By Jandra Mueller Here at PHRC we talk a lot about birth control. Primarily, hormonal oral contraceptives, but there are so many other options. This post will take an in-depth look at one of our favorite contraceptives: condoms. HISTORY Yes, jimmy hats, rubbers, french letters. They have been called many names, but at the end […]
By: Elizabeth Akincilar Last week, Shannon Pacella, DPT, taught us how physical and occupational therapy can benefit transgender individuals prior to gender affirming surgery and for those who choose not to undergo gender affirming surgery. You can read her blog here. This week, I present Part two, where I will explain why physical and occupational […]
By: Shannon Pacella Earlier this summer, Dr. Heidi Wittenberg wrote a blog post enabling medical providers to understand transgender healthcare needs, which you can read here. Following Dr. Wittenberg’s lead, I was fortunate enough to attend an educational course focused on the physical and occupational therapy evaluation and treatment of transgender patients, and I believe […]
Image by: erpete By: Kim Buonomo When I was asked to write a blog article, I wasn’t sure what topic I should write about. I read a lot of our previous articles for inspiration and realized a couple things: 1) The women who work here really know their stuff about the pelvic floor; and 2) […]
By Elizabeth Akincilar Mindfulness meditation. Even if you’re not exactly sure what it is, I’m going to bet you’ve heard of it. It has gotten a lot of attention recently. It’s everywhere. It’s not like the mediation of 20 years ago. Back then meditation was considered “alternative” or “fringe” that few people practiced, especially in […]
In 2012, The Journal of Sexual Medicine published an article, What we don’t talk about when we don’t talk about sex: results of a national survey of U.S. obstetrician/gynecologists. The results from the survey revealed that though Ob/gyns routinely (63%) assess their patients’ sexual activities, only 40% of them ask their female patients about sexual […]
Do you know what the most common cause of female infertility is? Polycystic ovary syndrome, also known as PCOS. It is estimated that 15-20% of women will be diagnosed with PCOS at some point in their lives.1 It is the most common endocrine (hormone) disorder for women of reproductive age.2 Approximately 90-95% of women with […]
By: Stephanie Prendergast On July 17th, 2006, Liz and Stephanie opened the doors to the Pelvic Health and Rehabilitation Center in San Francisco. Their mission was to improve the quality of life of their patients and to contribute to the dynamic growth of their employees and students. They aspired to educate the community […]
By: Sigourney Cross I love taking bubble baths. I use my scented body wash and a loofah down there. Sometimes I wipe so hard I bleed a little bit. I always use scented wet wipes to stay fresh. I wear thongs under my yoga pants. I use a daily scented panty liner just in case […]
By Sarah Court, PT, DPT, e-RYT Traditionally, the thinking around how to approach low back and pelvic girdle pain has had a singular approach: find the ‘tight’ muscle and stretch it, and then find the ‘weak’ muscle and make it stronger. While it’s true that muscular tone imbalances can and do create […]
As Pride Month comes to a close we share a guest blog from our longtime colleague in San Francisco, Dr. Heidi Wittenberg. Recently Dr. Wittenberg has decided to dedicate 100% of her career to working with transgender persons and we are honored to be working with her. PHRC has always been LGBTQ friendly and […]
It should be a surprise to no one that we are in the middle of a serious, nationwide opioid epidemic. And to top that off, a crisis on opioid overdose. Did you know that on average 115 Americans die each day from opioid overdose?2 In October 2017, President Trump declared the opioid crisis a public […]
By Dr. Ann Croghan, PT, DPT, CLC, and CAPP-OB trained with introduction by Stephanie Prendergast, MPT A few months ago I shared a link to an article I was interviewed for in Men’s Health Magazine about postpartum sex on our PHRC Facebook Page. I was disappointed there was not better coverage about postpartum […]
By Melinda Fontaine When you hear mention of “the talk” do you also picture a red faced kid and an adult with sweaty palms talking awkwardly around the topic of the birds and the bees? Thinking back on my childhood, I have to give credit to my parents and teachers for attempting this […]
Ladies, have you ever felt bloated or backed up the week before your menstrual cycle? What about noticing diarrhea at the start of your menstrual cycle? I know I have. If you’ve been or are pregnant, have you noticed major changes in your digestive system and bathroom behaviors? Below I explore the connection between hormones […]
May is a great month. Summer is starting to creep in, which in San Francisco means more fog, but if you are a sex nerd like me then you know that May is Masturbation Month. An entire month dedicated to self-love and pleasure. In a prior post, I talked about masturbation in general, including the […]
By Stephanie Prendergast, PHRC Cofounder As many as 28% of women experience painful sex at some point during their reproductive years and that sucks. Knowledge is power and May is Pelvic Pain Awareness Month so we want to provide women with useful information about the three most common diagnoses associated with painful sex: […]
By: Admin As a pregnant woman and pelvic floor physical and occupational therapists, I am surrounded by stories, advice, and opinions about the right way to give birth. Most of us know that pregnancy and childbirth often result in trauma to the pelvic floor and perineum, which can lead to incontinence, pelvic organ […]
Photo via Joe Loong via Flickr In previous entries, Britt beautifully took us through all things posture (Posture and the Pelvis Part One and Part Deux). Here are some important takeaways from her posts to consider as we explore how sitting may affect your pelvic floor: The diaphragm, trunk (back extensors, transversus abdominis, obliques, etc.) […]
Other than pelvic health and sex, my favorite conversation topic is cats water! Yes, good old H-2-O! You may recall a post I did a while back that discussed how diet can play a role in pelvic health. I talked about the importance of water intake, but patients still ask me questions about this topic. […]
Vag·i·nis·mus /ˌvajəˈnizməs/ Noun noun: vaginismus painful spasmodic contraction of the vagina in response to physical contact or pressure (especially in sexual intercourse). What is vaginismus? Above is the definition that comes up when you google vaginismus. You may have seen blogs or posts on social media about vaginismus or painful sex […]
