At Apex, we believe every individual has the right to receive compassionate, inclusive, and proper healthcare services. We strive to have a comfortable, safe and friendly environment in all of our clinics. These beliefs are even a part of Apex’s vision and mission statements! Unfortunately, this is not always the case for certain populations, including transgender or non gender-conforming individuals. However, we are happy to say that our therapists at Apex have undergone specialized training to meet the unique needs of this population!
Transgender or gender non-conforming individuals may go through unique treatment techniques in gender-affirming care. These can include gender-affirming surgery, tucking, packing, or binding. These gender-affirming care techniques can place various stressors throughout the trunk, abdomen, hips, and pelvic floor bringing its own unique set of challenges to the body.
This can result in pain, muscle weakness, or bladder/bowel dysfunction.
Symptoms that can occur during gender affirming care include:
- Joint pain in the thoracic area, shoulders, or hips
- Pelvic pain
- Urinary retention/inability to fully empty the bladder
- Constipation
- Urinary incontinence
- Pain from surgical scars
- Pain with vaginal penetration/sexual activity
These symptoms may be caused by:
- Pelvic floor dysfunction
- Soft tissue tightening/shortening
- Poor posture
- Decreased mobility of scars
- Stenosis/tightening of neovagina
Our PTs are trained to treat transgender and gender non-conforming individuals
Unfortunately, many healthcare providers, including physical therapists, are not trained or familiar with working with transgender and gender non-conforming individuals. This can lead to stressful encounters for the patient, as well as poor delivery of care and poor outcomes. The good news is, at Apex Physical Therapy and Wellness Center we have physical therapists who have undergone additional training in caring for the unique problems facing this population.
Physical therapy for the transgender or gender non-confirming patient can help with both surgical and non-surgical treatments they decide to pursue. This may include education, manual therapy or hands-on muscle releases, and exercises to help with non-surgical methods such as tucking, binding, or packing to reduce stress and strain through the muscles and joints to reduce pain. For the individual who has undergone gender-affirming surgery, treatments such as scar tissue releases, strengthening, manual therapy, and even biofeedback can be helpful in improving tissue mobility to decrease pain and improve muscle coordination to reduce any pelvic floor dysfunction that may be present.
If you or a loved one has any questions regarding physical therapy during gender-affirming treatments, please reach out to one of our pelvic health physical therapists! We are happy to serve this population and the unique needs they have.