Perineal Tissue Trauma, What Can You Do?... 

Hi!

I have a lot of exciting things coming up in the next few weeks and I want to share one of them with you.  

This week I am blessed to lead a Free webinar helping pregnant mamas get ready for their delivery. It is called Easy Delivery--How to Help Your Pelvic Floor During Your Delivery and will be offered on Thursday Evening, Jan 14 at 7:00 p.m.  (For those of you who are pregnant or know anyone who is, be sure to  register ahead of time as you do not want to miss out.  If you cannot make the webinar in person, still register and I will send out the replay which will be available for 48 hours after the live webinar. 

(If you are past this part of your pregnancy and are now in your postpartum journey, don’t worry, you will not be left out. Ellicia and I will be offering a free postpartum webinar next week. Make sure to keep an eye out for this information on this Free Webinar.)

The reason why I am excited about this is that, as a pelvic health PT for over 20 years, I KNOW that having a better understanding of your pelvic floor muscles--how to contract AND elongate your muscles--can truly ease the delivery process for many mamas, while potentially decreasing some vaginal trauma.  

Of course, some mamas will sustain some level of soft tissue injury.  Truly, delivering a baby is no joke. It is hard on a woman's body. This is why it is so important to have really good health care providers in your corner with whom you feel comfortable and trust! 

If you are pregnant or plan to get pregnant in the future, have you ever wondered what can happen to your vulva if you have a vaginal delivery? Good question!  Every person's body is different and every person's body responds differently to their pregnancy and their delivery.  Many woman's bodies do well and their vulvas sustain minimal to no trauma.  However, a certain percentage of women do end up with some soft tissue trauma in their perineum.

There are factors that do affect the size and location of the tear: the position in which you push; how long you push; what you do with your breath while you are pushing; your pelvic floor length/range of motion, how big your baby is; the position of your baby and the use of instruments (forceps, vacuum).  Some of this you cannot control. But learning how to control and relax your PFM is something you can do to decrease the likelihood of more perineal trauma. Yes, this is why I am excited about the webinar this week!  I will cover some of what you can control to give you a little more power in to helping make your delivery easier on your body.

But what if you already had your baby? What can you do if you did sustain some level of perineal trauma or tearing?   

Thankfully, the human body is amazing. We heal without even trying. Perineal tears or episiotomy tissue traumas typically do heal on their own over time. However, it is common for these tissues to be sensitive to the touch, especially in the first few months after the delivery. In my PT practiced we see women with postpartum pelvic discomfort all the time. Many are months and often years into their postpartum time period.

Unfortunately, if the issues in the tissues are never addressed, for some, this sensitivity can continue on for months or even years later.  Sometimes, superficial nerves can be cut or irritated, causing the tissues to be extra sensitive. Sometimes the scars can grow adhesions, causing lack of mobility that can affect the overall function of the perineal tissue. And for some, this can affect sexual function, bladder or even bowel function. Other times the discomfort can cause an unknown guarding of the surrounding pelvic floor muscles which can decrease blood flow, shorten the muscle fibers, and exacerbate (or even be the cause of) pelvic pain. 

The amazing thing is that no matter how long ago your delivery may have been, you do not have to live with discomfort down there.  Nope. Not any longer.   

Find a seasoned pelvic floor manual-based (uses their hands) physical therapist. A good, seasoned PT will not only help you by working on desensitizing the tissues, releasing the scar restrictions and teaching you how to improve the coordination and range of motion of your pelvic floor muscles, but they will teach you how you can help yourself too. We teach this and a whole lot more in our upcoming online postpartum recovery program called, Empowered Healing After Baby. This 5-week program launches January 25th. We are now open for registration.

At ITR Physical Therapy,  we have an amazing team of seasoned manual-based physical therapists. For 20 years, we have specialized in treating patients with pelvic-related issues. Most clinics that treat patients with pelvic-health-related issues have PTs who treat everything, from neck and shoulder issues, down to foot and ankle issues, and the occasional patient with pelvic floor dysfunction. At ITR Physical Therapy, we only treat patients with pelvic-related issues. And every day we treat patients with pregnancy- and postpartum-related issues. 

So, if you have been dealing with sensitivity down there or pelvic pain, help is right at your fingertips. Contact us and let us help you.  You deserve to feel better. After all, wouldn’t it be amazing to not have to think about your pelvic health all the time?! 

In Peace and Kindness,

Jen

PS: I hope you can join us on Thursday for the Webinar!
Here is the Zoom link registration

You are invited to a Zoom meeting.
When: Jan 14, 2021, 7:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Register in advance for this meeting:
https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJEvde6spz8tG9UpEQxwJa2bMsOgC44JgwDy

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

P.P.S.  Please share this link with all of your pregnant family, friends, and colleagues!