For the last few months, Herman & Wallace's team of Item Writers have been plugging away at writing the questions and answers that will appear on the multiple-choice certification exam for Pelvic Therapy Practitioner Certification (PTPC). We needed 450 items in the item bank in order to move onto the next step of exam development, and are so excited to announce that, today, we hit 400 items! That means, we have only 50 items to go!

In August, our team of Subject Matter Experts will meet to go through the 450 items to edit them for clarity, accuracy and convention. This is one of the final steps (prior to beta-testing the items after review) before we launch the exam!

Once the first offering of the exam is announced, H&W will be making study guides and other materials available.

The PTPC exam will be multiple-choice and contain 150 questions. Questions will relate to pelvic floor dysfunction in men and women throughout the life cycle. The 150 questions will relate to 8 domains, based on the Test Blueprint created from the Job Task Analysis. The chart below lists the domains, the general percentage of content in the exam for that domain, and the approximate number of test questions pertaining to the given domain.

Those who want to start preparing can review their anatomy and physiology of the pevic floor. Herman & Wallace Pelvic Floor series courses will be the most relevant to the exam, but all courses offered by the Institute cover important aspects of pelvic rehab. Online courses are also an excellent way to review concepts, particulary Functional Applications of Pelvic Rehab Part A and Part B.

Be sure to review information related to pelvic floor in men and women of all ages, as this exam fills the void left by other specializations that focus solely on women's pelvic floor dysfunction, ilke the WCS exam offered by the APTA.

We are so excited to soon be finished with Item Writing and to move on to item reviewing next month. We are even more excited to be able to offer therapists the ability to distinquish themselves with PTPC to show their expertise in treating pelvic floor dysfunciton!

Fecal transplants have been in the medical news lately as the Food and Drug Administration attempts to standardize the procedure. The procedure is also known as a fecal microbiota transplantation, or FMT. If this is a new topic to you, here's how it works:  a patient who has bowel dysfunction transfers stool from another personinto their own body. The burning question most people have when they first hear about this is: "How?"  The transplantation can be completed, according to this Mayo clinic article, through a nasogastric tube, nasojejunal tube, upper tract endoscopy, colonoscopy, or a retention enema. Before you think you would never choose this procedure, consider the evidence and the dire consequences of severe bowel dysfunction. The evidence for cure or recovery from bowel dysfunction requiring hospitalization is as high as 90%. The potential consequences of severe infection or conditions such as colitis can include disability, colon removal, progression to cancer, or even death.

The most common indication in the literature at this time for a fecal transplant is chronic c-difficile infection, described in this MedScape article. People have even figured ways to DIY (do-it-yourself) when it comes to stool sharing. There is a website called the "Power of Poo" that is dedicated to increasing public awareness of the procedure. Clearly this is a topic that, if you have not yet heard about it from your patients or friends, you soon will. If you would like to learn more about the procedure, check out the links provided within this report, or click here for a great Q & A with Dr. Brandt about fecal transplants.

Herman & Wallace has also put together a comprehensive Prolapse/Colorectal Care resource for therapists treating fecal incontinence patients, complete with evaluation forms, patient questionnaires, and education materials.

Although exercise is critical for pregnant women (just as it is for everyone), few receive the appropriate amount of exercise.  This may seem intuitive, but physical symptoms of pregnancy often are a barrier to physical activity for women.

A recent Research Report article published in The Journal of Women's Health - Physical Therapy, titled “The Impact of Symptom Type and Frequency on Activity Level During Pregnancy,” studying the daily records of physical activity for “sedentary women with a history of preeclampsia,” discusses how maternal weight and gestational age affect activity levels.  For example, women who are already over-weight have lower activity levels during pregnancy.  Similarly, the further along the baby is, the less likely the mother is to be physically active.  Women, after week 28, have the greatest reduction in physical activity.

