Pelvic Health Blog

What's new: cupping therapy

6/22/2018

By Bryn Zolty, PT

Cupping therapy has added another element of therapeutic release for our patients at Connect PT. Cupping has been around for over 3500 years in ancient Egyptian and Chinese Medical texts. It is a method of placing or sliding cups on various body parts using heat or suction to create a negative pressure to mobilize the tissue.

Its proposed treatments include a wide range of ailments, such as improving lymph drainage, improving blood flow, decreasing pain, and even drawing out infections.

Our therapists use one of the more gentle methods, gliding cupping, as a way of decompressing the soft tissues with lotion/oil to increase motion and decrease pain. A patient can feel gentle suction, stretching, or slow gliding of the cup. This is unlike the prolonged, static placement of the cups, as performed on some Olympic athletes. Our patients benefit by: increasing blood flow and removal of stagnant blood, softening/releasing scar tissue and adhesions, releasing trigger points and "muscle knots", improving tissue mobility/flexibility, and relaxing muscles. We have had success using cupping therapy with many conditions, like low back pain, pelvic pain, hip pain, stuck scars, constipation, and much more!

Sample Case Study: Pubic Symphysis Separation

11/9/2011

Patient: 25-year-old female teacher
Chief complaint: 6/10 low back pain and pubic pain from 7 months ago after delivering second child naturally; right leg pain started after fall down the stairs couple of weeks ago
Past Medical History: Bed rest during pregnancy, pubic symphysis separation during and after pregnancy, walking with the use of a walker for 2 weeks post-partum
Treatment: Gentle core muscle strengthening, ergonomic instruction on proper bending and lifting techniques for childcare, manual therapy to trunk and pelvic restrictions, trunk and leg stretching, sacroiliac belt fitting, postural education, and correction for abdominal diastasis (separation of abdominal muscles during pregnancy
Results: 2/10 low back pain, and 1/10 pubic pain after 6 physical therapy visits

Did You Know: Exercise's Lesser Known Impact

10/30/2011

People who exercise greater than 1 hour per week have a lower risk of neck, back, and shoulder pain, as demonstrated by a recent article published in the American Journal of Epidemiology (June ’11).

Exercise, Low Back Pain, Neck and shoulder pain

What does low back pain and urinary incontinence have in common?

10/14/2011

Urinary incontinence is defined as the involuntary loss of urine. The urethra is the tube that carries urine to the outside of the body. The factors that must be present for stability in the low back and pelvic girdle are also required to close the urethra properly. These include:

Proper function of bones, joints, and ligaments
Proper function of muscles and fascia
Proper motor control (timing)

A recent multi-centered study in Holland found that 52% reported low back pain with pelvic dysfunction (difficulty voiding of urine or stool, incontinence, and/or sexual dysfunction). Of the 52%, 82% reported that symptoms began either with low back pain or pelvic pain. Physical therapy can help both of these conditions by restoring joint mobility, correcting alignment, restoring timing of the stabilizing muscle system, and retraining functional motions.

(Stress Urinary Incontinence: A Consequences of Failed Load Transfer Through the Pelvis? by Dianne Lee, BSR, FCAMT, CGIMS & Linda-Joy Lee BSc, BSc(PT), FCAMT)

BLOG

What's new: cupping therapy

Sample Case Study: Pubic Symphysis Separation

Did You Know: Exercise's Lesser Known Impact

What does low back pain and urinary incontinence have in common?

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