By Fiona McMahon, PT DPT
This past Friday, I hopped on a double decker bus and made my way up to Boston (Norwood) for a continuing education in pediatric pelvic floor disorders. Physical therapists are required to accumulate a certain amount of course hours a year to maintain their license to practice, but more importantly to continue to grow as a clinician. Pediatric pelvic floor physical therapy, like adult pelvic floor physical therapy is complex and rapidly evolving. Although, I had been trained in pediatric pelvic floor PT at Beyond Basics Physical Therapy, I knew I was in for a weekend of furthering my knowledge and expertise.
First of all, the ride up was beautiful. This time of year New England’s countryside is on fire with the red, yellows, and oranges of fall foliage. I spent until sundown looking out the window to soak up the scenery.
The course itself was fabulous. I think the most powerful part of the course was hearing specific children’s stories of their struggles with bedwetting, constipation, fecal soiling, and incomplete urination. Physical therapy changed their lives. I am not saying this lightly. By helping a child rid his or herself of these extremely embarrassing and isolating conditions, the child is able to return to the activities of play, learning, and adventure, that they were previously unable to experience secondary to embarrassment and fear of bullying.
It is just so important that there are clinicians out there who can treat these disorders and help kids return to their role as children. The need is there. If you are a pediatric healthcare provider and are not sure how to help these kids with bladder and bowel disorders, I implore you to refer to a pediatric pelvic floor physical therapist for an evaluation to see how they can help. You will be directly improving the lives of children. If you are a parent, I urge you to seek out help for you child’s bowel and bladder issues. There really is so much to be done to improve your child’s well-being from a medical and physical therapy aspect. We at Beyond Basics Physical Therapy treat a range of pediatric disorders. Please consider us if your child is suffering from pelvic floor dysfunction.
Photo: Right: Me (Fiona McMahon), and Left: Dawn Sandalcidi PT, RCMT, BCB-PMD instructor of Herman and Wallace: Pediatric Incontinence and Pelvic Floor Dysfunction
