The answer to this question depends on a lot of factors. Your age. Your physical fitness. What condition or injury you’re meeting with the therapist about. In any case, physical therapists can help you learn what to expect from women’s health physical therapy sessions.
What is women’s health physical therapy?
Women’s health physical therapy is a type of physical therapy that focuses on the needs of women. As such, it’s often used to help treat issues of the pelvis, which is the area between the abdomen and upper thighs. For this reason, this type of therapy is also called pelvic rehab.
Women’s health physical therapy can help treat these issues
There are certain musculoskeletal disorders that women are more likely to develop than men. Some of these disorders include things like:
- Pelvic floor dysfunction
- Urinary incontinence
- Spondylolisthesis
- Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries
- Patellofemoral pain syndrome
- Osteoporosis
What to expect from your initial therapy session
The specifics of every therapy session are different because people and how they respond to musculoskeletal conditions are different. However, there are some basic steps that women can expect from their first pelvic rehab session. These steps include:
- Questions about your lifestyle, symptoms, eating habits, work, medical history and more.
- An evaluation of your posture.
- Tests of your core muscle strength and activation.
- Tests of the flexibility and strength of your lumbar spine, hips and other relevant body parts.
- Your physical therapist creating an individualized therapy plan to address your needs.
What to expect from your individualized therapy plan
Since your plan will be personalized to fit the condition and symptoms you have, your therapy plan will be different from another patient. This is even true if they have the same condition as you. Even so, there are some common treatment techniques that often appear in physical therapy plans for women. A few of these common techniques are:
- Pelvic floor exercises to stretch and strengthen your pelvic floor muscles.
- Myofascial release intended to break down myofascial trigger points.
- Manual therapy to mobilize the lower back or hips.
- Biofeedback that can improve your control over pelvic muscle movement.
Back in Motion offers physical therapy geared toward women
Not sure where to turn for women’s health physical therapy? You can turn to our team of therapy specialists at Back in Motion. We offer free screenings that can reveal specific issues that women suffer from. Additionally, our women’s health physical therapists are adept at creating personalized therapy plans designed to address and prevent these issues.
Contact us today for more information about our physical therapy services for women or to schedule your initial appointment.