11/18/2025
A pelvic floor physical therapy evaluation for somebody with symptoms of pelvic organ prolapse should and can include both a standing and dynamic assessment of the pelvic floor and the pelvic organs.
But what does that actually mean? 🤔
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Typically, an evaluation for somebody with symptoms of pelvic organ prolapse involves laying on a treatment table. And while there is a specific series of measurements that your doctor might use to grade or stage your prolapse (called a POP-Q), a pelvic floor physical therapist can do a POP-Q
AND
also get you off of the table and do an assessment of your pelvic floor and prolapse symptoms in standing and/or with movement! 🤯
Some of the frustration I see around prolapse assessment for my patients is that you have significant symptoms (heaviness, feeling like your pelvic organs are slipping down or even falling out, difficulty with bowel movement, urinary incontinence, etc.) BUT when they go and get an assessment from ther doctor, they are told that their symptoms are “mild” or “not that bad.”
There are at least three things wrong with this: (1) it minimizes and invalidates your experience as a patient in your own body (2) commonly, there isn’t a secondary assessment that includes getting up and off the table to see what happens when gravity is involved and (3) there’s sometimes isn’t a full evaluation of the pelvic floor and how are your body deals with downwards pressure with tasks like lifting, sneezing, coughing, running and exercise.
At PelvicSanity, we have an entire prolapse program. That includes a full body evaluation from head to toe, a movement evaluation, pelvic floor assessment in both supine and standing and with the movements that are exacerbating your prolapse symptoms.
Let us know if you have any questions about a standing or dynamic assessment in the comments below! And if you’re local to Orange County, please reach out we’d love to help you! 👍🏼