This is problematic because a healthy mom is crucial for both the health of the mother and the health of the baby.  Furthermore, symptoms like fatigue and backache decrease among more active moms.  Gestational diabetes and cardiovascular disease are less likely among active moms as well.  Over-exercise can be detrimental as well; however, the numbers of women over-exercising during pregnancy is negligible compared to the majority, who are under-active during pregnancy.  Often, these physiological problems persist after pregnancy.

Therefore, the challenge for therapists is to find a way to educate their pregnant patients about the importance of physical activity during pregnancy as well as give them advice on how to implement an active lifestyle within their daily routine. H&W recently expanded our courses on pregnant, peripartum, and postpartum patient care to help therapists when they treat these patients.  Check out the following events on the horizon in the coming months:

Care of the Pregnant Patient
Winter Park, FL.  Sept. 21-22, 2013

Care of the Postpartum Patient 
Akron, OH.  Aug. 17-18, 2013

Peripartum Special Topics
San Diego, CA.  Oct. 5-6, 2013

Despite the fact that millions of men and women experience pelvic floor dysfunction, it is often and incorrectly considered a “women’s health issue” and pelvic rehabilitation is often thought to be the province of Women’s Health physical therapists.  Information about pelvic rehabilitation is often couched in language that revolves around perinatal and elderly female patients, while ignoring men, athletes, and teens.

For example, both male and female athletes can be frequent sufferers of pelvic floor dysfunction, as a by-product of the extreme stress high level performance takes on their bodies, often linked to sports hernia and femoroacetabular impingement.

This year, Herman & Wallace is introducing a new course which applies a sports medicine approach to treating the pelvic floor and core. Biomechanics of the Hip and Pelvis illustrates how understanding pelvic balance and manual movement therapy are integral to treating and preventing injury.  This course is instructed by Steve Dischiavi, MPT, DPT, ATC, COMT, CSCS, who is the PT for the Florida Panthers hockey team and is applicable to treating all patients: from men to new moms, athletes to the elderly.

H&W faculty instructor, Stacey Futterman, PT, MPT, WCS, BCB-PMD, had this to say about Steve:

“I have known Steve for years and have tremendous respected for his orthopedic and sports medicine skills.  After I took Steve’s course on how to implement the integrated sling systems, I developed therapeutic exercise programs for my clients that were more core and hip focused.  I was amazed when I leaned how I could use the same theories Steve applies with his professional athletes to my pelvic and women’s health clients of all ages.  It’s also a great course to understand body mechanics as it pertains to the hip and pelvis when applying it to exercise.  Clinicians of all disciplines from sports medicine to women's health will enjoy Steve's a dynamic speaking style and wide knowledge base.”

Fellow H&W faculty instructor Pamela A. Downey, PT, DPT, WCS, BCB-PMD, said:

“Steve is an accomplished PT, works with high level athletes (the hockey team here the Panthers) and teaches in the t-DPT at NSU, where I have met him.  He really understands the hip and trunk stabilization and is a manual therapist. He was a very effective speaker, with good labs, excellent slides and media pieces, and genuinely likes to teach.”

H&W is thrilled to be launching this brand new course in 2013. Don’t miss your chance to expand your skill set and approach – register today!

Pudendal Neuralgia (PN) is a neuropathic condition that causes patients to suffer chronic pain or numbness.  Furthermore, PN is often accompanied by fecal incontinence, urinary incontinence, and numbness of the genitalia.  Patients experiencing PN struggle with one of the most difficult nerve conditions and one that affects men and women alike.

Physical therapy has shown itself to be one of the few methods to successfully treat PN.  However, few physical therapists have the knowledge, experience, and skills required.  Recently, Greg Vigna, M.D., J.D. wrote an article for New York Injury News about pudendal neuralgia.  In it, he describes the obstacles facing patients with PN:

"Historically the management of pudendal neuralgia was only available at a select few centers throughout the country. The reasons for this is that pudendal neuralgia was quite rare, often overlooked, and under diagnosed by the medical community. There are only a few doctors in this country who have received the advanced training in the management of this disorder. Even fewer have the advanced surgical training. A great number of physicians do not have a base understanding of the pudendal nerve and are unaware of pudendal neuralgia."

