PT Center for Women

Short and sweet, many people don't know about the breadth of treatments offered by a physical therapy practice that specializes in pelvic pain and pelvic muscle dysfunction.  And it goes way beyond that. "Of course we treat the pelvis," said Connie Strey, a physical therapist at PT Center for Women in Appleton, "but we also treat fibromyalgia, pregnancy, osteoporosis, lymphedema, and cancer as well." Strey has been practicing physical therapy for more than 35 years and has specialized in women's health since 1993. A passionate provider who speaks really, really fast, went right to her role with your pelvis. "If you've ever been to a physical therapist (PT), you know we're about restoring function: good range of motion, good strength, get you to where you can do the things you want to do," said Strey. "But the pelvic floor, those fast and slow muscles, they're in a private area, a lot of taboo with incontinence and pain with interco

So congratulations! You’ve had your baby, and now you’re excited to get back into those favorite clothes that you haven’t worn in quite awhile. You feel like they should fit, because after all, your baby is five weeks old already. But, your jeans are still two sizes too small. So, what do you do? You promptly jump onto the treadmill, turn up the incline, and start jogging. Fast. For like, two minutes. And then something happens. You notice that you’re wet. Not wet with sweat, just wet. In the saddle region, and at that moment you realize that your body is not quite like it used to be prior to that beautiful baby you now have. The very next thing you do is call your girlfriend, mom, sister, or all three and shout, “DID THIS HAPPEN TO YOU!?”  It’s true, and it happens all the time. Women have a baby, and then they want to pick up their life where it left off prior to pregnancy. The little story I just told you about is only one of several potential hiccups that new moms experience when

Being an athlete can mean many different things. For some, this means training for a marathon; for others, it’s being able to jump on the trampoline with their kids. Both share a commonality with many athletic pursuits, as they are activities that can lead women to notice urinary incontinence. Research has found that about half of exercising women will experience urinary incontinence throughout their lifetime. But not to worry ladies, you are not alone and you can treat this! What is it? By definition, stress urinary incontinence is the involuntary loss of urine when there is an increase in abdominal pressure during moments of physical activity. This can include but is not limited to activities such as running, jumping, coughing, sneezing, laughing and transitioning from sitting to standing. For some, this causes women to avoid attending their favorite boot camp or wear only certain colors when exercising. So…what causes this involuntary loss? This is generally caused by pelvic floor d

Pelvic Pain Awareness Month is an opportunity to increase awareness about pelvic pain and the impact it makes on people's lives. PT Center for Women's Connie Strey shares her insights in this month's blog: Pelvic pain dysfunctions are a silent disease. Many young women (as well as older women) suffer from pain in the pelvic region causing pain with intercourse, tampon insertion and sometimes light touch.  Most of the women that come to see me about their pelvic pain have seen at least five doctors prior to physical therapy. The majority of them have been told somewhere within their search for treatment that they should just relax and have a glass of wine. This is very upsetting to a physical therapist, knowing that this type of pain and dysfunction is musculoskeletal and can be treated with traditional PT techniques. It just happens to be in a very delicate area of the body. This area has muscles that are similar to other areas of our body. They can become very tight, and t

It seems like it’s a weekly occurrence in my practice to field this question: My back has been hurting ever since I had my baby. Did my delivery have something to do with it? Is it the way I hold my baby? There is a little bit of a trick to answering this question: women want to know if any one of a number of variables surrounding the delivery has influenced how their back feels at the present moment. Problem is, variables happen every day, and so it is really hard to pinpoint any one of them and to say, “That’s it! That’s the root cause of the pain!” Even so, women will ask me about a wide variety of potential factors that may or may not contribute to their back pain: epidurals, duration or intensity of pushing, C-sections, posture, rapid labors, perineal tears, and weight gain. They also ask me about the way in which they are breast or bottlefeeding their babies, how they hold and carry them, and sleep postures after baby arrives. Let’s take a look at several of these factors in orde

Pelvic floor dysfunction affects many women who will see multiple providers before they are diagnosed. Often, women are left to feel that the problems they are experiencing are normal and should just be endured. The simple truth is that pain is not normal. Women dealing with symptoms that can include urinary incontinence, constipation, pelvic or low back pain, discomfort during sexual intercourse, muscle spasms or pressure in the pelvic region can look to physical therapy to find relief. And in finding the right physical therapist to meet your needs, you might see certifications listed to which you might give a cursory glance, but these often missed abbreviations are very meaningful to your search. Physical therapists that specialize in pelvic pain have one or both of the following: Certificate of Achievement in Pelvic Pain (CAPP) Biofeedback Certification Institute of America – Pelvic Muscle Dysfunction Biofeedback (BCB-PMD) The Certificate of Achievement in Pelvic Health Physical The