The Best Medical Specialists you've Probably Never Heard of

I had a very natural and very traumatic childbirth thanks to my daughter's beautifully round, and horrifyingly large, head. I say horrifying because I am a small framed woman and to this day I can't believe I didn't end up with a c-section. In fact, one of my lactation consultants took one look at my daughter and just assumed she was a c-section baby. No cone-head there! After months of recovery from my layers of stitches, I was still having pain. The midwives at my OB's office assured me everything was normal and gave me the same advice to do my kegels and massage that they give everyone. It didn't help. I talked to my General practitioner and was told virtually the same thing. A year had passed and one midwife went as far as to tell me some couples just find other ways to connect. . . for the rest of their lives. This comment did not go over well with my husband when I related it, as you can imagine.

It wasn't until a therapist referred me to a pelvic floor specialist, sometimes called urogynecologist (although not all pelvic floor specialists are a type of gynecologist), that I finally got the help I needed. "Physical pain is not a mental illness," the therapist told me. And she was right.

Never heard of a Pelvic Floor Specialist? You are not alone. Pelvic floor specialists can be hard to find if, like me, you do not live in a major metropolitan area. Luckily there was one, and only one, in my area, and the therapist I talked to had her contact info. These specialists seem to be the best kept secret in the medical community and I don't know why except that it appears even most doctors aren't aware that they exist.

You might ask how a pelvic floor specialist different than an obstetrician or gynecologist. Don't they already specialize in your lady parts? Well, yes and no. Regular obstetricians and gynecologists specialize in your reproductive organs, everything from your Fallopian tubes to your cervix, as well as pregnancy and birth if they are an OB. Your pelvic floor, which is a structure made up of muscles, ligaments, nerves and connective tissues that supports pelvic organs and assists in the control of their functions, they don't seem to really know much about unless they have specialized in it.

That's where the pelvic floor specialists come in. They do tests to distinguish muscle pain from nerve pain or inflammation. They know facts like the number one cause of vaginal pain is birth control pills (you have never heard that before, right? I sure didn't!). 

I went into my appointment expecting to find out I had nerve damage and would need surgery, but come to find out, my problem was merely an extreme case of tight muscles from the trauma of delivery. Mere massage wasn't going to fix it, and kegels definitely weren't helping. I needed physical therapy. Seriously. Big cities apparently have actual physical therapists for your lady parts, but unless I wanted to drive four hours each way several days a week, I had to do it myself with the help of a wonderful painkiller that insurance would not cover, but was still totally worth the $200 for a one-month supply, and a vaginal dilator, I spent a couple months doing daily physical therapy et voila! Almost as good as new.

So spread the word to all your women friends. Pelvic Floor Specialists shouldn't be the yetis of the medical community. I have run into so many women out there who have had experiences similar to mine. There is help, albeit hard to come by. My only hope is that one day our country will value women's vaginal health enough that such medications are covered by our medical insurance, but that is a discussion for another blog.