Do Male Therapists Belong in Pelvic Rehab: Part III

Physical therapist, educator, researcher, and clinical instructor Daniel Kirages, who was mentioned in Do Male Therapists Belong in Pelvic Rehab: Part I, shares his viewpoint from the perspective of his various roles.

“As a male, how did you get involved in pelvic rehab?” This is a question I have been asked countless times and the answer can be pretty simple, I usually say “It’s really not much different than any other musculoskeletal related issue. I’m just not afraid of working below the belt.” Working within the domain of neuro-musculo-skeletal physical therapy offers an endless supply of opportunities. Pelvic rehab is just one subcategory amongst many and this can be further subdivided into several categorizations as well – incontinence, voiding dysfunction, pain, etc. Despite a heavy dose of specialized knowledge necessary for these topics, ultimately we view the patient/client using a similar lens as any neuro-musculo-skeletal condition. This would include the need to examine and intervene for identified deficits in motor coordination, mobility, flexibility, strength, awareness and knowledge. Therefore, all PTs are primed to enter the world of pelvic rehab and they should consider “uploading the mental software” of pelvic specific knowledge by taking courses and finding a mentor to get started.

Being a male within what is typically considered a female related health domain never really bothered me. It just made me witness what a great opportunity it is and how I can be somewhat unique with my practice because there was and still is a need for more male PTs to be involved in pelvic rehab. Early on in my career I would see more females than I do now because our clinic needed the coverage and I wanted to use all aspects of the pelvic related knowledge I acquired. There was never an issue because the patients were willing to work with me; it was not a big deal to them because most of the time a male physician referred them to me in the first place. I would protect myself from any concerns by having a female aide or student be my chaperone in the room. This way a witness was present. It was not a burden on the clinic in any way, and actually the chaperones reported feeling very enlightened about what I do and I believe having a chaperone comforted the patient as well. The male patients I treat are so grateful and many express how they would be uncomfortable with a female therapist although they would go "if they had to". Of course, we as the practitioners know that the care offered by a PT of any gender will be therapeutic and professional, but the patient would not know until they had a positive experience. Some of my patients have avoided going to PT for their pelvic dysfunction until they discovered they can see a male PT. Unfortunate, but true.

The sheer number of people experiencing pelvic health related disorders speaks to the need for competent PTs to help them, but we have competition from urologic nurses, occupational therapists, Pilates instructors, personal trainers amongst others. However, we as PTs are most equipped to serve this population because of our educational backgrounds in manual therapy, exercise physiology, systems physiology and the priceless ability to take time to educate our patients. So the door is open for all of us to get involved and join the world of pelvic rehab which is why I try to make a push to incorporate pelvic rehab topics within entry-level DPT programs. We are making some gains in select programs, but without the PT board exam or the school credentialing agencies seeing value in pelvic rehab it will not change rapidly. The last several years there has been at least one male student applying each semester for a 16-week clinical affiliation with me for a hybrid ortho/male pelvic health experience. As long as there are more PTs offering this exposure to male students we will soon be populating the pelvic rehab world with a bit more testosterone, which can only be a good thing.