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The Femina Physical Therapy Blog
Featuring original articles by our staff about current events and trends
Explore our insightful blog articles on pelvic health, where we delve into essential topics that empower and educate. From understanding pelvic floor disorders to strategies for conquering infertility, our content is designed for those seeking knowledge and support. We discuss the latest research, expert advice, and practical tips to enhance your well-being and foster a deeper connection to your body.
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Physical Therapy Can Mitigate the Effects of Cancer on Sexual Function
Sexuality can be a big part of who we are as individuals. Sexual function can be defined as “specific physical, physiological, neurological and emotional behaviors expressed by an individual response”.5 Sexual function and cancer can have an important and detrimental relationship. There are certain cancers that can unfortunately affect our sexual health, including cervical, ovarian, bladder, kidney, colorectal and breast cancer to name a few.
Some cancer treatments can cause unwanted side effects that affect our sexual health such as decreased sexual arousal or desire, vaginal stenosis (narrowing of the vaginal canal), dyspareunia (painful sexual intercourse), and bladder/bowel dysfunction. This can affect our relationships with ourselves and with our partners, and reduce quality of life.
Read more: Sexual Function and Cancer: Include Physical Therapy in...
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What is Endometriosis and Deep Infiltrating Endometriosis?
Endometriosis is a benign condition where endometrial tissue (the lining of the inside of the uterus) grows outside of the uterus.
About 5-10% of reproductive aged persons with female-associated genitalia have endometriosis. Symptoms can range from no symptoms to debilitating pelvic pain with dysmenorrhea, pain with periods, abdominal pain, genital pain, bladder dysfunction, bowel dysfunction and other chronic overlapping pain conditions. In addition, endometriosis is known to also affect sexual quality of life. Pain with sex is called dyspareunia; while deep infiltrating endometriosis is a more severe form of endometriosis.
Read more: The Link Between Deep Infiltrating Endometriosis and...
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Endometriosis and Sexual Function Require a Specialized Approach
Endometriosis is a global disease affecting 5-15% of women during their reproductive years. It is characterized by the presence of endometrial-like tissue outside of the uterus which can trigger a local inflammatory response and can have a significant impact on patients’ quality of life.
One such domain of quality of life that is often affected is the correlation between endometriosis and sexual function. The DSM-V defines sexual dysfunction as a clinically significant disturbance in a person’s ability to respond sexually or to experience pleasure and includes pelvic pain, penetration disorders, lack of sexual interest, and/or arousal and orgasm disorders. Unfortunately, it is common, as approximately 40% of women with endometriosis and chronic pelvic pain suffer from sexual dysfunction.
Read more: Endometriosis and Sexual Function: A Multidisciplinary...
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Did You Know Physical Therapy Can Help Endometriosis?
What is the link between endometriosis and painful sex?
Endometriosis is a global disease affecting 5-15% of women during their reproductive years. It is characterized by the presence of endometrial-like tissue outside of the uterus which can trigger a local inflammatory response and can have a significant impact on patients’ quality of life.
Sexual Function
One such domain of quality of life that is often affected is sexual function. The DSM-V1 defines sexual dysfunction as a clinically siginifcant disturbance in a person’s ability to respond sexually or to experience pleasure and includes: pelvic pain, penetration disorders, lack of sexual interest and/or arousal and orgasm disorders. Unfortunately, it is common, as approximately 40% of women with endometriosis and chronic pelvic pain suffer from sexual dysfunction.
Read more: Physical Therapy Can Help Endometriosis and Painful Sex
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What's the Connection Bewteen Eating Disorders and Pelvic Floor Dysfunction?
Read on for some answers.
Eating disorders are unfortunately common, with at least 9% of people worldwide suffering from an eating disorder. This translates to 28.8 million Americans will have an eating disorder in their lifetime. There are different types of eating disorders (ED) including anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge eating disorder. Other than the typical psychological and social implications that these eating disorders may cause, they also can affect our pelvic health and lead to pelvic floor dysfunction. It can lead to incontinence (either urine or feces), prolapse, increased urinary urge, pelvic pain (possibly associated with polycystic ovarian syndrome or PCOS), constipation, and sexual dysfunction.
Read more: Eating Disorders and Pelvic Floor Dysfunction | ED...
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Contraceptives and Sexual Function Considered
As pelvic floor physical therapists, we work with a lot of women who have some type of female sexual dysfunction, whether it may be pain with initial penetration, pain with deep thrusting/deep penetration, pain with orgasms, or decreased sexual arousal, desire, libido. Unfortunately, about 30-50% of women may suffer from these symptoms.
We often see women with sexual impairments have the following conditions/scenarios:
- Postpartum (regardless of delivery)
- Vaginismus (involuntary spasms of the pelvic floor muscles)
- Post-menopausal
- Vulvodynia
- Skin inflammatory conditions such as lichen sclerosus
Read more: What Do We Know About Contraceptives and Sexual Function?
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Are You Wondering "Can A Vaginal Birth Ruin Your Sex Life?"
Medically, the answer is a resounding ‘no’… but postpartum sex is still an understandable concern for most pregnant women, especially in a digital age where whispered rumors have given way to detailed stories of difficult birth experiences splashed across social media pages.
In the greater debate over vaginal birth vs. C-section, the real issue on the minds of many expectant mothers is often whether one mode of delivery is somehow better than the other. It’s a complex question; but a group of researchers in Ontario, Canada recently attempted to answer the ‘sex after baby’ part of it. What they found out surprised even them; and shed some important light on the bigger question as well.
Researchers Studying the Impact of Vaginal Childbirth versus Cesarean on Postpartum Sex Find...
Read more: Can A Vaginal Birth Ruin Your Sex Life? | Femina PT Talks...
