Services
Women's Health
Leaking when you laugh, pain that nobody has been able to explain, a back that has not been right since the baby — these are musculoskeletal problems with musculoskeletal treatment, and the evidence for it is unusually strong. Pelvic health physical therapy is private, one-on-one, and a great deal more ordinary than most people expect.
Why SportsCare
Why patients choose SportsCare for pelvic health
Private, one-on-one, unhurried
Pelvic health visits happen in a private treatment room with the same therapist each time. Nothing is done without an explanation first and your consent, and nothing has to be done on the first visit.
Treatment that the evidence backs
Pelvic floor muscle training is the first-line treatment for stress and mixed urinary incontinence in every major guideline, with a Cochrane review finding women were around five times more likely to report cure than with no treatment.
The pool, when land is too much
Our heated therapeutic pool with an underwater treadmill lets you exercise with most of your body weight supported — useful late in pregnancy and early in recovery.
What we treat
Urinary incontinence — stress (leaking with coughing, laughing, running), urge (a sudden need that cannot wait), or both. Urinary frequency and urgency without leaking. Pelvic organ prolapse symptoms. Pelvic pain, including painful intercourse, vulvodynia and vaginismus. Pain and dysfunction with interstitial cystitis, alongside your physician's care. Pregnancy-related back, pelvic girdle and sacroiliac pain. Postpartum recovery, including abdominal separation (diastasis recti) and return to running and exercise. Pain after pelvic or abdominal surgery.
What the evidence says
For stress and mixed urinary incontinence, supervised pelvic floor muscle training is the first-line treatment recommended by NICE and by the American Urological Association, ahead of surgery. A 2018 Cochrane review of 31 trials found women who trained were about five times more likely to report cure and about eight times more likely to report cure or improvement than women who did nothing.
For pregnancy-related pelvic girdle pain, exercise and individualised physical therapy reduce pain and disability. For pelvic pain conditions the evidence is more modest, and we say so — but manual therapy and pelvic floor relaxation training are recommended components of care for many women, and the alternative for most has been no treatment at all.
What a first visit is like
A conversation
Bladder, bowel, sexual and obstetric history, in plain language, in a private room. You decide how much to share and how fast to go.
An external examination
Posture, breathing, the back, hips and abdominal wall. Much of what drives pelvic symptoms is visible from the outside.
An internal examination — only with your consent
An internal pelvic floor assessment gives the most useful information about muscle strength, coordination and tension. It is offered, explained, and entirely optional. Treatment can start without it.
A plan you leave with
Specific exercises — which for many women means learning to relax the pelvic floor, not just to squeeze it — plus bladder habits, positions and load management.
Where it is offered
Pelvic health physical therapy requires therapists with specific post-graduate training and a private treatment space, so it is offered at select SportsCare clinics rather than at every one. Call any clinic and the front desk will direct you to the nearest location with a pelvic health therapist. No referral is needed to start in New Jersey, New York or Florida.
FAQ
Common questions
- Is leaking after childbirth normal?
- It is common, which is not the same as normal. Stress urinary incontinence affects a large share of women after pregnancy and responds well to supervised pelvic floor muscle training — it is the first-line treatment in every major guideline, and most women improve substantially.
- Do I have to have an internal examination?
- No. An internal pelvic floor assessment gives the most precise information and is offered with a full explanation, but it is optional and never done on the first visit without your consent. Treatment can begin from an external assessment.
- Can I come during pregnancy?
- Yes, at any stage. Pelvic girdle pain, low back pain and preparing the pelvic floor for birth and recovery are common reasons to come, and exercise in pregnancy is safe and recommended for most women. Tell your obstetric provider you are attending.
- Do you treat men for pelvic floor problems?
- Pelvic floor dysfunction affects men too — after prostate surgery in particular. Ask when you call; availability depends on the therapist's training at each clinic.
Sources
The clinical claims on this page are drawn from the following. Where the evidence is limited, we say so above rather than round it up.
- 1.Pelvic floor muscle training versus no treatment, or inactive control treatments, for urinary incontinence in women — Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2018
- 2.Urinary incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse in women: management (NG123) — National Institute for Health and Care Excellence
- 3.Urinary incontinence — treatment — NHS
Talk to a therapist about women's health
Availability varies by clinic. Call the location nearest you and the front desk will tell you whether it is offered there and whether it suits your condition — or reach our East Hanover office at (973) 887-0115.
64 clinics across New Jersey, New York and Florida.