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Meet Heather Jeffcoat

Femina PT Founder Heather Jeffcoat, DPT

Heather Jeffcoat (she/her/hers) is the author of Sex Without Pain: A Self-Treatment Guide To The Sex Life You Deserve and a recognized expert in the field of Pelvic Health Physical Therapy. She is also the President of the Academy of Pelvic Health Physical Therapy and on the Advisory Board of the International Pelvic Pain Society. After receiving many emails from people around world, she noticed there was a gap in access to quality pelvic floor physical therapy providers, and women deserved answers and a treatment plan for the painful sex they were experiencing. She developed her book as a way to get her proven techniques to all who needed it. Heather is proud to have opened the first pelvic health physical therapy program in the Pasadena / Glendale area, and has continued to serve the area since 2004. Since then, her staff and services have expanded to the Mid-Wilshire district and Sherman Oaks, where her mission continues to emphasize quality of care in order to optimize her patients' goals. With her expanding mission to provide access to the specialized pelvich health services her office offers, she also launched The Origin Fund in 2019, a nonprofit with 501(c)3 status, providing no-cost care to low-income, marginalized populations.

She has been a featured guest on Vogue, Glamour, Cosmopolitan, Livestrong, Mom.me, ABC Radio, Health Magazine, and many other media outlets.

Heather has contributed to the ICA Update and the International Childbirth Education Association Journal, where she hosted the long-running quarterly column entitled "Perinatal Wellness". She has presented her techniques twice at the American Urogynecologic Association's annual meeting, most recently in 2018 in video format during their general scientific session.

She has also been a guest blogger multiple times for the Womens Health Foundation. She developed a course to further her mission of improving women's sexual health, and it made it's debut in Istanbul, Turkey in Spring of 2019. In Summer 2019, she worked with the Chinese Olympic Committee's summer and winter athletes in Beijing. She maintains her passion for treating sports and orthopaedic injuries, and brings a whole-body approach to her work with women's sexual dysfunction and pain disorders. She understands that many of her patients rarely have isolated pelvic issues - and the majority also come with hip, back, neck or other orthopedic dysfunction that could be driving their pain further away from a solution unless the bigger picture is addressed.

heather 200pxHeather received her Doctor of Physical Therapy degree from Duke University and her BS in Animal Physiology and Neuroscience from UC San Diego. Additionally, she received her Comprehensive Teacher Training Certification in Pilates from BASI and is a Certified Fascial Stretch Therapist through the Stretch to Win Institute.

Heather specializes in treating Orthopaedic and Women’s Health physical therapy diagnoses through the lifespan, as well as developing personalized Perinatal Fitness programs.

Femina PT offers a full specrum of treatmetns and modailities for all types of pelvic pain, including

  • vaginismus
  • vulvar vestibulitis
  • levator ani syndrome
  • pudendal neuralgia
  • interstitial cystitis (IC)/ painful bladder syndrome (PBS))
  • voiding dysfunction
  • sacroiliac joint (SIJ) dysfunctions
  • pregnancy and post-partum related disorders (sexual pain, incontinence, back/hip pain, diastasis recti, incisional/scar tissue pain and burning post C-section, vaginal scar tissue pain, hysterectomy or laparoscopic surgery),
  • persistent genital arousal disorder (PGAD)/persistent sexual arousal syndrome (PSAS), painful orgasm, anorgasmia (no orgasm), diminished orgasms,
  • coccydynia (tailbone pain)
  • irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), constipation, etc.
  • neck pain
  • tension headaches
  • low back pain
  • hip pain
  • shoulder pain and dysfunction (adhesive capsulitis, rotator cuff impingement, bursitis, etc.)

To stay current with the newest research and treatment techniques, Heather is regularly attending continuing education covering various topics in the field of Women’s Health and Orthopaedics. She works with physicians and sex therapists internationally and in the community. She is very involved with the International Pelvic Pain Society and currently sits on their Board of Directors and is their current Social Media Committee Chair. She is also active in the American Physical Therapy Association’s Academy of Pelvic Health (formerly the Section on Women’s Health) and has recently been elected their incoming President for 2021. She has also written and edited numerous documents that are currently distributed around the country and available on their website.

