What is Pelvic Physiotherapy?

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Pelvic physiotherapy focuses on assessing and treating the muscles, nerves, and connective tissues of the pelvic floor—basically the deep support system that helps with bladder, bowel, sexual, and core function. When these muscles aren’t working the way they should, things like leaking, pain, pressure, or pelvic instability can show up. Pelvic physio helps you understand what’s going on in your body and gives you the tools to get things working comfortably again.

 

What does a Pelvic Physiotherapist do?

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Your appointment starts with a conversation about your symptoms, your goals, and how everything is affecting your day-to-day life. From there, your physiotherapist may do both an external and internal assessment.
An internal exam—vaginal and/or rectal—is often the best way to accurately assess how your pelvic floor is functioning. That said, your comfort always comes first. If an internal exam feels too painful or you’re not ready, we can start with external work to calm and release the abdomen, hips, back, and pelvic tissues before progressing.

Together, we’ll build a treatment plan that makes sense for you, at your pace.

 

Conditions Treated

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• Incontinence

• Pelvic Organ Prolapse

• Dyspareunia (painful intercourse)

• Pelvic Floor Dysfunction in Pregnancy

• Pelvic Girdle Pain

• Coccydynia (tailbone pain)

• SI Joint Dysfunction in Pregnancy

• Vulvodynia

• Vaginismus (difficulty with penetration)

• Vestibulodynia

• Painful Bladder Syndrome

• Chronic Pelvic Pain Syndrome

 

Our Approach to Care

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Your treatment is grounded in up-to-date, evidence-based practice. That means everything we do—from exercises to manual therapy to education and lifestyle strategies—is informed by high-quality research and the latest clinical guidelines. Pelvic physiotherapy is an evolving field, and you’ll always receive care that reflects current best practices.

 

Interesting (and surprisingly reassuring) Facts

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• 1 in 4 women experience incontinence, yet only 1 in 12 seek help—often because they don’t realize treatment exists or feel too embarrassed to mention it.

• There is Level 1, Grade A evidence (the strongest available) supporting pelvic floor strengthening for both stress and urge incontinence. In other words: research strongly recommends trying pelvic floor physiotherapy before considering surgery.

• In the U.K., pelvic floor physiotherapy is required before surgical options are even discussed.

• Internal pelvic floor myofascial treatment helps about 59% of people with chronic bladder pain—far more effective than general massage alone.

• In France, every postpartum person sees a pelvic physiotherapist at six weeks as part of routine recovery.

• Around 85% of vaginal deliveries involve some level of perineal trauma—something pelvic physiotherapy can help heal confidently and safely.

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