Pelvic floor therapy
Dedicated rehabilitation for pelvic floor conditions
As one of the few centers in the region with a care team focused on pelvic floor treatments, we offer a range of effective bladder and bowel training therapies to improve your pelvic health and function. With our targeted expertise, we address the full range of symptoms associated with pelvic floor disorders, including bladder and bowel control issues and pelvic organ prolapse, to support your health and well-being.
Our multidisciplinary team includes physical therapists and nurses who collaborate with urology and urogynecology specialists to provide compassionate care tailored to your needs. We offer advanced techniques and nonsurgical approaches that can often provide lasting relief. If surgery is needed, we work with you to find minimally invasive surgical approaches, including robotic surgery, that promote fast recoveries.
Conditions we treat
Understanding pelvic support: why you’re feeling discomfort
Your pelvic organs are held in place by connective tissue, ligaments, and muscles. When these areas are injured, overused, or naturally weakened with age, they can stretch and lose strength, causing nearby organs to sag. This condition, known as pelvic organ prolapse, can lead to discomfort and problems with urinary and bowel incontinence, sexual dysfunction, and other related issues.
People assigned female at birth are more likely to suffer from pelvic support issues due to pregnancy, childbirth, and menopause, though people assigned male at birth can be impacted too. Using the latest pelvic floor rehabilitation techniques, we can help you strengthen pelvic floor muscles to relieve pelvic pain and pressure while giving you better control over urinary and bowel functions.
Your path to pelvic pain relief at Penn Medicine
Our pelvic floor specialists provide a thorough evaluation and diagnosis of your condition, so you can begin treatment and get relief quickly. Diagnosis begins with a physical exam and an internal pelvic exam to check the positioning of your pelvic organs, followed by treatment through a range of effective nonsurgical and surgical methods. We tailor your care plan to your unique needs and comfort level.
At Penn Medicine, pelvic floor therapy is led by highly trained physical therapists at locations in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, including our official therapy provider, GSPP Rehabilitation. They create a customized treatment plan to help you strengthen your pelvic floor muscles, manage your symptoms, and reduce discomfort.
Our pelvic floor rehabilitation services include:
- Bladder training
- Electrical stimulation
- Exercises for the pelvic floor, abdominal, back, leg, and hip muscles
- Lifestyle management strategies
- Manual techniques
- Patient education
- Pelvic floor muscle training and biofeedback
- Postpartum recovery
Additional nonsurgical treatments may be recommended along with pelvic therapy and rehabilitation. These include:
- Biofeedback, which uses electric sensors to measure your pelvic floor muscle function
- Kegel exercises for strengthening pelvic floor muscles
- Vaginal devices (pessaries) to support pelvic organs
- Vaginal laser therapy to improve vaginal atrophy symptoms
If nonsurgical therapies for pelvic floor disorders, like prolapse, aren’t enough to relieve your symptoms, we offer minimally invasive surgery to correct your condition. Specific surgical approaches depend on the impacted area. For example, bladder correction surgery helps to correct stress incontinence, while urogynecological surgery can treat prolapse conditions in women.
Procedures include laparoscopic surgery and robotic surgery, which use tiny incisions and reduce your recovery time. State-of-the-art robotic-assisted pelvic reconstruction surgery enables our surgeons to operate with greater precision. For those assigned female at birth, we can perform prolapse repair through the vagina with no visible abdominal incisions. We offer pelvic organ prolapse procedures that use your own tissue, donor tissue, or surgical material when appropriate.
Postpartum pelvic floor recovery program
It’s common to experience issues with pelvic health after childbirth. Penn Medicine’s Postpartum Pelvic Floor Recovery Program provides specialized care and management that can relieve symptoms related to urinary and bowel incontinence, pain during intercourse, and other symptoms related to pelvic floor disorders. We can treat pelvic conditions or injuries immediately after childbirth or years later with self-care techniques and future delivery counseling.
Pelvic floor therapy for men
Those assigned male at birth may have weakened muscles in the pelvis or rectum due to aging or injury. This can cause sexual dysfunction, bowel and urinary issues, and pain in the pelvic area. While these symptoms may feel uncomfortable to discuss, your care team can help you feel at ease.
Specially trained pelvic floor therapists are skilled at treating pelvic floor dysfunction in men. They can evaluate you in a private setting and provide therapeutic exercises and manual techniques to help you regain function and provide relief. Most people show improvement if they follow recommendations. If further treatment is needed, your pelvic floor therapist can advise you on the next steps.
Our doctors
Our providers work with you to plan and deliver exceptional treatment and personalized care.
Locations
Our hospitals, multispecialty medical centers, pharmacies, labs and more offer outstanding, personalized care for patients all across the region.
Partners in your rehabilitation
Through a unique partnership, GSPP Rehabilitation serves as the official therapy provider for Penn Medicine in the city and suburbs of Philadelphia and parts of New Jersey, delivering innovative rehabilitation at two inpatient facilities and numerous outpatient locations.
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