Why treating both orthopedic and pelvic floor conditions is key

“You need to niche down in business”. This has always felt like a nearly impossible task to me as an orthopedic physical therapist. The body is all connected: how could I possibly specialize in one region, population, or diagnosis and not be doing a disservice to my patients!?

When I started Absolute Kinetics in 2018, I was all in on all things orthopedics. At the time I was even studying to earn my board certification as an orthopedic specialist, which I obtained in 2019. I was well versed in treating vestibular disorders as well, but orthopedics and working with active adults is where AK focused.

Prior to 2020, I was treating patients with neck and back pain, shoulder pain, hip pain, knee pain, and foot and ankle pain. I continued to take continuing education classes focusing on new manual therapy techniques and getting the best results for my orthopedic patients. I had experience with pelvic floor physical therapy as a patient with pelvic pain before graduating PT school, and returned to my own pelvic floor PT after having my first son in November 2019. I became very good at screening my patients for pelvic floor dysfunction and referring them out as needed, which I feel is often missed in most orthopedic clinics.

In August of 2020 I received an email from a new graduate PT who was all in on becoming a pelvic floor physical therapist. Dr. Tyler and I talked - my business was still rebuilding from the pandemic shutdown, and quite honestly, I didn’t have any patients to give her on day one. We would be starting a whole new service and need to build that side of the business from the ground up.

After meeting Tyler, I realized that although I was very good at screening my patients for pelvic floor conditions, there was just SO MUCH I didn’t know pelvic PT could help with. As a PT realizing how little I really knew about pelvic floor PT, I realized there must be so many patients out there dealing with these conditions and having no idea we could help them.

As Tyler’s caseload picked up, and I realized how many back and hip pain patients I was treating who actually had pelvic floor dysfunction, I decided to dive into pelvic floor continuing education courses. My initial thought was “I’ll take one or two courses, just so that I know enough to treat the simple cases and keep Tyler’s schedule open for our more complex patients”. As any pelvic PT can tell you - once you dive into learning about the pelvic floor, it never stops with one course!!

After the move to Memphis I realized it was time to dive into more pelvic floor courses since I no longer have Tyler locally to treat these patients. I also have been seeing more and more the connection between orthopedics and pelvic floor physical therapy. You really can’t have one without the other. The pelvis is the center of it all. Every step you take, forces go through your pelvic floor. Yes, it affects your bowel, bladder, and sexual function. But it also affects how you hold tension in your body, your back, core function, hip function, knees…. the list goes on!

Although we no longer have our Cincinnati location, Dr. Tyler is continuing to serve pelvic health patients with a holistic approach in Cincinnati at Beyond Exercise. I am serving patients locally at our Collierville office, in Ohio, Tennessee, and Mississippi via Telehealth, and through our coaching services. You aren’t just your orthopedic or pelvic floor diagnosis. You are more than just one body region. Your body functions as a whole system, and in order to optimize function, reduce pain, and keep you active and healthy, we need to treat you as a whole person!

If you’re interested in working with one of our therapists, reach out to us at info@absolutekineticspt.com to learn more.

Blog post written by Dr. Alexis Hutchison, PT, DPT, OCS