Meet Dr. Janet Yiu, pelvic floor physical therapist in the San Francisco Bay Area. With more than 11 years of physical therapy experience, Dr. Janet first became interested in pelvic floor physical therapy when she gave birth to her daughter 5 years ago. She realized then that there was a lack of pelvic floor physical therapists in San Jose, so she went on to open her own clinic, Optimize Pelvic Health.
Dr. Janet helps women with birth preparation and also treats postpartum women. With birth preparation, the goal is to minimize injury to the pelvic floor. For postpartum women, there are a number of symptoms they may experience – such as leakage or prolapse – that are common, but not normal. Dr. Janet helps treat these pelvic floor symptoms so that women can return to their usual activity.
Here’s a Q&A I did with Dr. Janet to learn more about pelvic floor physical therapy.
A: Anyone with a pelvis!! Pelvic floor physical therapy can help anyone with low back/pelvic/sacrum pain, painful intercourse, urinary or fecal incontinence, and/or prolapse. I work mostly with pregnant and postpartum women. However, you don’t have to be pregnant or postpartum to experience these types of symptoms.
A: A pelvic floor physical therapist is THE specialist in the muscles of the pelvic floor, so expect an internal pelvic floor assessment. I conduct an overall assessment of the body since other body regions impact the pelvic floor. I also specialize in balancing the stress nervous system and how the organs refer pain, so expect an assessment in those areas during sessions with me.
A: First, get body alignment and posture re-established. During pregnancy, posture changes to accommodate for the growing baby. However, that can lead to back and pelvic pain. Start by walking. Walking should be pain free, without leaking and/or feeling of heaviness in the pelvis. Progressive strength training is great for postpartum recovery. Car seats, strollers and your baby are HEAVY!
A: Typically pelvic floor physical therapy is covered under out of network benefits. This allows the physical therapist to spend the entire duration of the treatment session, approximately 1 hour, working with the patient. Being out of network, allows the physical therapist and patient to work together without limitations from in network insurance.
A: My office is located at the following address in San Jose:
750 N. Capitol Ave. Suite B-8
San Jose, CA 95133
I have worked with patients as far as Dublin, Gilroy and Menlo Park.
Dr. Janet also provided me with this interesting tidbit: 90% of low back pain is correlated to pelvic floor dysfunction. Stress response and anxiety directly impacts the pelvic floor.
Thank you, Dr. Janet for this useful information about pelvic floor therapy! Learn more about Dr. Janet’s pelvic floor physical therapy in the San Francisco Bay Area by visiting her physical therapy website or following her on Instagram.
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