PT Center for Women

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 this tightness can be treated with appropriate techniques. No matter the cause, the muscles will reactively tighten and spasm to protect the pelvic floor region. This tightening and spasming can cause difficulty with penetration, including intercourse and tampon use. Treating pelvic pain has taught me that every pain syndrome is unique. I’ve spent nearly four decades providing pelvic pain treatments so my patients coul...

We celebrate this month not only because it's National Physical Therapy Month, but more importantly it's also Sarah Dahl's first anniversary at PT Center for Women! Sarah is truly one of a kind, and this patient perfectly captures Sarah's personality and clinical expertise: "Sarah is so helpful, sweet and knowledgeable! I'm looking forward to having her help me on my healing journey. I highly recommend Sarah for your women's PT needs!" ~ Natalie D Here's a little more about Sarah: Sarah earned her Doctor of Physical Therapy degree in 2017 from Clarke University in Dubuque, Iowa and her undergrad from UW-Platteville. She has treated women’s pelvic health issues for the entirety of her career. With a seemingly innate ability to connect, communicate and educate, Sarah talks (quite rapidly, we might add) about her favorite subject: her patients. “My favorite part of PT is getting to know my patients,” she said. “I get to learn about their hopes, goals,...

One of the phrases I hear a lot from patients is “No pain, no gain.” They tell me they can push through pain if they need to or that they need to “feel the burn.” Honestly, I get it. I have played sports and trained for races and ended up pushing through pain because I wanted to play or get a certain time. When it comes to physical therapy however, this are myths that need to be busted. Like this one. My goal for patients is to be able to tell the difference between soreness and pain. Some soreness can be good, but we need to allow our bodies to appropriately rest so that soreness does not turn into pain or injury.  I am not saying that there will never be pain. Occasionally pain may be provoked to find out where it is coming from, but overall physical therapy does not need to hurt.    When a patient comes in we look at a multitude of factors to help determine their physical therapy plan.    Strength, flexibility, posture and mobility are all assessed....

I used to argue with my instructors when they would talk to us about “protecting our energy.” I used to say, “What the patients take is what they will take. I will just make more. I eat right, I sleep right, and I exercise.” I think that mindset got me pretty far in my early days as a physical therapist. But like all the people out there who are lucky enough to say they are lucky enough to have gotten to whatever age they are, I find myself doing what I need to do in order to protect myself while caring for and guiding my patients to a better quality of life. I think therapists call it boundary setting, or something like that . . . I like to read a lot about the world of clinical psychology, because I believe there is a lot of crossover into physical therapy. After all, one cannot separate their head from their body. There’s a superhighway running between the two: brain to body and back again.   Here’s a simple example: when a person stubs their toe really badly, why do t...

Young female athletes are often celebrated for their strength, agility, and dedication. They push their bodies to the limit, striving for peak performance in their chosen sports. However, beneath the surface of athletic prowess, a silent struggle can sometimes unfold: pelvic floor dysfunction. Often overlooked or misunderstood, these issues can significantly impact an athlete's performance, comfort, and overall well-being. It's time to break the silence and shed light on pelvic floor challenges - issues that are very common but not normal - faced by young female athletes and the treatments I’ve used with them that can help. The pelvic floor is a group of muscles that support the bladder, bowel, and uterus. They play a crucial role in bladder and bowel control, sexual function, and core stability. In young female athletes, the repetitive high-impact activities, intense training regimens, and even societal pressures can contribute to pelvic floor dysfunction. While it might...

  Even if you’re crushing your workouts and hitting personal bests, it’s still important that you rest and recharge. And that means embracing the glorious, sometimes guilt-inducing, recovery day. Think of your body like a finely tuned machine. You wouldn't run your car at full throttle 24/7 without expecting some serious wear and tear, right? The same goes for your muscles, joints, and even your mental game. Pushing yourself relentlessly without scheduled breaks might feel productive in the short term, but it’s a surefire recipe for burnout, injury, and ultimately, plateauing in your progress. Recovery days aren't about being lazy; they're about being strategic. They're an active part of your training plan, allowing your body to repair and rebuild the tiny tears in your muscle fibers that occur during exercise. This repair process is crucial for getting stronger, faster, and more resilient. Skipping recovery is like trying to build a house without letting the founda...

