Pelvic Physical Therapy in Antoni van Leeuwenhoek Hospital

Since July 2022, Sarah Kager and Anna-Marie Helbig have been working at the Antoni van Leeuwenhoek as Pelvic Physical Therapists. After studying physiotherapy, they specialized in oncological physiotherapy and then did a master's degree that focuses entirely on the pelvis. “We didn't want to announce the new outpatient clinic right away, but now that the dust has settled, we want to give more publicity to what we do,” says Anna-Marie. “If people receive treatment here, for example for an operation or radiation, there is often damage afterwards and there can be problems in the pelvic area,” says Sarah. “Think of problems with defecation and urination or sexual complaints such as erectile dysfunction and pain.”

“We feel very involved with patients and also believe that they should receive good aftercare after treatment. Many discomforts can actually be remedied if they these discomforts are related to muscles in the pelvic area.”

“Often, pelvic physiotherapists within a private practice do not know very well what they can do. For example, a Neobladder is so rare that most pelvic physical therapists will not encounter one in their entire career. We see a few every year.”

Quality of life

At first, most patients are mainly happy that they survived cancer, which means that it often takes a long time before they sound the alarm. Sometimes they feel that they should no longer 'bother' their specialist with something that seems like a minor inconvenience. But they sometimes end up in isolation; if you have to urinate twenty times a day, it is no longer easy to go on a day trip. Problems in the pelvic floor area can decrease the quality of life.

Back to here

First we will investigate whether it has anything to do with the pelvic floor muscles. We can do this with an internal examination. And for example with the 'MAPLe? '; that is a probe with 24 electrodes with which we make an ElectroMyoGraphy (EMG) and map out how much activity is still in the muscle fibers. We can also make you feel where you should feel, tighten or release muscles. That can be quite difficult, because around the age of 3 or 4 you become potty trained once and after that you are never consciously involved in those muscles and the pelvic floor again. If there is indeed still muscle activity then that is good news, because you can train muscles. So if we can help people, we can really contribute to the quality of life.

'In the lead'

Often after treatment, the abdomen and pelvis have been declared a disaster area and patients actually want nothing to do with it anymore. We then try to bring them back into contact with it. That can be quite difficult if, for example, someone has ever been sexually abused. It is still possible that you will continue with the research or training, but you need to take this into account. Frequently the pelvic area is inseparable from shame, trust or feelings of guilt. The people who come here open up very consciously. It's a precarious area, so once they cross the threshold, they really want it to change. And we always make sure that they are 'in the lead'.

Training muscles

We give you exercises we make sure that you don't tighten your buttocks or your stomach, for example, but the pelvic floor muscles. We also provide a lot of information. Yes, that is indeed a kind of poop and pee instruction including bladder training. But it can also be tips about lifestyle.

What is very nice about the Antoni van Leeuwenhoek Hospital is that the lines are short. We can easily consult a medical specialist, nurse or other people within the Center for Quality of Life who are involved in the treatment. The nice thing is that people really matter; they really benefit from it and patients are often very grateful.”?

Source: AVL.nl

For more info about MAPLe?: www.novuqare.com / [email protected]

Novuqare Pelvic Health B.V.

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