#5 - Know More About Your Pelvic Floor | Dr. Gabriela Van Sickle

The Women's Health, Wisdom, and... WINE! podcast is a biweekly conversation with practitioners, providers, patients & healers about complex reproductive medicine & women's health challenges, the value of an integrative approach to these challenges, many of the women's health topics you're already thinking about & uncomfortable talking about & my personal favorite... WINE!

Finding the "right" pelvic floor physical therapist (PFPT) is a daunting task that usually begins with a Google search and a prayer. Advocating for your own care can also be an equally daunting task especially when traditional physical therapy and other modalities have not helped. A potential PFPT should be able to address these 10 questions:

1. Do you specialize in women's health?
2. Do you work with pregnant women?
3. Is your center setup for private assessments?
4. Do you do internal pelvic floor work?
5. What kind of equipment do you use?
6. Do you have experience with ___? 
7. What kind of success rate do you have treating ___?
8. What would I be doing in a session?
9. How often would I be expected to see you? For how long?
10. How will this treatment affect my fitness routine?

About our guest:
When Dr. Gabriela was in high school, she went to physical therapy (PT) for an injury that kept her from horseback riding. This was her first exposure to PT and she went back to the same PT clinic as a volunteer for the summer. She went to Simmons College in Boston because of an accelerated PT program so she did 3 years of college and went right into the 3-year Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) program. She graduated with a Bachelor's degree in exercise science with a minor in psychology and in 2013, received her DPT with Distinction. After graduating, she went to Richmond, VA for a 2-year residency in Functional Manual Therapy, and earned her certification in 2015. After that,  she became interested in pelvic floor and quickly took pelvic health classes and in 2018, became a board certified pelvic health specialist. In 2017, she helped establish the pelvic health program for an outpatient hospital center and also in 2017, she and her husband opened their own private practice in Rockville, Maryland. She specializes in both female and male pelvic floor dysfunction as well as chronic pain and patients who have not done well with traditional physical therapy.

Resources Mentioned:
McBride Sisters Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough

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