The following post comes to us from Dee Hartmann, PT, DPT who is the author and instructor of Vulvodynia: Assessment and Treatment. To learn evaluation and treatment techniques for vulvar pain, join Dee in in Houston, TX this March 12-13. Early registration pricing expires soon!

I recently heard a young, vivacious urologist present treatment options for overactive bladder to a group of nursing professionals (SUNA). To my delight as the only PT in the audience, I was pleased that physical therapy was her first line of treatment for this difficult population of chronic pelvic pain patients. As a women’s health PT, we know that chronic vulvar pain suffers experience many of the same dysfunctions, including pelvic floor muscle over-activity.

The physician’s presentation included two very emphatic statements—“physical therapy always hurts” and “no one in this group of patients should ever do Kegel exercises”. She went on to explain that anyone with pelvic floor muscle over activity should only be taught to relax; that “if they were seeing a practitioner who was telling them to do Kegels, they needed to find another PT”. As she’s not a PT, I challenged her on her second comment. I was too annoyed to address the first.

This post was written by H&W instructor Dee Hartmann PT, DPT. This year, H&W is thrilled to be offering a brand new coure instructed by Dee, Assessing and Treating Women with Vulvodynia.This course will be offered in September in Waterford, CT.

What's love (and sex) got to do, got to do with it?

Tina Turner said it well. (Obviously I’m taking a little liberty here.) Some think that love and sex go together, you know, like bread and butter. Others? Not so much. Many think that love thrives even though the sex may slow down because of things like babies, work, stress, dinner with friends, and cleaning the bathroom…you name it. A lot can come between you and a good bedroom romp. But what if those bedroom romps had NEVER been good? What if the only fireworks you remember when earning your womanhood badge were akin to hot, searing sparklers—held way too close for comfort above your knees and between your legs. What’s with that, right?