I always get asked…

WHY did you choose to be in this line of work?  

And WHY haven’t I heard about this type of physical therapy before?

The answer goes back to my own difficulties with chronic bladder infections as a child.  I got my first bladder infection at the age of two.  At first antibiotics worked but then I got recurrent infections. This started a years-long period of multiple doctor appointments, visits to urologists, and a host of treatments including medication baths, perineal rinses, and a progression of medications that slowly went up in strength along the way.  I finally ended up taking a powerful antibiotic which helped but also permanently ruined my teeth in the process.  

I remember a childhood filled with days and nights spent in the fetal position in extreme pain followed by a brief respite. I dreaded going to the bathroom, worried that it would ‘come back’ as it always seemed to do.  This was the late 60’s – early 70’s so there wasn’t a lot of treatment besides medication. I can’t imagine how helpless and frustrated by parents must have been to not be able to do more, and watch your kid go through so much pain. 

As it happened, puberty did change things for the better.  With the onset of the hormonal changes in my body, the bladder infections stopped and I was able to have a more normal childhood.  To this day I have to be careful, however because I have a tendency for bladder infections that has persisted throughout my entire life.  

When I became a physical therapist I had heard about a new field of specialty opening up, something called Women’s Health PT.  I was immediately interested, and became involved in post-mastectomy breast cancer treatment at my then job at Kaiser in Vacaville CA.  It was only in the early 2000’s and started at Queen of the Valley Medical Center in Napa CA, that I became fully aware of Pelvic Health PT.  

As I took more specialty classes I quickly realized the important work I was doing, even if my colleagues were dubious.  Around my clinic the work that I did was always known as the ‘weird stuff’, but along the way things have changed.  I have seen a slow but steady shift in dialog to a society that is more open to talking about bladder issues and pelvic health.  

Now more than ever I hear my clients wanting a better future than their mothers and grandmothers before them.  The common sentiment I hear is ‘I don’t want to have bladder issues like my mother or grandmother did’.  Thankfully you don’t have to, knowledge about pelvic floor muscles, treatment of pelvic floor, bladder, bowel conditions are increasing.  Pelvic Heatlh PT is a new but recognized, accredited sub-specialty within the American Physical Therapy Association.  

I am passionate about pelvic health because the lack of it greatly affected my childhood.  My hope is with education about bladder issues more people can avoid the difficulties that I faced as a child.  My goal in creating this website is to make available evidence-based knowledge of pelvic health issues and treatment so we, together, can optimize our health.  

Because the truth is when your pelvis is happy; you are happy.