As a pelvic floor physical therapist in Houston, I cannot tell you how many people I see who say “I did a bunch of kegels and it didn’t get better, so I decided to come and see you.” I’m glad you’re here because it is so much more than kegels! In fact, here are 7 tidbits to help you better understand what we do in our Houston office. 

1. “Pelvic floor physical therapy is all about kegels. Your pelvic floor physical therapist will give you hundreds of thousands of kegels to do!”  

• 10000% NOT true!  Kegels are the layman’s word for contracting your pelvic floor muscles. The common cue is to pull your vagina up and in or imagine like you are holding back gas.  #hardcringe  So your pelvic floor is just ONE part of the system! In reality the WHOLE system–back, hips, abdominals–ALL need to be working together, and when they don’t, the pelvic floor fails and you end up with pain, incontinence, etc. Usually the answer is to UNTENSE your pelvic floor.

2. “Pelvic floor physical therapy is only for postpartum, AFTER the baby comes.”  

• Nope! We at Empower Yourself PT have a robust prenatal program. Usually at around 25 weeks we take a break from strengthening (looking at you kegels–take a rest!) and switch the focus more on pelvic floor lengthening and opening.

3. “You only need pelvic floor physical therapy if you are pregnant or have had a baby.” 

• WRONG. All people come to pelvic floor physical therapy. Women can come for pelvic pain, endometriosis, bladder pain, painful sex, scar pain, urinary issues like leakage or even UTI-like symptoms! Bonus: Men come to pelvic floor physical therapy too! Speaking of…

4. “Pelvic floor physical therapy is only for women.” 

• Wrong again.  There are plenty of reasons why men come to pelvic floor physical therapy: 

• Erectile dysfunction

• Pelvic/groin/back pain

• Pain with sex

• Constipation

• Rectal pain

• Urinary Issues

• And so on . . . .

5.“Kegels are the answer to pelvic pain.”

• This is just wrong. Why try to tighten an already too tight muscle?  It will likely make your pain worse!  For some longer term patients, once pain is resolved we can maybe add in ‘baby’ kegels- but those are super skilled and should really be done when supervised by a skilled pelvic floor physical therapist.  Finally what if you are doing kegels wrong?! So you would be wasting time . . . how awful, at the very least make sure you are doing it right!  

6.“Pelvic floor Dysfunction is a normal part of life/ having kids/ aging.”

• This one breaks my heart.  Would you ever say to yourself it is normal to live with strep throat?! NO!  It is common, but not normal- that does not mean you should accept it as status quo! Leaking is never normal! Pelvic pain is never normal!

7. “Pelvic Floor physical therapy is a HUGE time commitment.”

• Ah, false again!  We work with people in a realistic way.  Some people can come once a week, every other week, or once a month.  We meet you where you are at and help you reach your goals in a feasible way! Most people are busy and cannot come weekly and do hours worth of a home program, and that’s ok. We create a program that fits your lifestyle–do you have a home gym? Awesome! You are anti-equipment? No problem! Tell us what you need and what you can do, and we’ll help you get there! 

Are you ready to learn all about what pelvic floor physical therapy is really like? Give us a call to set up an appointment with one of our PTs in Bellaire or Old Town Spring! 832-463-1152.