Endometriosis Surgery Recovery with Pelvic Floor PT
Part 3 of our Endometriosis Series: Recovery from Surgery
In case you missed it:
Part 1: What is Endometriosis and How Can Pelvic Floor PT Help?
Part 2: Preparing for Endometriosis Surgery
Our pelvic floor PTs help many patients through their endometriosis journey, from initial diagnosis by your doctor, to management of your symptoms, preparation for excision and recovery from surgery. If you’re currently waiting for a surgery date or if you’re preparing for your excision, check out our blog post on “Preparing for Endometriosis Surgery with Pelvic Floor PT” first!
Endometriosis Resources: A fantastic online resource is Nancy’s Nook, where you can find a lot of up-to-date information and lists of endometriosis specialists in your area. If you are in Boston or New England, the Greater Boston Endo Support Group is also an incredible local resource!
After your Endometriosis Excision Surgery:
We are so excited to welcome you back to pelvic floor therapy after your endometriosis surgery!
Endometriosis is very complex and individuals may have many different symptoms, so each operation can be very different depending on where the endometriosis is found. Each surgeon will have specific recommendations for when to return to activity, strengthening, and internal pelvic floor release, so be sure to ask prior to scheduling.
At Foundations Pelvic Health, we also offer virtual visits! This can be so helpful for patients who are post-op and may not be ready for anything hands-on, but have questions about their recovery and progress.
Your First Post-op Pelvic Floor Therapy Visit:
At your first visit after your surgery, we will do a full re-assessment and will have lots of questions for you, such as:
How are you feeling?
Do any specific movements bother you?
How is sleeping?
How is getting on/off the couch or your bed?
Is anything causing you pain now?
How are your scars feeling?
How are your bladder and bowels feeling?
We want to check in with you about how you’ve been feeling and what your new goals are. We’ll dive into the details of pain management, bladder-related symptoms, bowel health, current activity levels, and sexual health. We will also review your surgical notes to see where endometrial tissue was found and removed.
Based on your symptoms, we’ll assess:
Posture
Abdominal muscular or fascial tension
Overall strength
Core activation
Scar mobility and sensitivity
Mobility and movement
Pelvic Floor Therapy Treatment Plan
From your assessment, we will form an updated plan of care for you to reach your new goals. We focus on reducing overall pain levels to assist with returning to school/work, increasing movement to limit scar adhesions, and building up your overall strength.
Our plan of action may include:
Hands-on Manual therapy
To reduce pelvic floor, low back, abdominal, hip, and lower extremity muscle tightness, soreness or pain
To help with post-surgical scar tissue or adhesion management
Exercise
Core and hip strengthening
Spinal & hip mobility
Stretching
Neuromuscular retraining
Pelvic floor relaxation/lengthening
Improved breathing patterns
Functional movement training
Education
Pain management techniques
Nervous system re-training
Bladder retraining
Improved toileting
Set up of home and work environments
Our pelvic floor physical therapists at Foundations Pelvic Health are an important part of a person’s endometriosis treatment. Whether it’s helping those with endometriosis manage the pain, prepare for surgery or recover after surgery - we are a vital part of your team and can help in so many ways!
Living with endometriosis can be challenging, physically, emotionally and mentally. Your pelvic floor physical therapist at Foundations Pelvic Health will be there with you every step of the way in your endometriosis journey to help you get back to everything you love to do!