When it comes to pelvic floor recovery and rehabilitation, finding the right physical therapist can make all the difference. Moms of the Indianapolis area – look no further! We had the opportunity to sit down with Amy Robinson, the passionate leader behind Restore Your Core Physical Therapy – located in Carmel, Zionsville, and Greenwood. This physical therapy practice is dedicated to helping patients regain strength, mobility, and confidence. In our interview, Amy shared insights into the clinic’s approach, what a new patient can expect, and what sets Restore Your Core PT apart from other practices.
Tell us about Restore Your Core PT and what services you offer your patients.
“Restore Your Core PT is a specialty boutique practice that serves adults, teens, and tweens. We specialize in pelvic health diagnoses, but we treat the whole person, as the pelvic floor does not function in isolation. We evaluate and treat bladder and bowel issues and sexual dysfunction, issues during pregnancy and postpartum, birth preparation, period-related pain, infertility, scar-related dysfunction, and many other things. We also evaluate and treat orthopedic diagnoses as well as there is often an underlying pelvic floor issue that has not been diagnosed, causing symptoms to persist, such as tailbone pain, low back pain, SI (sacroiliac) joint pain, and unexplained abdominal pain.”
What can a new patient expect for their first appointment with Restore Your Core?
“Patients can expect to walk into a comfortable clinic environment that is like sitting in a friend’s living room. Patients are evaluated and treated in private treatment rooms, allowing for an open and honest conversation about their symptoms. Their physical therapist will complete a thorough head-to-toe evaluation. The pelvic floor exam is often not completed during the first session because so many other things need to be addressed before addressing the pelvic floor. We only complete a pelvic exam after education and if the patient is 100% in agreement. We give our patients time to tell their stories, complete a thorough examination, and initiate individualized treatment.”
Pelvic Floor Therapy is a common therapy that moms are interested in learning more about! What conditions can be treated or improved with pelvic floor therapy?
- Leaking with coughing, laughing, sneezing, lifting, and jumping running
- Urinary urgency – think, “gotta go right now!”
- Pelvic organ prolapse
- Low and mid back pain
- SI joint pain
- Rib dysfunction
- Neck and shoulder pain
- Foot pain
- Diastasis recti
- Painful sex, decreased or absent orgasm
- Period related pain
What are the different techniques or exercises involved in pelvic floor therapy?
“Every single patient gets individualized exercises. We use many manual therapy techniques, including myofascial release, visceral mobilization, nerve mobilization, craniosacral therapy, cupping, dry needling, dry needling with electrical stimulation, biofeedback as indicated, electrical stimulation, and Instrument-Assisted Soft Tissue Mobilization (IASTM). We meet every woman where she is with exercise – helping women get into exercising for the first time, return to moderate and high-level exercise, and we even help very elite athletes such as collegiate and professional athletes.”
How long does it typically take to see results from pelvic floor therapy?
“Every person and diagnosis differs, so it can take six to 16 weeks to see changes and meet all goals. Pain is one of the last symptoms to arrive and one of the first to go away, but we always say proper treatment involves removing one layer of the onion at a time to get to the root cause, which allows for long-term resolution of symptoms. It takes six to 12 weeks to build muscle and coordination. We often initially see patients weekly in their plan of care and then decrease to every other week as they get closer to achieving their goals.”
About Dr. Amy Robinson, PT, DPT, PRPC, CLT, WHNC
