The pelvic floor is a group of muscles (the Kegel muscles) and tissues located in the pelvis. It forms a hammock-like structure (floor) that supports the organs in the lower abdominal and pelvic region, including the bladder, uterus, vagina and rectum. The pelvic floor plays a crucial role in various bodily functions, including:
- Support: It provides support to the pelvic organs, helping to keep them in their proper positions. This support is especially important during activities like standing, walking, and lifting.
- Continence: The pelvic floor muscles help control the release of urine from the bladder and feces from the rectum. They contribute to maintaining urinary and bowel continence, allowing you to control when and where you empty your bladder and bowels.
- Sexual Function: These muscles also play a role in sexual function. They contract during sexual arousal and help with orgasm in both men and women.
- Core Stability: The pelvic floor is part of the body’s core musculature, along with the abdominal muscles and the muscles of the lower back. A strong and coordinated pelvic floor contributes to overall core stability, which is important for posture and preventing back pain.
After having kids, pelvic or abdominal surgery, weight gain, or changes with age and hormones these muscles are often damaged and weaken. Weak or dysfunctional pelvic floor muscles can lead to various issues, including pelvic pressure, pain, urinary incontinence, fecal incontinence, pelvic organ prolapse (when pelvic organs drop from their normal positions), and sexual dysfunction. This impairs your quality of life and stops you from doing the things you enjoy. These issues are extremely common but are ignored or not addressed well in typical women’s health practices. Further, when they are brought up most women are told to just go home and do Kegel exercises. Women with pelvic floor issues, by definition, have poor muscles, so telling them to go home and do something they can’t do doesn’t work. Additionally, many women have a poor understanding of these muscles and just squeezing your muscles at home provides no way of knowing if you are doing things correctly and are making progress.
At IWI we take these issues seriously and will work with you to make true and lasting improvements in your pelvic floor health.
IWI’s Comprehensive Pelvic Floor Rehabilitation Program takes a holistic approach and is designed to provide superior results to improve pelvic floor function.
The plan includes:
- A comprehensive expert evaluation to accurately assess the severity of your issues.
- A thorough discussion of your symptoms and goals for improvement.
- Designing a customized plan to meet your specific needs and goals working with your IWI team member and using IWIs revolutionary treatment options to achieve the results you desire. The IWI team will carefully monitor your progress and help you throughout the process.
- Core treatment components include:
- Emsella: This advanced Pelvic Floor Therapy is a FDA-approved revolutionary treatment for pelvic floor issues. The EMSELLA treatment uses High Intensity Focused Electro-Magnetic Energy (HIFEM) to stimulate and strengthen ALL the pelvic floor muscles, not just the subset that can be exercised with voluntary contractions (Kegel exercises). These stronger pelvic floor muscles restore function and the confidence to enjoy normal daily activities. During each 28-minute session you sit comfortably on the Emsella chair while it generates thousands of supramaximal pelvic floor muscle contractions. Each session is equivalent to doing 11000 pelvic floor exercises but without the hard work! The procedure is non-invasive, and you remain fully clothed throughout. No drugs are required and the most you will feel is a slight tingling during the treatment. With no recovery time needed you can leave immediately after each session and resume normal daily activity. The majority of people need a course of six sessions over a period of three weeks to see optimum results, with most people seeing and feeling results after just two or three treatment sessions.
- Laser and Radio Frequency Vaginal Treatment: Healthy vaginal tissue is a critical component to improvement. This aspect is almost always overlooked with typical pelvic floor therapy programs. These therapies recondition the vagina by restoring healthy vaginal tissue. Dr. Guerette is one of the pioneers in developing the use of gentle rejuvenating lasers and radio-frequency devices for improving vaginal issues. These treatments are simple 5-minute office procedures with no preparation or recovery and minimal to no discomfort. The procedure works by stimulating the body to form new collagen, nerves and blood vessels to improve sexual response, sensitivity, control and lubrication. The effect of the laser lasts 12-18 months and then needs a simple touch-up treatment.
- Expert Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy: For women with more complex issues or who need more guidance you will work individually with an expert IWI physical therapist to insure your success.
- Device-based Home Therapy Program: As with any muscle therapy, a maintenance program is critical for long-term success. The IWI team with provide you with a vetted, effective home device and train you on its use so you can continue to enjoy the benefits of your improvements.
Call for a consultation and see the difference IWI can make.
