South Edmonton Location
What will a pelvic floor physiotherapist do?
The first pelvic floor physiotherapy appointment is 60 minutes and mostly conversation about bladder, bowel and pain symptoms, followed by assessment of posture, breathing and abdominal function. An internal examination may be offered; it needs your explicit consent and can be declined at any point.
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The appointment, honestly
A pelvic floor physiotherapist takes a detailed history covering bladder, bowel and pain symptoms, assesses posture, breathing and abdominal function, and may offer an internal examination to assess muscle tone and strength. Internal assessment always requires your consent and can be declined.
The first pelvic floor appointment is 60 minutes and most of it is conversation. Your physiotherapist will ask detailed questions about bladder and bowel habits, pain, sexual function, pregnancy and birth history, and what you are trying to get back to. The questions are specific because vague answers do not lead anywhere useful.
After that comes an external assessment — posture, breathing, abdominal wall, hips, and how you manage pressure through your trunk. A surprising amount of pelvic floor work happens above the pelvis.
About the internal examination
An internal vaginal or rectal examination is the most reliable way to assess pelvic floor muscle tone, strength and coordination. It is offered because it gives better information than any external test, not because it is mandatory.
It requires your explicit consent. You can decline it at the start, change your mind partway through, or ask to defer it to a later appointment once you know the clinician. Declining does not mean you cannot be treated — it means the assessment relies on external findings and your reported symptoms instead. Nobody should make you feel that consenting is the price of being helped.
What treatment involves
- Pelvic floor muscle training, which is often about relaxing rather than squeezing
- Breathing and pressure management through the trunk
- Bladder and bowel habit retraining
- Manual therapy, internal or external, where muscle tone is a factor
- Graded return to lifting, running or intimacy, depending on your goals
Who it is for
Pelvic floor physiotherapy is not only for women after childbirth. It is used for urinary and bowel leakage, urgency, prolapse symptoms, pelvic pain, painful intercourse, recovery after prostate surgery, and persistent pelvic pain in any gender.
Related questions
What will a pelvic floor physiotherapist do?
Take a detailed bladder, bowel and pain history, assess posture, breathing and abdominal function externally, and may offer an internal examination to assess muscle tone and strength. Treatment then targets what the assessment finds.
Do they finger you during pelvic floor therapy?
An internal vaginal or rectal examination using a gloved finger may be offered, because it assesses muscle tone and strength more reliably than external testing. It always requires your explicit consent, and you can decline it or stop at any point without affecting the rest of your care.
What happens at your first pelvic floor appointment?
The first visit is 60 minutes, mostly history-taking, followed by an external assessment of posture, breathing and the abdominal wall. Internal assessment is discussed and offered, never assumed.
Is pelvic floor physiotherapy painful?
Assessment may reproduce familiar symptoms but should not be sharply painful. Tell your physiotherapist immediately if it is, and the approach will be changed.
Do I have to have an internal examination?
No. It gives the most accurate assessment, but it is always optional and only done with informed consent. A great deal can be assessed and treated externally. Say what you are comfortable with at the start.
Can men see a pelvic floor physiotherapist?
Yes. Pelvic pain, post-prostate-surgery leakage and bowel issues in men are all treated. Vertex has a dedicated page on pelvic floor physiotherapy for men.
Is it awkward?
Less than most people expect. Everything is explained beforehand, the room is private, and you can stop at any point. Bringing a support person is fine.
Talk to a physiotherapist in Edmonton
Vertex Physiotherapy is at 6958 76 Ave NW #205, Edmonton, AB T6B 2R2. Call (825) 525-2852 or book online, and we will match you with a physiotherapist who works with this regularly.