  Frequently I get the following question from my pregnant patients: “I’ve never really exercised before, but I need to. Is it okay to start now?” Let’s look at the risks of exercise during pregnancy. “Risks!” you say, “What risks?” Now, before you stop reading this and come to the conclusion that you should not exercise during your pregnancy, I urge you to look at this through my eyes.  As a physical therapist, I am specially trained in exercise prescription. In other words, I teach people how to exercise. Sometimes that involves rehabilitative exercise in order to heal from an injury or surgery, occasionally it includes performance coaching for seasoned athletes, and sometimes it involves teaching someone who has never exercised before how to start. If you fall into the third category of people, this blog is for you!  First of all, let me state the few reasons why women would absolutely not be allowed to exercise during a pregnancy. These are set by the American Co...

“I grew up doing PT,” she said. “My dad was a physical therapist. And I was an accident-prone kid.” Meet Sarah Dahl, DPT, our newest provider at PT Center for Women! Sarah earned her Doctor of Physical Therapy degree in 2017 from Clarke University in Dubuque, Iowa and her undergrad from UW-Platteville. She has treated women’s pelvic health issues for the entirety of her career. With a seemingly innate ability to connect, communicate and educate, Sarah begins by talking about her favorite subject: her patients. “My favorite part of PT is getting to know my patients,” she said. “I get to learn about their hopes, goals, and what’s important in their lives. And they get to know that my goal is to get them back to what they love doing, and a big part of that is teaching them how to fix themselves.” Specializing in women's pelvic health, Sarah treats a wide range of pelvic floor conditions including incontinence, prolapse, pregnancy/postpartum complications, and painful interco...

At PT Center for Women, we empower women by involving them in all of their health care decisions. We strive to know our patients well, helping them achieve their personal goals and live their best lives. The care provided by our physical therapists is as unique as every woman, a personalized approach that helps improve function and lessen pain. These treatments can be life-changing. Recently we provided the opportunity for the OB/GYN providers at Women's Care of Wisconsin to discuss their views of patient care and how they relate to the organization's "Circle of Care" philosophy, one that meets both the physical and emotional needs of patients throughout every phase of life. As an integral part of the Women's Care of Wisconsin team, our five amazing therapists weigh in with their thoughts.  We add their voices to the conversation; their words are both powerful and empowering. Sarah Dahl  PT “ Everything starts with getting to know you. I get to learn about your ho...

Pelvic pain is a common problem faced by women. Here's information to better understand your pain and get you on the path to healing. There are two types of pelvic pain: acute and chronic. Acute pelvic pain: Starts over a short period of time, anywhere from a few minutes to a few days Many times is experienced after surgery or with soft tissue injury Is often short-lived but may be severe Is often a warning sign that something else is wrong and should be evaluated promptly Chronic pelvic pain: Severe and steady pain, dull aching or sharp pains with cramping, pressure or heaviness with the pelvis Pain with intercourse, having a bowel movement or sitting Persists for a period of three months or longer May be intermittent or constant; intermittent chronic pain will usually have a cause while constant pelvic pain may be the result of more than one problem Pelvic pain can be caused by endometriosis, pelvic adhesions, vulvodynia, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), interstitial cystitis (IC)...

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 w...

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...

It’s been a year since we welcomed Katie Van Scyoc, PT, DPT, CMTPT to PT Center for Women. With her wide variety of skills, she’s been a perfect addition to the team. We love her. Her patients love her ("Katie is the best!," says Gretchen H; "Katie is wonderful and knowledgeable!" says Victoria M). We just wanted to check in with her for an update. We also wanted to introduce you to Katie if you haven’t had the chance to meet her. You’ll find her to be as wonderful as we do. Give us a brief snapshot of your first year at PT Center for Women. "I truly feel so blessed to be in this profession and working at PT Center for Women. The patients I have met and worked with over the past year are so amazing. You're coming alongside women at very different times in their life at different stages, many times when they're feeling vulnerable or insecure or in very stressful situations. And we have the privilege of walking through those stages with them. It's...

Many times, my patients have questions about what I'm feeling or treating when I work with them. Most people know that physical therapists work with problems within the body, but in my line of practice, people are often befuddled about how and why they were sent to me in the first place. I am going to tell you a little bit about how we (physical therapists) view the patient, how we see and feel their problems and how we justify the treatments that we do. The first thing physical therapists do is realize that we are treating a whole person, not just a hip, a bladder, or a sciatic nerve, for example. We understand that the things going on inside your body - what is happening in all your organs and tissues - has influences on neighboring, regional and distant areas of your body (so please, do not be too put off if I'm intrigued by your big toe when you were referred to me for your low back pain). For everything is connected, and just like dominoes, things can stand together and ...