My last webinar on management of persistent pelvic pain ended with a brief discussion of pelvic health tools, and I received a lot of questions! Where to find them, how to best use them, and even a couple “What the heck is that thing?” Read on to get a more in-depth look at each of these tools mentioned in the webinar. This will be a two-part blog to cover all the awesome categories of pelvic health tools. Please remember that this information is for educational purposes and we recommend talking with your physician or physical therapist before implementing any of these tools as a part of a complete pelvic health regimen.

Dilators

Dilators can be used for diagnoses such as vaginismus, dyspareunia, and for training tissues after gender-affirming surgeries. These can be purchased as a set, or by individual size. The idea behind progressing from a small size to a larger size dilator fits right into what we know about pain, graded exposure, and habituation of tissues (check out our blogs on pelvic pain and persistent pain). I encourage my clients to use these tools alone at first, to determine the best methods to allow for relaxing and gentle stretching of the pelvic floor. Once more comfortable with their regimen, I recommend bringing their partner into the mix and making dilators part of intimacy or foreplay, if penetrative sex is their goal. This tool can also help with desensitizing tissues after pregnancy and birth, especially if healed from an episiotomy or tear.

Pelvic Wands

For individuals struggling with persistent pelvic pain and tension, pelvic wands can help relax trigger points (i.e. painful or tight knots in the muscle) both internally and externally. They often come with ergonomic curves to help you reach those hard-to-reach places, which can help reduce reliance on a partner for assistance. Some can be warmed or cooled to a preferred temp, while others can vibrate to provide even more relaxation to the tissues when working through tight muscles and painful areas of the pelvic floor. Wands can also be a good introduction to dilating, with tapered ends and alternative sizing. A company that I often recommend to my clients is Intimate Rose (a brand started by a DPT!). This company does a wonderful job with explaining a lot of the science behind their tools, and I appreciate that the tools are less bland and clinical. Who doesn’t love fun colors?

Pelvic Floor Muscle Stimulators and Sensors

It’s not often that I will recommend these tools, as my goal as a pelvic health PT is to help your neuromusculoskeletal systems work to know when to squeeze and when to relax on their own! Using tools like these can help increase awareness of pelvic floor tension, add to your own efforts to contract and relax, and give your pelvic floor muscles something to squeeze against. Sensors like Empi will do a great job of telling you when the local activity of your pelvic floor increases from resting tone, but they can’t really help you discern when you are fully relaxed. Stimulators take out the middleman (you) and send electrical signals to the muscle to contract. Many come with pre-programmed settings that promise to “cure incontinence” and “make your O mind blowing!” but really, unless you are looking at the whole picture of your pelvic health, they will not change anything on their own! 

Breath & Movement

Being a physical therapist, OF COURSE I have to talk about the importance of breath and movement as tools for pelvic health! Check out our blog on the connections between thoracic spine mobility, pelvic floor movement, and the breath to learn more.

If you’ve been searching for a pelvic health tool, check out intimaterose.com/MALERIE for $5 off your order. I receive no compensation from the brand, I just reached out and told them I recommend their products all the time! Other great resources include Desert Harvest (lots more on this company in part 2 of this blog!) Amazon, and I’ve even seen tools on the shelves at places like Walgreens or CVS.