How physical therapy can help with prostate cancer rehab

About one in every seven men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lives, with many receiving their diagnosis once they are over the age of 65.

Prostrate cancer often means a prostatectomy, which is the surgical removal of all or a portion of the prostate gland. Most of the surgical procedures used for a prostatectomy will use nerve-sparing techniques. These types of techniques help to preserve bladder and erectile function after the surgical procedure.

Because of the location of the nerves on the prostate, there is a chance that men may experience erectile dysfunction and urinary incontinence after surgery. This doesn't mean that you have to live with these health issues for the rest of your life, though.

Physical therapy can help resolve erective dysfunction and urinary incontinence quicker and more efficiently. The latest studies demonstrate that the first three months after surgery are essential to preserving erectile function. This is because starting a physical therapy program within the first three months after the prostatectomy helps the nerves receive increased blood flow, helping improve the chance of them healing completely.

So, what does physical therapy for prostate cancer look like? The rehabilitation program includes a physical therapist like myself conducting an evaluation to understand your current condition and pain. During the evaluation, the physical therapist will ask questions around your condition, pain levels and what your goals are for the future.

From there, the physical therapist will develop a program tailored to your needs. Some treatments that may be included:

• Biofeedback for pelvic floor muscle training, which includes your muscles around your prostate, bladder and reproductive organs
• Specific exercises to help strengthen your muscles in and around your abdomen, hips and pelvic floor
• Bladder training techniques
• Re-education of your neuromuscular system to help your nerves heal faster

  

If you have prostate cancer or recently underwent a prostatectomy, contact me to schedule your first appointment to conduct an evaluation.  

Pelvic floor health resources

Over the past few months, we've written a few different blog posts talking about your pelvic floor. Check out our top five posts to learn more about your pelvic floor and how a physical therapist can help keep it healthy:

What is pelvic organ prolapse?

If you've been told you have pelvic organ prolapse, it can be scary. After all, what does it mean and how do you treat it? We cover all the details in this blog post.

Don't let your bladder rule your life

Do you feel like you always have to go? Do you get a sense of urgency that you have to go to the bathroom as your keys turn in the lock? These are signs that your bladder is ruling your life. Learn what you can do to prevent this, and what your pelvic floor has to do with it.

Pelvic floor and pregnancy

The pelvic floor doesn't get the attention it deserves when talking about women's health, especially in terms of pregnancy. We share the importance of strengthening your pelvic floor muscles before, during and after pregnancy in this post.

What is pelvic floor dysfunction?

Ever wonder what muscles make up the pelvic floor? And what happens when they stop working? Learn more in this post, as well as symptoms that indicate you may have pelvic floor dysfunction.

Who should do kegels

You've probably heard about kegels, but how do you know if you should do them? In this post, we share who should integrate kegels into their daily exercises and offer insight into how to do them, too.

Is your pelvic floor causing you pain? Contact me to discuss treatment options to reduce pain and help you live your best life. 

What is pelvic organ prolapse?

One in three women in the U.S. will suffer from pelvic organ prolapse at some point in their lives. With the right diagnosis and treatment, you can repair the issues and focus on preventing it from occurring again.

Pelvic organ prolapse occurs when an organ that makes up the pelvic floor – the bladder, uterus, vagina, rectum and small bowel – descends or droops, causing pain and discomfort.

Some common symptoms of pelvic organ prolapse include:

• A backache in the lower back
• Painful intercourse
• Urinary problems
• Feeling or pressure or fullness in the pelvic area
• Feeling like something is falling out of the vagina
• Constipation
• Spotting or bleeding from the vagina

Since the symptoms vary based on which organ is experiencing prolapse, it can be difficult to diagnose. However, with the right diagnosis, you can treat pelvic organ prolapse and eliminate these symptoms.

So, what causes pelvic organ prolapse? The most common causes of pelvic organ prolapse include childbirth, labor and pregnancy. Other causes include constipation and respiratory problems, as well as pelvic organ cancers. A hysterectomy can also cause prolapse of the neighboring organs.

