Inform Yourself to Receive the Best Care
By Kyrsten Spurrier, OTR/L
Neurological Element of Pelvic Floor Therapy
We have come to the last submission of this year! Where has the time gone? I first want to thank HER Health Collective for allowing me this opportunity to share my thoughts and expertise with you. I have had a wonderful time and I hope you have gained a little knowledge through my submissions.
Over this year we have looked the 4 key elements that make up pelvic floor therapy. We started with looking at physical elements which addresses the strength, endurance and coordination of the pelvic floor.
Then we moved on to the emotional and social aspects and talking about how we can’t separate pelvic floor dysfunction from our life that we lead. It effects how we are as mothers and how we participate in our daily tasks.
Then we moved to looking at the psychological aspects of the pelvic floor and how trauma of any kind can show up in our pelvic space and needs to be addressed at times to allow healing to occur.
We have made it to our last element of pelvic floor therapy which is neurological. Our bodies have a difficult time healing when we are in a constant state of stress, anxiety or worry but many mothers that have experienced pelvic floor dysfunction or birth trauma of any kind are in this state of fight or flight. We are always moving and going and don’t allow ourselves to stop and feel.
For our bodies to be able to really evaluate what is going on it requires them to stop and focus on what they are feeling. This is the reason why I see many mothers in my office years after delivery. They are finally out of that state of survival and able to look at themselves and try to help themselves.
This is also a strong reason why I feel that we could be doing so much more for the pregnancy and postpartum population and why organizations like HER Health Collective are so amazing.
We are not meant to mother alone. We are not meant to be in a constant state of survival with daily tasks.
You can’t separate the physical from the emotional or the psychological from neurological and that is why we have to be able to address all elements for optimal healing.
Mental Wellness and Nervous System Regulation
This is an encouragement to you to put yourself in community, seek help if you need it and take time for self care. You deserve to take care of yourself.
Take a few minutes to answer these questions about yourself:
• I know I am feeling my best when I…
• Tasks/ events I need to maintain my mental wellness are…
• These are the things/ events/ people that can cause my mental wellness to decrease…
The positives need to outweigh the negatives in your daily life. If you answered these questions and you haven’t participated in things that maintain your mental wellness over the last few weeks then find some time to fit it into your schedule.
As you may notice, our mental health really goes hand in hand with our nervous system regulation. I see this so often with people suffering from pelvic pain. Pelvic pain is impacting all elements of them thriving in their daily life. You can’t separate the physical from the emotional or the psychological from neurological and that is why we have to be able to address all elements for optimal healing.
Again it has been a pleasure to provide you some articles and resources this year. I wanted to conclude by saying that not every pelvic floor therapist is the same. They have different ways for treating the pelvic floor.
Some just look at the physical aspects of the pelvic floor dysfunction therefore I would encourage to you seek out a therapist that is right for you.
I wanted to leave you with a questionnaire to help you find a pelvic floor therapist that will treat in a holistic way so that you can have the most optimal healing.
Questionnaire to Ask Your Pelvic Floor Therapist
Below you will find a questionnaire to ask your pelvic floor therapist to see if your goals align with how they treat. Note that some of these questions will have to be answered after your are assessed by a therapist.
Physical Elements:
• How is my pelvic floor strength and coordination?
• Do I have under activity, over activity or both?
• Do you look at any other structures other than my pelvic floor? (They should look at your
hips, abdomen, low back, shoulders, even your feet)
• Can you examine my abdominal wall for Diastasis Recit? What should I avoid of modify if I
have it?
• How is my scar (perineal or cesarean) tissue mobility?
• How has my scar healed?
• Can you show me some techniques, stretches or exercises to help massage the area?
• Can you examine my pelvic floor for decreased tissue support indicative of pelvic organ
prolapse? What should I avoid or modify if I have it?
• What can I do about vaginal dryness? Is pain normal during my postpartum exam or with
intercourse? What can I do to prepare for sex postpartum?
• What are some symptoms I should be on the lookout for?
Emotional/ Social Elements:
• How are you going to integrate my exercises in to my lifestyle?
• My biggest goal is ….. how are you going to help me achieve it?
• What if I can’t do exercises, can I still come to you?
Psychological:
• Is internal pelvic floor work required?
• Do you feel like my past is effecting my present symptoms?
• How do you help people improve their awareness of their pelvic floors?
Nervous System Elements:
• Can I still get results if I am stressed? Work too much? Don’t sleep
• Can you teach me ways to calm my nervous system?
All of these questions should have a response that feels good to you. In my opinion there are no absolutes, I think the body is too amazing to say no to anything or require someone to do something before I treat them.
I have had many patients come to me from other practitioners stating…“I was told I wouldn’t run again,” “I was told I would deal with this forever,” “I was told I had to see a mental health therapist before returning to pelvic floor therapy.”
Please remember that you are an active participant in your care. You don’t have to settle on a provider that is not helping your reach your goals.
Best,
Kyrsten
Kyrsten believes every mom should feel empowered, supported and strong in their bodies. She was introduced to pelvic health therapy after the birth trauma of her first son. She felt isolated, embarrassed and weak in her body and even after going to pelvic floor therapy she felt that there was a great need to be better and to think more holistically.
Kyrsten was working as an Occupational Therapist for 3 years in a hospital based setting at this point and started to research what she needed to do to help women with similar experiences. That began her 4 year journey of taking continuing education classes that focused on the physical, emotional and mental aspects of pelvic floor dysfunction. Kyrsten opened her own business in Oct 2021, The Perinatal Pelvis.
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