I Went To My First Women's Health Physical Therapy Appointment, Here's What Happened

Originally published: October 23, 2018 | Updated October 15, 2026

Pelvic floor physical therapy can be a sensitive subject. Here is my experience with my first pelvic floor physical therapy appointment for pelvic floor tightness and urinary incontinence that I couldn’t blame on having babies, because I haven’t had any.

The Day of My Appointment

I felt nauseous all day after writing my first blog post about my upcoming women’s health physical therapy appointment on Monday evening. It was at 5:30 pm, so that left approximately ten(ish) hours of feeling seen, vulnerable, and afraid.

I’m learning it’s not just the fact that my sexual and private organs need help I can’t give them on my own that causes the discomfort. It’s mixed with some weird form of SHAME.

I put that word in all caps because it’s a violent word in the feminine language. Shame is something that I have continued to lean into, and feel like all of us women benefit from getting curious about shame. I highly recommend the work of Brené Brown, because she talks about shame in such a gentle, non-triggering way.

I’m no stranger to trying to avoid discomfort. In fact, I’m the girl who, when watching a rom-com where the lead character is about to do something you KNOW is going to ruin her relationship, life, or friendship, actually has to turn the TV off for a minute and gather herself (or cover her eyes for prolonged periods of time if watching with someone else).

So when it comes to personal experiences and my own shame gremlins, I’m not that adept at shining light on them. It’s why I procrastinated writing the first blog post, and why I’ve had this blog for two years and am just now sharing my story.

Yet I’m winning the war, even if each day is a battle toward uncovering the more authentic version of myself. Against it all, I’m making a choice to be seen in words, pictures, and stories.

Back to the day of my appointment: I was a hot mess all day at work. I texted one of my best PT friends all day; she also happens to be a women’s health therapist and encouraged me to make an appointment at the beginning of this year (but of course, I put it off…)

At work, I had to pry myself out of the bathroom when I really wanted to stay in there for hours, safe within four walls, unable to be seen.

All day, I tried to make eye contact and smile, although I didn’t have it in me most of the time. Those shame gremlins tried hard to control me, but I was still going to that appointment.

I listened to The Power of Vulnerability by Brené Brown on audiobook and shed a few tears driving from school to school as my job as a school based pediatric physical therapist, trying to borrow some bravery from Brené in the quiet moments by myself.

Those tears lifted the heavy weight I had been carrying and didn’t know how to get rid of.

The Appointment

My appointment came at 5:30pm, and I only got semi-lost once (because ya know my nervous system was on over-drive). Once I got to the clinic, I met Amanda, and immediately noticed that she was warm and confident and explained everything to me upfront before any clothes were removed.

She gave me the power to control the evaluation, which I didn’t know I could have and desperately needed.

When given the option, I opted for both the external and internal exam because I wanted as much information as possible, and I was already there right? Might as well go all in.

The external exam was similar to any ortho physical therapy experience, she tested my hip/core strength, the mobility of my joints, and looked at the muscles in my body as a whole to see if anything else wasn’t working well that could be contributing my symptoms.

By the time we got to the internal exam, I was comfortable and no longer worried. I was actually more curious than anything about what she was finding. Amanda talked me through everything she was doing and to be honest it was more gentle than any gyno exam I have ever had. It was slower, more thorough, and she noted everything she found.

What the Evaluation Found

In my case, one of the muscles that helps the urethra contract isn’t firing at all, which causes the others to do all the work. The deep layers of my pelvic floor have at least three knots in them. They felt slightly uncomfortable to be pushed on, but Amanda pushed of them only briefly to gather information, so it didn’t cause any lingering pain.

I have a really hard time relaxing my pelvic floor, which prior to this appointment I didn’t even know was a thing. My muscles stay at about a ‘third floor’ level instead of ‘ground-floor’ level, which should be the normal position of a relaxed pelvic floor.

This means the muscles can’t relax and then can’t function/move through their full range, which results in problems in the pelvic floor (tightness: discomfort with some sexual positions, urinary urgency, urinary incontinence, bowel incontinence, constipation, etc).

My tailbone and sacrum could use some good joint stretching since they don’t move that well (yep, your joints in all parts of your body can get too tight, too), which further adds to my tightness.

My bladder doesn’t move side to side in equal amounts, showing that it’s bound down in some areas, which we can fix (yay!).

In fact, all my issues are “fixable,” if you will, with some work on my part and some manual therapy and education from Amanda.

My Homework

I was given a piriformis stretch and an obturator internus stretch (both done sitting), since those muscles work in coordination with my pelvic floor. I’m doing them twice a day for 30 seconds on each side.

My other homework is to do a pelvic floor contraction (kegel) when I feel the urge to go, and to pull my pants down slowly and with control. The goal is to turn the tide from my bladder controlling me to me controlling my bladder.

This increases my “bladder fullness tolerance level,” an imaginary line each person has, and it can be changed!

I’m also supposed to do a pelvic floor contraction if I feel the urge to go while I’m sleeping, because “anyone under 60 should not have to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night.” Saaaaay what? Mind blown. For those who want access to all the exercises I was given for bladder incontinence, Amanda has created a full online course around it called The Bladder Blueprint, which you can get access to here.

The First Night and the Morning After

Last night, I was able to hold off the urge to pee twice while sleeping, but by the third time I think I was more annoyed than anything and went. The stretches are simple and straightforward.

This morning, I feel freer and more hopeful than I have in a long time. Writing my story, while uncomfortable at first, is something I’m the most proud of.

I know that one appointment won’t fix everything, so I have a full plan of care (what us physical therapists call the healing journey), but Amanda was up front that I was looking at an average of 6 visits if things move quickly or up to 12 visits if things move a little slower. I am okay if we go over 6 visits, because I don’t want to feel overwhelmed in this journey at all.

I ignored my symptoms for more than 12 weeks, so it would make total sense that it might take longer than 6 weeks to fix it. If it took longer than 12 weeks, which Amanda said is unlikely, it wouldn’t be that crazy to me, since the problem has been going on for at least a year.

More Than Healing a Few Muscles

This journey is sacred because it deals with shame, guilt, fear, and a lot of “I am not enough,” in the strangest way possible. It’s wild that a muscle in my body provides so much material for my emotional experience, often in the most negative of ways. It could be that society encourages all women to be really careful about sharing any experience with our bodies, but ladies—they’re just muscles.

It’s okay to be terrified, but it’s not okay to not get help if your muscles are causing problems. To be honest, I’m still figuring out how all the puzzle pieces come together…

What I do know is that spending the time to turn each puzzle piece over, look at it closely, put one down to pick up another, and try again until the picture becomes clearer is what makes this journey more about healing a person than it ever was about healing a few muscles.

About the Author

Dr. Lauren Baker holds her Doctorate in Physical Therapy and Certification in Manual Therapy from The University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences. She has built a thriving career while navigating the unique challenges as a military spouse, including serving as an adjunct professor in the DPT curriculum, owning multiple successful cash-based mobile pediatric physical therapy practices, and authoring multiple books on baby development and pediatric physical therapy for both parents and healthcare providers. She now focuses on empowering proactive parents through her books, website, and YouTube channel @drlaurenbaker.