Treatment Strategies for the Pelvic Girdle and Pelvic Floor
Presented by Heather Rader
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Most rehabilitation professionals lack understanding of basic skills in treating simple pelvic floor muscle dysfunction, despite high prevalence in most therapy settings. This course will assist the participant in integrating basic external treatment strategies for pelvic floor dysfunction, including muscle weakness, incontinence, overactive bladder, and constipation, into clinical practice.
Meet your instructor
Heather Rader
Dr. Heather Rader is the owner of Rader Pelvic Physical Therapy, a practice devoted to the treatment of pregnancy-related pain and dysfunction, incontinence, pelvic organ prolapse, and complex pelvic pain in all genders. A physical therapist since 1994, she graduated from the University of Miami with a master’s degree in…
Chapters & learning objectives
1. Pelvic Rehabilitation Pathways
This chapter will provide an overview of pelvic floor rehabilitation and how it uses principles and techniques common to other rehab specialties. The importance of determining the state of the pelvic floor musculature in choosing the optimal treatment pathway will be emphasized.
2. Overactive Bladder and Bladder Retraining
This chapter will help the participant select appropriate patient education strategies to help manage symptoms of overactive bladder, such as urgency, frequency, nocturia, and leakage. Techniques to restore healthy bladder capacity, reestablish control of urinary frequency, and improve suppression of urgency will be presented.
3. Stress Incontinence and the “Knack”
This chapter will focus on how to integrate pelvic floor muscle activation into core stabilization exercises to minimize incontinence episodes during functional tasks. While a strong pelvic floor is important, its optimal function occurs during timely contractions during local core stability. Strategies on sequencing pelvic floor contractions (the “Knack”) with functional tasks will be presented.
4. Pelvic Floor Muscle Education
This chapter will touch upon the challenges that exist in teaching exercises for the pelvic floor due to its location. Utilization of a multimodal neuromuscular reeducation approach will give the best results. How to provide verbal, tactile, and visual cues for neuromuscular reeducation will be presented.
5. Pelvic Pain Relief Techniques
This chapter will assist the participant in understanding the importance of toileting posture in constipation management. Optimal posture while on the toilet can minimize symptoms of obstructed constipation, which is common in pelvic pain syndromes. Other strategies, such as targeted stretching and muscle relaxation techniques, will be presented.
More courses in this series
Functions and Dysfunctions of the Pelvic Girdle and Pelvic Floor
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Orthopedic Connections to Pelvic Floor Dysfunction
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Evaluation Strategies for the Pelvic Floor
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Treatment Strategies for the Pelvic Girdle and Pelvic Floor
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