Physical therapy serves as a key treatment option for pelvic prolapse. In participating in physical therapy, you can strengthen your pelvic floor muscles, through a number of exercises, including kegels. Depending on the severity of the prolapse, other options may include surgery to either repair the organ and surrounding tissue, or remove it.

To keep pelvic organ prolapse from getting more severe, it's recommended that you consult a medical professional as soon as you can for treatment – this will help fix the issue faster and also give you insight in how you can prevent it from happening in the future.

If you think you may have pelvic organ prolapse, contact me to schedule your first appointment to conduct an evaluation.  

Creating a pregnancy fitness plan

Staying healthy during your pregnancy is not only important for you, but also for your baby. There are a few different ways that you can structure your fitness plan, depending on your pre-pregnancy fitness activities. For instance, some avid runners will shift from running based on number of miles to simply basing their exercise time on minutes.

No matter what your fitness plan was prior to pregnancy, there are a few exercises that you should focus on each day:

• Cardio like walking, running, cycling or spending time on the elliptical: Having a strong cardiovascular system can ensure optimal heart health, which is important during labor. Throughout your pregnancy, a strong cardiovascular system can have a number of benefits – helping prevent gestational diabetes and improving your ability to sleep.
  
• Stretching: Stretching your muscle groups can help you feel relaxed and more comfortable, even if you are approaching the last few months of pregnancy. Some key stretches:
• Shoulder circles: Rotate your shoulders backwards and down in the largest circle that you can make to help open the chest and relax your upper back muscles.
• Seated hip stretch: Sit on a chair with your feet flat on the floor and your thighs parallel to the ground. Move your right ankle to rest on your left knee, and sit up tall. Place your right hand on your right knee and press; hold as long as you can.
• Bridges: If you don't have strong glutes, your lower back can be feeling the pain. To do bridges, lay on your back and bend both of your knees with your feet hip width apart. Tighten your glutes and lift off the floor; holding for three seconds.
  
• Pelvic floor exercises like kegels and pelvic tilts: Having a strong pelvic floor eases soreness during pregnancy and can help reduce pain during labor. To do pelvic tilts, stand straight with your back against a wall and relax your spine. Breathe in deeply while you move the small of your back to the wall. Exhale. Repeat the exercise for about five minutes.

Kegels are also important to strengthen your bladder muscles and keep them healthy during pregnancy and beyond. To do kegels, squeeze the muscles around your vagina and anus by thinking about trying to pull the muscles up and in. These are the same muscles you use to stop the flow of urine or prevent gas from passing.

You will know if you are doing these exercises right if you don’t feel any movement in your buttocks or abs. In addition, you should be able to isolate your pelvic floor so if you someone look at you while you were doing the exercises, they wouldn’t see you moving at all.

Each of these exercises will help you build a strong base of fitness to prepare you for the months ahead during your pregnancy and in labor. Before you start a fitness plan during your pregnancy, you should consult your doctor to ensure it is in line with your pregnancy plan and current health.

Don’t let your bladder rule your life

Do you walk into a store, only to have to rush to the nearest bathroom to go? Or, are you about to turn your keys in the lock, only to get the urge that you need to empty your bathroom ASAP?

We actually call this “key in the door syndrome” – and it’s a sign that you have urinary urgency. Many people don’t realize that this is a condition that can be treated with a few easy tactics and if it doesn’t improve, through physical therapy. 

Through physical therapy, we can help improve the communication between the bladder, brain and pelvic floor muscles, which will help resume normal bladder contraction frequency.

