Women’s health physiotherapy is a branch of physical therapy which focuses on the health, rehabilitation and maintenance of the female reproductive system. It is usually practiced by certified doctors, sometimes nurse practitioners or other allied health professionals.
Health benefits of Women’s health physiotherapy.
1. Provide support to pregnant women.
Women’s health physiotherapy helps with the management of pregnancy, labor and delivery. It covers all physiological changes that occur during pregnancy and helps to maintain normal hormonal status and provides a great support for the body during the delivery period.
2. Treat menopause symptoms.
The menopause is a natural process but sometimes it can cause some medical problems. The physiotherapist will help to overcome the symptoms, such as hot flushes, through a variety of massage, exercise and rehabilitative therapy.
Women’s health physiotherapy helps to overcome menopause symptoms after delivery or during the perimenopause stage.
3. Restore the uterus function.
The uterus can be affected by many diseases, such as vaginal prolapse or uterine fibroids and usually women’s health physiotherapy restores normal uterine function and maintains healthy pelvic floor muscles during and after pregnancy by different exercises (pelvic floor muscle training, Kegels).
4. Improve vaginal health and manage urinary incontinence.
Vaginal atrophy is the impairment of the normal function of the vagina, in particular it can affect the sexual life and may cause painful intercourse due to vaginal dryness, which is a common problem during menopause and post-menopause. The use of moisturizing creams as well as herbal therapies have been used for treating vaginal dryness or atrophy. By using these treatments it improves vaginal health and increases arousal, lubrication during sex which in turn will improve sexual activity.
5. Maintain pelvic floor muscles.
Pelvic floor muscles (also called pelvic diaphragm) are a set of muscles that support the pelvic organs. These muscles are attached to the bottom of the pelvis, to the pubic bone and to the coccyx. In case of damage these muscles have a limited ability to recover spontaneously, so for many people with an impaired function these muscles need special exercises which should be performed under supervision of a physical therapist or women’s health physiotherapist.
Groin pain is a common condition experienced by pregnant and non-pregnant women alike, it consists of pain and discomfort in the groin area. Often women will experience this pain during or after exercise. The physiotherapist can help in treating and preventing groin pain, like any other pain, it will involve reducing the inflammation, increasing the blood flow to area, stretching and exercise to regain full flexibility and strength of muscles around hip.
6. Provides emotional support for various reasons (e.g. fertility issues).
There have been cases where women may have psychological problems like anxiety related to fertility issues which affects their mental health or just simple emotional support that helps a great deal in dealing with those problems and stress levels. Usually a combination of counseling (talking) therapy along with physical therapy is used for treating infertility related problems.
Conclusion
There are many advantages of women’s health physiotherapy, not only does it help with various medical conditions but it also helps in increasing the physical and emotional health of women. It is a specialized portion of physical therapy that focuses on the health, rehabilitation and maintenance of the female reproductive system.