How'd I Get Here?

Hi! My name is Mariesa. This is officially my first blog post and I would love to start with a ‘Get to know me!’ I am a doctor of physical therapy and a yoga teacher and I specialize in pelvic floor rehabilitation. What is the pelvic floor and how is it part of physical therapy? I get to answer these questions everyday! And I love it! Why would I choose to go into a specialty of physical therapy where I talk and ask about pee, poo, and sexual function all day? And do internal muscle assessments?!

            Well, in physical therapy school we had ONE lecture on the pelvic floor. I was so interested as to why we did not talk more about this area of the body that controls all of our bodily functions and basically is the hammock of muscles that hold us up and supports all the pelvic and abdominal organs. One of my professors once said that the pelvic floor muscles are the smartest muscles in the body- they can tell the difference between solid, liquid, and gas (hopefully) :).  That one line had me thinking about how important this area of the body is and how key the pelvic floor is to our daily and primal functions. Yes, physical therapists all over the world are helping people learn to walk again and help to rehab high-level athletes back to playing their sport. But how about people (meaning most of our population) who don’t know the proper way to have a bowel movement or who can’t hold their bowel movements. What about the mothers after childbirth who cannot have sex anymore due to pelvic pain or the people who have such fierce anal pain that they cannot sit for more than 10 minutes.  What about the people who have been silently suffering due to embarrassment and fear of sharing this information with their healthcare provider? I get the opportunity to support these people! 

It is my hope to spread the word on pelvic health and no longer have these issues feel stigmatized. Pelvic floor rehabilitation has come a long way, but more education for the healthcare field and general population is needed. I am here if you have any questions. No question is stupid in my book. Send me an e-mail if you or a friend are having any sort of symptoms or if you would like more information. 

I am very excited and hopeful for the future of pelvic floor health, and I hope to develop this platform as a way to better educate and spread light onto these important issues. 

Be Well, 

Mariesa