PT could help my bowel issues

Each session starts with asking about the time since your last pelvic floor therapy appointment, how things are going, and any hang ups. From there, we get into the treatment techniques or movement for that session. Each session concludes with making sure you feel great, understanding where you are at with your progress, and what you could be doing at home between the sessions. You will leave each visit with increased understanding and actionable items to progress you in reaching your goals!

How long does pelvic floor therapy take to work?

It really depends– I know! An awful answer! The length depends on what we find during the evaluation. After that first visit with your pelvic floor therapist, they can give you a good idea of what is going on, what needs to be addressed, and a general timeline. Pelvic floor therapy is not a forever thing. We are meant to give you all the tools, to correct the issues, and then to send you on your best pelvic floor life. Some cases only take a couple visits, while others concerns that have been around for a while may take longer lengths of time to correct.

What results can I get after pelvic floor therapy?

You can expect to stop peeing your pants, to do all the things you love daily without worrying about your pelvic floor, to have enjoyable pain free sex, to have regular and comfortable bowel movements, to move like you want in the gym with power and control, to have less pain in your c-section scar, decreased heaviness, improved birth experience and outcomes, decreased diastasis recti, have decreased back, hip, and tailbone, or pelvic pain, and so much more.

What about kegels? 

Is pelvic floor therapy just kegels? NO! In order to reach your pelvic floor goals, the treatment has to encompass a lot more than an isolated contraction of a muscle- or kegels. If you want to have stronger, more cut arms- you can not just do biceps curls all day- you have to train more globally and use muscles in the patterns they were intended to- same goes for the pelvic floor. 

A pelvic floor contraction, or kegel, here and there within pelvic floor therapy may help to bring awareness to the muscle group and improve coordination but they are used for a very specific person and a very specific point in their therapy. This is never one size fits all. Instead, we focus on strengthening and moving the pelvic floor within movements we do every day or within our exercise sessions. After all, we need the pelvic floor to work in those day to day instances, not just at stop lights where we used to practice endless kegels. 

Many people actually have too much tension, or a tight, pelvic floor. Kegels make this so much worse, and often increase their actual issue at hand. Endless kegels at stop lights are not the answer to your pelvic floor concerns. Same goes for those med-spa kegel chairs that promise to fix your pelvic floor in 30 minutes. Spoiler alert! They are a one size fits all approach that often makes your concerns worse! 

Why Bloom Pelvic Therapy?

At Bloom Pelvic Therapy we offer pelvic therapy as it was intended to be - focused on a comfortable experience for you! 

• Pelvic floor concerns can be complex, therefore our team specializes in pelvic floor therapy exclusively with hundreds of course & training hours combined. 

• We understand that pelvic floor dysfunction can be scary, it does not need to be- our team is here to find the root cause and how we are going to address it.

• Often our clients are told “it's normal,” “It’s part of aging,” “this is part of being a mom,” or “it’s supposed to be uncomfortable.” The reality is that there are so many things we can do to correct it! 

• At Bloom, we do not have a cookie cutter approach, each visit is tailored to your needs. 

We address the root cause of pelvic floor dysfunction using a whole body approach to achieve lasting results - getting you back to the full life you love. Our pelvic floor therapists are experienced in the range of clinical presentations. No person’s concerns are too common or even too rare & complex. We treat the most complex cases, and are proud to be the largest pelvic floor therapy practice in Tampa.

The pelvic floor is a vital component to confidence when doing daily tasks with comfort and ease. Pelvic floor therapy offers effective solutions for addressing pelvic floor issues and improving quality of life. If you're experiencing symptoms of pelvic floor dysfunction, consulting a healthcare professional, such as a pelvic floor therapist, can provide personalized guidance and treatment options tailored to your needs. 

Bloom Pelvic Therapy helps with:

• Urinary Leaking

• Core Weakness & Coordination

• Diastasis Recti or Ab Separation

• Pain with Sex

• Tailbone Pain

• Bladder or Urinary Pain

• Pelvic Organ Prolapse

• Constipation

• Pelvic Pain

• C-Section Rehab

• C-section Scar Pain

• Return to Exercise Postpartum

• Prenatal Wellness 

• Back or Hip Pain

• Abdominal Scar Discomfort 

• Endometriosis

• Urinary Urgency and Frequency

• Bowel Concerns

• Post Surgical Recovery

Some common concerns we have helped patients eliminate:

• “I can’t have sex, it feels like he hits a wall”

• “I have pain with peeing, my bladder always feels upset”

• “It feels like my vagina is tearing every time I insert something”

• “I want to remain active throughout my pregnancy- help a girl out?!”

• “I want to optimize my birth outcomes”

• “How do I address this mommy pooch?”

• “I want to optimize my core and return to exercise postpartum”

• “I want to run without leaking urine”

• “At the end of my day, my vagina feels so heavy and uncomfortable” 

• “Help! I leak pee everytime I jump with my kids”

• “I have stopped working out like I used to because I’m afraid to leak”

• “Can you assess for diastasis recti and help me heal it?”

• “Since I had my baby, I have not felt the same”

• “I have to quickly go pee as soon as I open my garage door”

• “I want to leave my house without knowing where every bathroom is”

• “I want to have comfortable, regular bowel movements”

• “I want to have enjoyable, pain-free sex”

We are proud to have over 100 5-star Google Reviews! 

We love hearing feedback from our clients as they have found relief from pelvic floor dysfunction. 

“It’s rare to find a health care professional who demonstrates such care and determination in figuring out the root cause of a particular issue. They worked with me to come up with a treatment plan that fits my lifestyle, schedule, and goals, which has ultimately impacted my quality of life in many ways”

Check out more Google Reviews like these to get a glimpse into how our clients have felt about their experience with Bloom.

How do I get started?

To get started please call our office at 813-515-9008, our Client Care Team is available to answer your questions and get you scheduled for a pelvic floor therapy evaluation:

At Bloom Pelvic Therapy, we have appointments:

• In our South Tampa office on Westshore Blvd between International Plaza and I275

• In our Lutz office on SR 54 and Suncoast Expressway in the Plaza with Glory Days

• In the comfort of your home - Have a pelvic therapist come to you!

• Virtually across the United States or abroad

​​Bloom Pelvic Therapy is a boutique pelvic floor therapy clinic with locations in Lutz, FL and South Tampa, FL for your convenience. Prioritizing your pelvic health is important, and a decision we do not take lightly. Our pelvic floor therapists maintain the highest level of education with nationally renowned experts and seminars, all to relieve your concerns most efficiently. We address the root cause of the issue-no guesses, no fluff, no kegel-focused treatment. 

Even if you are not sure how much pelvic therapy can help (maybe your concerns have been around for a while, maybe you feel it must be normal, or even something you can’t describe), we can help, promise! 

How do I know which pelvic therapist to make an appointment with?

At Bloom Pelvic Therapy, our Client Care Coordinators will be happy to support you in ensuring you are with the right provider based on your concerns. You are in good hands with all of our pelvic floor therapists! Read on about them below! 

Dr. Brittaney Sargent, Founder/CEO Bloom Pelvic Therapy

Dr. Saige Evans, Clinical Director, Pelvic Floor Occupational Therapist

 Nicole Woodruff, Pelvic Floor Occupational Therapist

Dr. Kristy Clements, Pelvic Floor Physical Therapist

Dr. Alexis Hawks, Pelvic Floor Occupational Therapist

Dr. Abby Mandelblatt, Pelvic Floor Physical Therapist