Pelvic physical therapy, while growing, is still not offered in many areas of the country. We often have patients who come from several hours away to seek treatment for chronic constipation. Whether you live in the KC metro area or far from here, we offer an Intensive Bowel Program to treat your chronic constipation.
Treating Bowel Dysfunction
Depending on the severity of their condition, patients may be seen multiple visits weekly, or once weekly. We spend the full time, one on one, using manual therapy, biofeedback therapy with rehabilitative ultrasound or EMG, education, exercise and behavioral management of their condition.
A typical treatment session consists of:
- Myofascial work throughout the trunk, abdomen and lower extremities
- Diaphragmatic breathing and meditation education
- Internal myofascial work to the pelvic floor muscles (this maybe vaginally or rectally)
- Neuro-muscular re-training of the pelvic floor muscles using rehabilitative ultrasound imaging
- Movement pattern retraining
- Diet education
- Bowel education regarding habits and schedule
- Lifestyle modifications relating to diet, sleep, stress, environment
Constipation caused by pelvic outlet dysfunction, or pelvic floor muscle spasm, requires consistent follow through and attention to retrain poor motor patterns and improve tissue compliance. The GI system is controlled by the enteric nervous system which operates primarily from circadian rhythm, routines and habits. It takes a complete, whole person approach to make changes to this system. Diet and exercise are also very important components to improving GI health and overall health. As physical therapists we help educate patients regarding a healthy diet and good exercise habits.
Treating the Whole Person
We have found with our intensive bowel program that patients make lasting changes in a short amount of time. Because we are able to spend significant amounts of time educating, and retraining the pelvic floor and abdominal muscles patients are confident in returning home to maintain the progress they have made. We will have these patients follow up through telehealth or in person, monthly for a few visits to ensure their progress is lasting, and they are able to make life changes to keep their body healthy and happy! 100% of our intensive bowel patients have left with improved bowel frequency, no pain, and management strategies for healthy pooping.
