Pelvic Floor Exam Procedure

No speculum or other instruments are used during the exam.

Pelvic floor exam procedure.

This part of our physical exam gives us a ton of information. The exam is done with a gloved finger placed in the vaginal or rectal canal. It is our goal here at sarton pt that one day a pelvic floor muscular exam will be standard of care and occur as a standard procedure with every annual physical exam. Pelvic floor exams should be standard of care.

Before the exam the doctor or nurse practitioner will ask the person to take off their clothes put on a gown sit on the exam table and cover up with a sheet. Internal techniques to examine the pelvic floor. Providing that there are no reasons not to proceed with an internal exam one will be performed. It helps us determine whether your pelvic floor muscles are tight or weak and if you know how to use them correctly.

Kristin christensen a physical therapist pt who specializes in pelvic floor disorders then brought me back to the exam room. We evaluate the pelvic floor muscles joints ligaments and fascia for strength quality endurance and motor. There is a lot of debate among experts regarding the recommended frequency of pelvic exams. We do not use a speculum and we are not evaluating the reproductive urinary or intestinal systems.

Pelvic exam is a important part of the exam for female patients and important towards making various diagnoses such as yeast vulvovaginitis bacterial vaginosis lichen sclerosis cancers such as cervical cancer anal rectal cancer sexually transmitted infections gonorrhea chlamydia trichomonas syphilis herpes and human papillomavirus and many other diagnoses. During a typical pelvic exam your doctor or nurse may. An internal exam can be done vaginally or rectally for women and rectally for men. For men this is a rectal exam.

Ask you to take off your clothes in private. It also helps us decide if they are a likely contributor to the pain or symptoms you. Pelvic exams are also commonly performed during pregnancy. Physical therapy internal exams are different from the pelvic or gynecological exams performed by your medical health practitioner.

The assessment starts with examining the muscles tissues and skin of the thighs buttocks abdomen and pelvic floor externally. We spent the first 20 minutes talking about my history. A pelvic exam often is part of a routine physical exam to find possible signs of ovarian cysts sexually transmitted infections uterine fibroids or early stage cancer.