Deborah Benson - Featured Certified Pelvic Rehabilitation Practitioner

In our weekly feature section, Pelvic Rehab Report is proud to present this interview with newly certified practitioner Deborah Benson PT, MEd, COMT, PRPC

Describe your clinical practice:

I work in an outpatient orthopedically based manual therapy practice, but work largely with chronic pain patients.

How did you get involved in the pelvic rehabilitation field?

I initially became interested when I started having chronic pelvic pain and urinary leakage myself. I had treated everything I knew how to treat, but continued to have problems. I took the Herman and Wallace Pelvic Floor I class and found that pelvic floor muscle over-activity was part of the “missing piece” for treatment of my problems and some my orthopedic patients who had plateaued. Once I started incorporating assessment and treatment of pelvic floor muscle dysfunction, some of my patients became even more functional.

What patient population do you find most rewarding in treating and why?

I find that treating chronic pain patients, especially those with associated pelvic floor symptoms, can be the most frustrating but also the most rewarding to treat. These patients present with very challenging and multifaceted problems, but once the problems are identified and treated the improved pelvic floor muscle function is so rewarding for patients and their quality of life.

If you could get a message out to physical therapists about pelvic rehabilitation what would it be?

If you could get a message out to physical therapists about pelvic rehabilitation what would it be?

Pelvic rehabilitation is much more than evaluating and treating urinary and bowel function symptoms. Pelvic floor muscles are involved in all our daily activities, and poor pelvic floor muscle function is so instrumental in assisting and providing musculoskeletal stability for the spine; we need to incorporate appropriate evaluation and treatment of the pelvic floor muscles to achieve optimal function of the spinal stabilizers.

What motivated you to earn PRPC?

I really wanted to become well versed in the treatment of pelvic floor muscle problems for my patients. The certification was one way to “test my knowledge” and authenticate the achievement.

What role do you see pelvic health playing in general well-being?

Pelvic health is so important for the quality of life for everyone. The pelvic floor is not only important for bowel and bladder function, but also sexual function and spinal stability. Without functional pelvic floor muscles, life can be much more complicated.

Learn more about JDeborah Benson PT, MEd, COMT, PRPC at her Certified Pelvic Rehabilitation Practitioner bio page. You can also learn more about the Pelvic Rehabilitation Practitioner Certification at www.hermanwallace.com/certification.