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I’ve done two rounds of pelvic floor PT. I have pretty significant stress incontinence and had really bad scar tissue after my stitches healed. It’s great they you are going now, I went when my LO was two.

I saw a physical therapist who specializes in pelvic floor issues. She did a lot of scar tissue massage, which resolved my pain issues, and then had me do exercises and bio-feedback. She also did a lot of education about breathing, diet, and training your bladder. It was really worthwhile and definitely worth the money and time.

The second time I did dry needling on my hip muscles and a lot of core work. The dry needling really helped with the stress incontinence and I think the core work helped a lot with my general posture which is connected to the pelvic floor.

I see Mommastrong recommended for Diastasis a lot - it’s a website that costs $2 a month and she has a lot of good education about pelvic floor stuff.

I went to a pelvic floor PT after LO1 - and prob should have gone after LO2. I went once per week for a month, then every other week for another month. Basically I needed to learn how to do the opposite of a kegel

It helped so much - I def recommend it. It was covered by insurance, so it was just finding the time to go (which was hard even though the PT was in my same hospital).

@Boopers: I had no incontinence but did have pain during sex after I recovered from having my baby--basically it felt like I was losing my virginity every time we did it. I went to pelvic floor therapy after being encouraged by @Silva and another woman I know IRL.

I got a recommendation from a co-worker and found a physical therapist who specialized in pelvic floor. I went for an initial visit and talked through the birth and my problems and she checked me out and diagnosed what was going on--basically I had healed a little too tight and that combined with nursing (lack of estrogen=vaginal tissues dry up) combined with a lifetime of involuntarily clenching my abdominal wall/core (my response to stress of any kind) plus the 9-pound vaginal birth was the perfect storm for this pain. I went afterwards for 6 sessions, once a week, where she basically massaged/stretched out my vagina from the inside, which was painful but not awful, and she gave me homework stretches to do (like just basic core/leg stretches, not vaginal stuff). It healed me almost completely, maybe 90%, and then when I weaned the pain went away entirely. I thought it was completely worth the money and effort and I'm glad I did it, and if necessary will do it again after this next birth. I don't have diastasis recti so no work on that front, but I did ask her about it out of curiosity and she said it was a different set of work and harder to correct.

I’m a pelvic floor physical therapist and would be happy to answer any questions or help you find a therapist in your area!

I went before LO. I had pain during sex. Like LCTBQE, I involuntarily held my stress in my pelvic floor muscles without even realizing it. They gave me at home exercises and we used dilators.

I am concerned about you all saying kegels do the opposite. My PT encouraged me to do kegels. I went to PT once a week for 9 months. They 'graduated' me because even though I didn't see progress, I did everything right. It's very frustrating.

@PEACHES1038 mind if i pick your brain about that? I had a C-section in Sept., so birth didn't really make a difference. I still have excruciating pain. Hope this isn't a thread jack. Please feel free to PM me if this isn't the place.

@Boopers all in all, I thought it was worth pursuing even though *I* didn't see progress. You never know until you try. I'm not sure what your insurance covers, but if it's in your budget, I say go for it.

@Boopers: I would call the PT dept. Even if they got your referral, it couldn’t be a long time before they get around to call you. If you call, you’ll likely get in much sooner

@Mademoiselle3: wow! Sorry, I just saw this! I’ll walk you!