Women's Health Service

June 9, 2026

Women’s health physiotherapy is a service designed for women with pelvic floor related dysfunction and pregnancy related pain.

The pelvic floor is important for controlling and generating intra-abdominal pressure, along with other abdominal muscles, and plays a role in the management of stress incontinence and supporting internal organs.

The pelvic floor is not isolated. It works in conjunction with many other structures. If we ignore these structures, we ignore the potential for the pelvic floor dysfunction to fully resolve and to address the root cause of the problem.

Conditions associated with pelvic floor dysfunction are often not solely caused by pelvic floor weakness or tightness – this can be a symptom of a problem elsewhere, such as poor pressure management. Dysfunction related to the pelvic floor can lead to pain, stress incontinence, and sexual problems, affecting daily activities, exercise participation, and quality of life

By treating the pelvic floor solely with isolated exercises, we are only treating one part of the problem, and creating a short term ‘fix’ for something that requires a more thorough and holistic approach.

What can women’s health physiotherapy help with?

A thorough assessment will include:

• History taking – explaining the background of your concerns. This will include specific, and sometimes more personal, questions around your pain and/or any other symptoms
• Functional assessment – including your posture, breathing and rib cage mechanics, how you squat, how you bend forwards, how your pelvis moves on your femur. We look for any areas of weakness or tightness that may contribute to movement dysfunction. We address any pressure management issues from the rib cage and breathing muscles, and any force absorption issues from the foot, knee and hip, which can all play a role in pelvic floor dysfunction and pain.
• Joint mobility and strength assessment – as well as looking at your functional movements, we assess the movement in individual joints, particularly the hip, knee, ankle and foot, and the isolated strength of these areas, as a restriction in any of these areas may be affecting your pelvic floor symptoms or pelvic/back pain.
• Palpation – external palpation of the muscles, tendons and bony landmarks around the hip/pelvic area, and surrounding areas such as the thorax and ribs, can help identify any localised tenderness and trigger points which could be contributing to the problem
• Currently, our services do not offer an internal vaginal examination. We can gain enough insight into your pelvic floor dysfunction or related condition using the above assessment techniques, to provide a holistic management plan. If we feel internal vaginal examination would benefit you, we will always refer onwards if needed.

Following assessment and discussion, we will help you with a plan to start managing your concerns, addressing your specific goals.

Women’s health physiotherapy can help with the following conditions or concerns:

• Pelvic floor dysfunction and/or pain
• Stress urinary incontinence
• Pelvic or groin pain
• Low back pain
• Pregnancy related pelvic pain
• Prolapse

If you have any of these conditions, you may benefit from an assessment with our physiotherapist Emma, who has a specialist interest in women’s health and holistic management of pelvic floor dysfunction and related problems. Email on info@physiotherapymatters.co.uk or call on 0191 285 8701 for more information and to book your free triage call.