In addition, there are a few things that you can do at home to prevent your bladder from controlling your life:

• Skip eating food items like artificial sweeteners, alcohol, citrus foods and caffeine, which can actually irritate your bladder and cause this urgency. Eliminate these from your diet and you will see a difference in your bladder function.
• Drink more water. This may sound counterintuitive, but drinking water every day helps to normalize your bladder activity. It’s recommended that drink half of your body weight, in ounces, in water, every day.
• Think before you go. You can actually train your bladder to adjust to more frequent urination. Whenever you go to the bathroom, you should have a strong stream for at least eight seconds. If you aren’t doing this, it’s a sign that you are going too much.
• Skip the “just in case” bathroom sessions. Don’t force yourself to go to the bathroom because you are about to leave the house or getting ready to see a movie. This can confuse the brain and its signals to the bladder.
• Relax. If you do have the “key in the syndrome” issue going on, take a moment to pause and relax. Breathe in and out a few times and try to think about something else. This may help minimize the urge and even make the need to go to the bathroom disappear entirely.

If you are still experiencing urinary urgency, even with these techniques, schedule some time to see a pelvic physical therapist (we are here to help in the Dallas metro area). 

Pelvic floor and pregnancy

Even though it’s one of the most important muscle groups in the body, the pelvic floor doesn’t get a lot of attention. It is particularly important for pregnant women, as it plays an instrumental role during labor.

For some women, they can feel pain from a weak pelvic floor as early as 12 weeks into the pregnancy. This can cause other issues, like constipation or causing a weak bladder and leakage. Dealing with this, along with the other symptoms of pregnancy, can be overwhelming.

Luckily, you can practice strengthening your pelvic floor with a few different exercises. In addition, you can see a physical therapist (if you are in the Dallas area, come visit us!) that can provide the guidance you need to strengthen your pelvic floor.

At home, you can do several different exercises to build pelvic floor strength. Kegels are really good exercises that we recommend for women. These can be done at any point in your day.

To do kegels, squeeze the muscles around your vagina and anus by thinking about trying to pull the muscles up and in. These are the same muscles you use to stop the flow of urine or prevent gas from passing.

You will know if you are doing these right if you don’t feel any movement in your buttocks or abs. In addition, you should be able to isolate your pelvic floor so if you someone look at you while you were doing the exercises, they wouldn’t see you moving at all.

If you haven’t done any exercises like this before and if you are feeling pain in this region, it may take a while to build up strength. However, by focusing on these exercises, you can see great gains – and for pregnant women, it can make labor and recovery much easier.

Check out our previous articles about pelvic floor:

•  What is pelvic floor dysfunction?
• Stop the leak!
• Who should do kegels
•  The two exercises every women should do

How physical therapy can treat endometriosis

Endometriosis affects approximately 176 million women around the world. Often times, because it can be silent with no symptoms, it is left untreated until the condition worsens. Because of this, it can lead to infertility in women.

Building awareness about the disease and its symptoms, as well as treatment options, can help reduce its devastating affects for millions of women.

What is endometriosis?

Endometriosis occurs when tissue found lining the uterus grows elsewhere within the pelvic cavity, such as on the ovaries and the fallopian tubes. It can also be found on the pelvic side-wall, as well as on the bladder and on the bowel.

source

What are symptoms of the disease?

Symptoms of the disease can be sneaky – for instance, many women will associate the pelvic pain with their menstrual cycle and not think anything of it.

Other times, they will experience pain outside of their cycle, which can also lead to urinalysis frequency, constipation and urinary incontinence. For many, this pain can be debilitating that makes it hard for women to live their normal lives.

In addition, endometriosis can lead to adhesions and scar tissue, both of which can change the internal anatomy of a woman. Because of this, nearly 40% of women with endometriosis may not be able to have children.

How can physical therapy help?

To properly treat endometriosis, it must be managed over time. Physical therapy serves as one piece of the treatment puzzle. For instance, myofascial release can break up the scar tissue caused by endometriosis.

Physical therapy can also help to treat other symptoms, like urinary incontinence and constipation.

If you think you may have endometriosis, the best course of action is to consult your medical doctor, who can diagnose you with the disease and begin treatment. In addition to physical therapy, treatment typically includes birth control, pregnancy or a hysterectomy.