One of the reasons PN is so hard to diagnose, is that the most obvious symptom is intense pain while sitting.  Patients associate the feeling with having a foreign body in your rectum or vagina.  Men often feel pain while ejaculating or develop erectile dysfunction because of PN.

While women are twice as likely to suffer from PN as men, the condition affects people from all walks of life.  PN was termed “cyclists syndrome” by French cyclists.  Prolonged driving and sitting are also common causes.  Young people who participate in sports, such as cyclists, runners, gymnasts, and horseback riders, also can be affected.

For women, PN frequently occurs immediately after childbirth.  Sometimes, the symptoms are temporary.  For others, the condition is not.  Patients with PN notice symptoms of the condition throughout the day.  As a patient’s day progresses, pain generally smarts as a patients activity level rises.  These symptoms are often debilitating.

In August, Herman & Wallace will be offering a course on treating and assessing PN.  Focusing on the pudendal nerve and pelvis, the course is designed to give medical practitioners the skills they need to rehabilitate those suffering from PN.

The course will be taught by Tracy Sher, MPT, CSCS and Loretta J. Robinson, PT, MS.  Tracy is an accomplished pelvic and orthopedic physical therapist, who has presented for the International Pelvic Pain Society and the APTA’s Annual Conference.  Loretta co-authored a paper on PN with Dr. Michael Hibner and has long been regarded as a leader in the field.  Her practice exclusively serves men and women suffering pelvic dysfunction.

Are you guilty of treating the pelvic floor muscles without inspecting the tissues of the vulvar area or perineal area? A recent posting about clinical pearls by Institute faculty member and Pelvic Guru author Tracy Sher got me thinking about this dilemma. How can we avoid treating pelvic muscle trigger points when the patient has a medical condition requiring immediate intervention, and without which, the trigger points do not stand a chance of resolving? The larger picture is that all pelvic rehabilitation providers must be responsible for an increased awareness of medical issues, pelvic-related pathologies, and how to coordinate referrals.

Experienced therapists tend to have strong skills related to referrals and identifying conditions that require the eyes and ears of a medical provider. Less experienced therapists, in my observation and opinion, have the updated information about medical screening and multiple systems involvement, yet lack the clinical experience to develop an efficient pathway to referral and problem solving. What strategies can improve this issue?

Collaborate

There is much to be gained by the patient when therapists of varying experience level share information, and mentor each other. This requires some humility on the part of both therapists involved, and a huge effort on the part of the employing facility as well as the therapists who aim to find time to review charts, discuss difficult cases, or request that another therapist assess the complex patient. Many sites do not have more than one therapist. What about forming a local study group with the assistance of the the APTA Section on Women's Health, or simply contacting area pelvic rehab providers and doing a quarterly dinner and education session at neighboring clinics? The first response I usually hear is that therapists are in "competition" with these clinics, and that collaboration would be a negative thing. I reject that thought, professionally and personally, as there is plenty of pelvic rehab work to go around, especially with the lack of awareness within the community of our services. Check out this poignant blog post about collaboration.

Consult

Request the opinion of the referring provider whenever possible. Developing a strong relationship with providers is paramount to delivering excellent care. Physicians in this day and age are under severe pressure for being accurate and efficient, and when approached with respect, may develop a habit of seeking your opinion when the patient's condition is perplexing. Likewise, when you have a question or concern, he or she will create time to field the question. Is it possible to invite a referring provider to speak to a group of therapists, or to invite a provider to attend a pelvic rehab lecture with you?

Continue to Learn!

Take a course in medical screening. If you have not taken DPT level courses, what about taking an on-line course in the topic? Or purchase some of the amazing texts from authors including William Boissonnault or Catherine Goodman? Being able to ask the right questions or to communicate effectively about a concern can boost our confidence when contacting providers or when documenting concerns. (I still find myself saying things such as "....there is this odd bump located here and it feels like this...") yet if I can research some options for what that bump would feel like if it were a cyst, a lymph node, a hemorrhoid, etc, then I can discuss with more clarity the true concerns that I have.

