Women’s Health Physiotherapy

Specialist Physiotherapists Anna Clayton and Emily Jennings and Hayley Jarvill provide the women’s/pelvic health physiotherapy service in the clinic for a range of issues that can be experience at different stages of life, from menstrual years, antenatal and postnatal physiotherapy and rehab, and peri/post menopause management.

Contact us to book an appointment or for further information about women’s health clinic services email admin@buryphysio.co.uk.

Menstrual Health

• Painful periods
• PCOS and Endometriosis management
• Education workshops (Menstrual cycle and hormones)

Antenatal Physiotherapy

• Exercise modification advice
• Pregnancy massage
• Pilates
• Strength exercises
• Pelvic girdle pain management
• Sciatica and back pain management

Postnatal Physiotherapy

Postnatal 6 week check with a Specialist Pelvic floor & postnatal Physiotherapist

• Internal examination
• Transperineal and transabdominal realtime ultrasound biofeedback
• Prolapse check
• Incontinence check
• Diastasis check
• Functional movement
• Return to running guidance/programme
• 20 week general conditioning class (gym based – bring your baby) – coming soon
• (online coming soon)
• Introductory postnatal nutritional advice
• Further Nutritional advice available from Emma Robinson MSc (Nutritional Therapy)

Peri & Post Menopause Management

• Private Pessary fitting service (ring pessaries)
• Stress/Urge Urinary Incontinence advice
• Nutritional Therapy advice available from Emma Robinson MSc (Nutritional Therapy)
• Strength Training class for Peri/Post menopause – a 30 minute strength class followed by physiotherapist led evidence based education re peri/post menopause management, exercise and more.

Pelvic Floor Dysfunction

• Internal examination – Assess for overactive or under active pelvic floor
• Pelvic floor exercise advice
• Biofeedback (Neen Educators to Neurotrac devices)
• Ring Pessary fitting (please note there is an additional charge for the pessary)

Real time Pelvic floor and abdominal muscle ultrasound (biofeedback)

• Supine (lying down) assessment of pelvic floor muscle recruitment.
• View anatomy and function of
  • the anterior compartment (urethra and bladder)
  • the central compartment (the vagina, vault and uterus)
  • the posterior compartment (rectal ampulla, anal canal, anal sphincter) during pelvic floor muscle contraction.
• Pelvic floor engagement/relaxation ability with visual biofeedback and education
• Strength and endurance assessment of pelvic floor Personalised pelvic floor exercise prescription based on your baseline strength (fast contraction and endurance muscle strength)
• Diastasis measurement
• Abdominal muscle contraction assessment and education

• Biofeedback – how to contract and relax the pelvic floor muscles.

• Pessary placement assessment

Suitable for:

• Pelvic pain
• Dyspareunia (genital pain before, during or after intercourse)
• Postnatal
• Peri/Menopause
• Stress urinary incontinence
• Prolapse
• Bowel incontinence
• Vaginissmus (hypertonic pelvic floor)
• Endometriosis
• Constipation

External and internal pelvic myofascial release techniques also available as indicated

Why might I need an internal examination?

You may be experiencing pelvic pain, urinary incontinence or prolapse type symptoms.

An internal assessment of the pelvic floor muscles is performed to understand whether your pelvic floor is overactive, or whether it is not engaging sufficiently, and/or whether any pain can be reproduced in the soft tissues/muscles.

Due to the location of the muscles sitting within the pelvic girdle, an internal examination is the most effective method for assessment.

Following this the management options/exercises will be discussed.

What happens during an internal examination?

Your consent is given and you are perfectly within your right to stop an assessment part way through if you don’t feel comfortable.

Wearing gloves, the therapists’ fingers (or a biofeedback probe) are inserted into the vagina and pressure applied to the tissues/muscles to assess for any pain areas.

You will be asked to engage your pelvic floor muscles as you feel you do normally, without prompting, and this is assessed for strength and endurance ability.

The assessment is carried out lying on your back, and standing to gauge muscle activity against gravity.

Appropriate pelvic floor muscle strength or relaxation training exercises will be issued as needed to help improve your symptoms.

Sometimes relaxation techniques/equipment is recommended to help your pelvic floor to relax and not be contracted as intensely/often.