What does a Men’s Health Physio do
So, what the heck does a Men’s Health Physiotherapist do?
A Men’s Health Physiotherapist is a qualified physiotherapist with a special interest and further training in the area of the male pelvic floor. To put it most simply, if it involves your bowels, your erections or your water works (continence), chances are a Men’s Health Physiotherapist can help!
Common areas of concern that men would see a Men’s Health Physiotherapist include
Urinary or faecal incontinence - both stress and urgency related
Pre and Post Prostate Cancer Pelvic Floor training
Post prostate surgery incontinence (‘re-bore’ procedures)
Pelvic pain including in the scrotum, perineum, penis or anus
Pudendal nerve pain (Pudendal neuralgia)
Erectile dysfunction
Frequent urination including overnight
Pyeronie’s disease (curvature of the penis)
Painful urination and/or ejaculation
Exercise advice and prescription for men on Active Surveillance for Prostate Cancer
Exercise advice and prescription for men on ADT (hormone replacement) and/or radiation treatment for Prostate or other cancers.
So how can a Men’s Health Physiotherapist help you? Well we start off with taking a thorough history (when the issue started, previous treatment, medications etc) and meeting you at your story (how does this impact on your life). We then move through to an objective assessment, this might include a movement screen (squat, lower back movements etc) and then often an ultrasound (in-clinic only) of your pelvic floor muscles is performed in the room to assess their function and strength. If a consult is online, we are still able to assess the pelvic floor function, although slightly differently.
Sometimes, an internal assessment may be conducted to assess the deeper pelvic floor muscles. This typically isn’t performed on an initial consultation and would be discussed in advance.
From this a treatment plan is formulated. This might include increasing your general exercise load, specific pelvic floor training, functional pelvic floor training, pelvic floor downtraining (relaxing) and possibly some manual therapy, or instructed self release work, where required.
We understand that these are very sensitive topics and we treat every case with the utmost privacy and respect.
How else can a Men’s Health Physio help me?
Well, some blokes just want to talk to a bloke about bloke stuff! And that’s fine in fact it’s encouraged!. Often exercise is extremely therapeutic for men and getting back to being able to exercise is extremely important for their mental and emotional well being. A Men’s Health Physiotherapist can help guide through pain and/or injury to get you back to what you love doing. Male mental health continues to be a huge challenge in Australia and exercise has been shown to be an effective therapy.
Men’s Health Physiotherapists are also extremely knowledgeable about the male body across the whole lifespan. From when boy’s can start to lift weights, to when they should reduce weights during growth periods and all the way to the hormonal and physical changes a lot of men struggle with during the later years in life. Things such as reduced muscle mass and/or osteoporosis affect a lot of men and a Men’s Health Physiotherapist can help get you back exercising and building muscles up safely.
So, as you can see, if you are having an issue with just about anything physical in your life, chances are we are able to HELP you!
Still unsure as to whether or not we can help you? Shoot me an email tom@menshealth.physio