Now back to the looking part. Sometimes, looking at the vulvar area or around the male genital area feels uncomfortable for either the therapist, the patient, or for both parties. This issue is the responsibility of the pelvic rehab provider to address. The phrase "fake it 'til you make it" comes to mind, because it is completely acceptable to simply take a deep breath, smile, and pretend to be a little more comfortable than you feel inside; the comfort level will come with practice. If your attitude is "I don't need to see what is going on," well, you are incorrect. What you might find is a lump, a rash, a cut, a bruise, an infection, a suspicious mole, pale skin, or a myriad of other things. A brief and thorough inspection (including under the scrotum or within the vestibular area) are crucial for the patient's wellness. It is possible that the provider has not seen what is going on due to lack of a complete examination or the time between provider examination and your examination.

How do we know what "normal" looks like? This is an area I think we can improve upon in general in pelvic rehabilitation. We are exceptional at education about the muscles, and nerves, and function, yet we might learn how to complete a pelvic muscle examination before learning what lichen sclerosis looks like. The integumentary system is considered to be the largest organ in the body, and if this organ lacks health, certainly the underlying muscles, connective tissues, and nerves can be affected. There are some very helpful resources for us in learning what dermatological conditions look like might affect a patient. Below I have linked some of them for you.

• Blog with link to resources about vulvar skin conditions
• A prior blog post with a link to a terrific article with images of common vulvar skin conditions
• Perianal images including surgical correction
• Images of normal and abnormal anal verge appearances
• Powerpoint available through google scholar with images of vulvar dermatology conditions

xHerman & Wallace wants to put you in charge of deciding which products we produce! Our philosophy is that we should only be making products which are useful to the therapists who we work with. In our efforts to create products that our registrants find valuable, and keep the price of these products at low as possible, we have been piloting a new product development program. So far this program has seen incredible success, with therapists providing feedback at every step as to how we can make better products for you!

Here is how it works:

1. Herman & Wallace creates a product concept, a description of the product and its contents, without fully creating the product.
2. Herman & Wallace puts this product concept on our website for a trial period. This product concept?s page will contain:

a. A description of the product,
b. the contents of the product (patient forms, powerpoint files, handouts, mapping tools...
c. the estimated retail price of the product,
d. an amount, lower than the retail price, that one can contribute towards this product?s full development called a ?pre-fund? amount,
e. the end date of the trial period.

3. Therapists who would like to buy the product can pre-fund the product concept at a discount to the retail price in exchange for receiving the product upon Herman & Wallace completing its development.

4. Pre-funders will receive an early-release draft of the product and will be asked to provide feedback. Feedback will be solicited for 15 business days following the release of this draft, and comments will be used to make the final version even better.

To Summarize:
If you see a product you'd like to purchase, pre-fund it and if the product gets 10 or more pre-funders, we'll email you the product after we finish developing it. Pre-funding a product carries NO RISK. If the product does get 10 pre-funders by the end of the trial period, we will refund 100% of the amount contributed by each pre-funder.

In February of 2012, Herman & Wallace founder and faculty member Holly Herman traveled to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where she educated the first class of 34 female physical therapists in the art and science of women's health physical therapy. She was accompanied by instructor and H&W friend Fatima Hakeem, PT. You can read more about that adventure here.

Following this intensive 11-day seminar in Riyadh, she returned to the Middle East last Decemeber to teach a similar intensive seminr in Dubai, UAE. You can read more about this trip here.

This winter, Holly will return to Riyadh to teach a six-day intensive offering of Herman & Wallace's Pregnancy and Postpartum series of courses. This course will be targeted towards female physios in the region and will be the first of it's kind.

Stay tuned to Pelvic Rehab Report for more updates on our international travels!

This August, Herman & Wallace is thrilled to be offering a brand new course, Biomechanical Assessment of the Hip and Pelvis in Tampa, FL. This two-day, orthopedic course was developed and is instructed by Steven Dischiavi, MPT, DPT, ATC, COMT, CSCS.