She opened Femina Physical Therapy in 2009, owing to the changing healthcare climate at the time that emphasized the quantity of patient care over it's quality. In a situation where she had to see two patients per hour that had complex pain conditions, incontinence, or all of the above, she knew that her patients deserved to be provided with actual care, not just the idea of care. With 55-115 minute sessions, her office is able to provide the hands-on treatment, skilled corrective exercises and other interventions by specialized and licensed physical therapists so they can get on the path to putting their pain or weakness behind them.

Heather Jeffcoat, DPT

You can also stay in touch with Heather and the Femina PT team by following us on InstaGram at @feminapt and @dr.heatherjeffcoat.

 

As Featured In


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What Our Patients Have to Say

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Testimonial by T.C.

While pregnant with my twins, Heather took care with keeping me on my feet and pain free. She saved my back, my sanity and the holidays! I would recommend her to every “mom” looking to stay on her feet during pregnancy and post-partum.

-- T.C.

Testimonial by P.M.

I was hopeful but frankly skeptical when the doctor treating me for Interstitial Cystitis recommended that I go to Heather for physical therapy. Medication and diet helped control my IC symptoms, but I had never heard of physical therapy being used to treat IC. The education and treatment I received from Heather was a revelation. She explained that the pain I experienced with IC had helped create a cycle of muscle guarding which affected the entire pelvic area. I had no idea of the amount of tension being held there. No wonder my husband and I had not been able to have sexual intercourse for years!

Read more: Testimonial by P.M.

Testimonial by R.H.

No one could tell me why I was having pain during sex--sharp pain, not just uncomfortable, pain. I was referred to Heather Jeffcoat after researching several different options. I had seen a specialist who told me physical therapy would not help and my only option was surgery. I really didn't want to go that route, so when we got a referral, I decided to try it--it can't hurt, I thought. I am so glad I did. She diagnosed the problem right away, which was a relief in itself.

To know why I was having pain eased my mind immensely. And to hear that she could fix it without surgery was another relief. She said she could fix the problem in 6 weeks. I think it was actually 4 for me. She was very methodical, and treated me as an intelligent human being capable of participating in my own recovery. I would absolutely recommend her to anyone. She did not try to prolong my session numbers, she worked hard to accommodate my schedule (and the fact that I had to bring a baby to sessions), and she was completely honest the entire time. It is so hard to find someone with these characteristics, much less a professional who is so good at what she does. She has my highest respect.

-- R.H.

Testimonial by Julie T.

Femina PT (née Fusion Wellness & Physical Therapy) has honestly changed my life. Before receiving treatment at Femina, I was going doctor to doctor to try and find the answer to my pelvic pain. It has taken me YEARS to find someone that can help fix this. It wasn't until my gynecologist recommended your clinic that I finally felt relief. My pelvic pain is almost gone, and granted I still have a lot more to work on with Laureen (my PT), my original problem is nearly cured. I am so grateful to her.

What is even better is she gave me practical exercises to do at home that were not tedious and provided instant (and lasting) relief. Although I mainly work with Laureen, my interaction with the owner (Heather) has been great. She is very generous, kind, and committed to her business.

It hurts to know there are women out there suffering who will never know or have the opportunity to work with women like Laureen and Heather because this issue is hardly talked about and this field is so rare. I hope more doctors and physical therapists see the value in this work and can relieve more woman of their pain.

-- Julie T., 12/4/16 via Yelp!

Testimonial by R.M., Age 40

I can’t speak highly enough of the theapists at Femina Physical Therapy and how much they have helped me grow, discover, and love my body. I had had painful sex for my entire life, and didn’t know that there was anything that could be done about it. It was at the point where my husband and I were not having sex for MONTHs, because it was just too frustrating, and I hated feeling like I was the ONLY woman out there who had this problem, especially at my age. I finally brought it up to my doctor because I was turning 40 and my husband and I were barely having enough sex to conceive. And she brought up pelvic floor, PT. I didn’t even know this was a “thing”.

Read more: Testimonial by R.M., Age 40

Testimonial by Mary L.

I started seeing Heather to treat my Interstitial Cystitis in November 2016. At this time, I was extremely miserable, in constant pain, and felt as though no one was listening or understood what was going on with my body. I have just finished my last appointment and I can honestly say that my life has completely changed for the better because of Heather and her team of PTs! I live almost completely pain free, and when I do have flare ups, I am able to treat them at home on my own. I am so grateful that this office was recommended to me a honestly cannot recommend them enough!

Read more: Testimonial by Mary L.

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