Kathy Kates, Nurse Practitioner, offers Pelvic Health Treatments for women at Om Namo Center. Her own experiences with pelvic discomfort led her to explore myofascial release for the pelvis. She shares her story in our blog this month:
After breast cancer treatment, I now had significant pelvic pain during sex. WHAT!? I had endured multiple rounds of chemotherapy, seven surgeries, surgical menopause…and now this?
Being a family nurse practitioner, running a sexual and reproductive health program at a local community health center, I did multiple pelvic exams, IUD insertions, even colposcopies and endometrial biopsies on a daily basis. However, my extensive medical training included only cursory information about the pelvic floor; what should I do?
Thank God for my own wonderful nurse practitioner. After a thorough exam, she kindly and gently explained that the trauma of what had happened to my body along with surgical menopause had caused significant tightening of my pelvic floor muscles. She handed me a list of pelvic floor physical therapists; pointing out one practice in particular on that list; a myofascial release healing center.
That was one of the hardest phone calls I have had to make. This is a difficult issue to talk about as a patient. Through the guidance of gentle myofascial therapists, I learned that our internal pelvic floor muscles need attention too. It’s no different than when patients seek out physical therapy for a strained shoulder or back.
My own treatment was helping! I wondered if I could bring this type of therapy to my community health center? I wanted to create an environment for both patient and provider to feel comfortable talking about the pelvic floor.
I was fortunate enough to be awarded a grant which I called, “Bringing Awareness of the Pelvic Floor into Primary Care”. My approach to pelvic health is multifactorial; myofascial release, (as a student of John Barnes), biomechanical (as a student of Santosh) and mindful (as a student of Sally). I now offer Pelvic Health appointments at Om Namo Center, and am so grateful to bring this healing to women at all stages of life.
Learn more about treatments with Kathy.
