How should we treat pelvic floor dysfunction? Should everyone get physical therapy? What if they don’t respond well to physical therapy? What other treatment options are available. New clinical guidelines for the treatment of pelvic floor dysfunction were released in the Spring of 2024. Developed by eleven women’s health specialists, this first of [...]
Clinging To Old Treatments For IC/BPS Could Hold You Back If you had been diagnosed with IC/BPS forty years ago, odds are you would have been prescribed antibiotics, given urethral dilations and/or referred to a psychiatrist under the mistaken assumption that IC was all in your heads. Twenty years ago, that same patient might have [...]
Despite research studies which have shown that pelvic floor myofascial release can dramatically improve IC symptoms more effectively than EVERY oral medication tested, many if not most patients simply do not believe that their pelvic floor muscles can be causing their bladder symptoms. One non-believer was IC patient Janet R, who fiercely doubted that there was [...]
Physical Therapy May Resolve Symptoms of Interstitial Cystitis and Chronic Prostatitis Released: 1-Sep-2015 2:05 PM EDT Newswise — (Santa Rosa, CA) For the millions of men and women struggling with recurring bladder and/or prostate pain, finding relief for their symptoms can be difficult. Many have taken antibiotics for years under the mistaken impression that they [...]
The American Urological Association (AUA) released a new update to their 2011 Guideline on the Diagnosis and Treatment of Interstitial Cystitis/Bladder Pain Syndrome (IC/BPS). The original guidelines included research studies up through 2009. This new revision includes research studies through 2013. Read the amended guidelines here! “Although the science relevant to IC/BPS is continually improving [...]
The role of the pelvic floor muscles in bladder and/or pelvic pain is often underestimated. Urologists have found pelvic floor muscles "as tight as rubber bands" when examining interstitial cystitis patients. Patients with pelvic floor dysfunction may have difficulty starting their urine stream or feel as if something is falling out of them. Vaginal burning is a [...]
Gaye & Andrew Sandler have released their first new book in a decade for men, women & children struggling with IC and its many related conditions. What sets this husband and wife team apart from so many other authors who have written about interstitial cystitis is their focus on patient comfort. In The Proactive Patient: Managing [...]
Were you an athlete before you developed bladder and/or pelvic pain? One of the trends currently being tracked in patients struggling with pelvic floor dysfunction and bladder/pelvic pain disorders is a history of athletics. A new study presented at the 2014 American Urogynecologic Society Scientific meeting has shown a direct relationship between long distance endurance [...]
Do you have vulvar pain in addition to your IC? How about a history of endometriosis? Struggling with tight pelvic floor muscles? You are certainly not alone. We've long known that there was a connection between IC and other conditions of the pelvis. Researchers in Italy gathered the essential incidence data demonstrating that a diagnosis [...]
Prevention Magazine released a fabulous article, "Why It Hurts Down There", which discusses how pelvic floor dysfunction can be the cause of many pelvic pain conditions, such as IC, vulvodynia, constipation and so forth. It shares two compelling patient stories who, after many physician visits, finally discovered that the pelvic floor muscles, specifically pelvic floor [...]
