For Amanda Berry (pictured above), pelvic floor therapy is not only helping her current health issues but is also protecting her body from future ones as well.
After the birth of her baby, the 35-year-old began seeing Samantha Koewler, a pelvic floor therapist at the Mercy Health – Eastgate Medical Center (pictured in copy), to treat her diastasis recti, also known as the separation of abdominal muscles. This condition is commonly seen in pregnant women as the abdominal muscles separate to make room for the growing baby.
“If you go to do a crunch, you will see a dome across your abdomen. That’s diastasis recti,” Amanda explains.
Left untreated, diastasis recti weakens the core muscles and that can lead to health issues, including pelvic floor dysfunction, lower back pain, pelvic pain and, rarely, a hernia. Sam started Amanda on routine exercises and she soon saw results.
“Sam gave me exercises to do and they were working,” she says.
While Sam’s exercises may have helped to improve Amanda’s abdominal issues, Amanda also began to see improvement with her back pain. Working as a radiologic technologist who’s on her feet all day moving people and equipment leaves Amanda vulnerable to increased tension and back strain.
“It’s a pretty physical job,” Amanda shares. “What I learned from Sam about tightening my core and pelvic floor will keep me from back injuries and help me prevent getting back injuries in the future.”
Working with our pelvic therapy program not only helped Amanda improve her postpartum ailment, but also helped to ensure that her body would be protected from the wear and tear of her everyday job.
“I 100 percent recommend the pelvic therapy program and I’ve told friends with urinary and fecal incontinence issues that they need to go,” Amanda says. “Everyone after they have a baby should be prescribed pelvic physical therapy. I think it should be part of postpartum care. It teaches you how to use muscles that you don’t ever think using.”
Learn more about the pelvic floor therapy and rehabilitation services we offer at Mercy Health.