Pelvic Rehab Report sat down with Steve to learn more about his practice, his experience in the clinic and with the Florida Panthers hockey team and this brand new course.

What can you tell us about this continuing education course that is not mentioned in the "course description" and "objectives" that are posted online?

This course was designed to bring a sports medicine approach to pelvic health clinicians. The exercise philosophy is intimately integrated into the pelvic health specialty. As a PT who currently works with a NHL hockey team I am constantly challenged by a sport dominated with pelvic injury. It was crucial for me to learn more about a specialty that has always been known to me as “women’s health.” I feel this course blends some of the knowledge of the pelvic health specialty with the sports medicine arena to develop a series of functional exercises designed to treat individuals with pelvic issues.

What inspired you to create this course?

I have seen several exercise regimes targeted at the “core” for both the highest functioning athlete to the PT client whose functional goals are far less. None of these programs target the entire human system from an anatomic, orthopedic, and neurologic approach. I was once told “all orthopedic clients are neurologic clients, but not all neurologic clients are orthopedic clients.” I think this is a good axiom to describe how you may start treating your orthopedic clients with techniques typically reserved for neurologic clients. The exercise system uses orthopedic strategies applied with a neuroscience approach all based in functional anatomy.

What resources and research were used when writing this course?

This course was bred from many different approaches and thought processes. The main influences to my philosophy come from Thomas Meyers and his work with “Anatomy Trains.” Diane Lee is a clinician whom I dearly respect and she has heavily influenced my thought process with regard to the pelvis. Although, I felt that Diane Lee’s approach to corrective exercise is where the greatest demand lay. I cite numerous studies on the hip, pelvis, and rehabilitation, all of which can be found in the course manual. The manual therapy approach I utilize is mainly influenced by the Ola Grimsby Institute, where my manual therapy certification was obtained. As with any clinician, the philosophy behind their practice is a unique blend of art and science reflective of their experiences and exposures to the profession.

Can you describe the clinical/treatment approach/techniques covered in this continuing education course?

The whole focus of this course is to allow an individual to function on a centered or balanced pelvis. This is first achieved through a sound physical exam, which will be reviewed in the course. The course will offer manual techniques to help correct pelvic imbalance. The bulk of the class is then focused on the corrective exercises and aims to strengthen the whole body functionally through movement efficiency. The class should not be thought of as a manual therapy course, although there are manual strategies offered, it is not the primary focus of the course.

Why should a therapist take this course? How can these skill sets benefit his/ her practice?

The profession of outpatient physical therapy needs to change. Fitness and wellness centers are offering more and more programs targeting areas that should remain in the realm of physical therapy. This course outlines an exercise system that can be utilized by the physical therapist to cover a wide variety of clients. These exercises can be used for an elderly client who needs to move more efficiently in order to achieve a functional task. These exercises can also be used, for example, in a circuit fashion for the highest-level athlete. I have seen success with these exercises in my private clinic as well as with the professional athletes I work with on a daily bases. The skills learned, if implemented correctly, are a great way to market more than just physical therapy to the community.

If you'd like to learn more about these techniques and approaches from Steve, don't miss his course in Tampa in August. Seats are limited, so let us know if we can save you a seat!

Life Care Solutions Group Publishes Free eBook for Women with Chronic Pelvic Pain

Experienced Gynecological Surgeon Michael Hibner, MD, PhD, has released a free eBook for women with Chronic Pelvic Pain. The eBook, written along with Greg Vigna, MD, JD, contains important information about chronic pelvic pain, especially that onset by Synthetic Vaginal Mesh complications. PR News wire is reporting that Life Care Solutions Group has published this eBook as a next step guide toward healing from Pelvic Organ Prolapse and Stress Urinary Incontinence.

Herman & Wallace offers many continuing education courses that can help therapists treat this under-served clientele. We are especially proud of our Differential Diagnostics of Chronic Pelvic Pain course, which empowers participants to diagnose and treat the many causes of chronic pelvic pain.