Pelvic Floor & Bladder Health | Stephenson Physical Therapy
Stephenson Physical Therapy
A physical therapist speaks warmly with a couple during a consultation in a calm, home-like room.

Pelvic Floor & Bladder Health

Take Back Bladder Control.

Leaking, urgency, and “gotta-go-now” moments are common — but they are not something you have to live with.

Your pelvic floor quietly runs a lot of daily life — bladder and bowel control, core stability, even sexual function. When those muscles become weak, tight, or uncoordinated, the fallout shows up as leakage, urgency, or pressure. I work one-on-one with patients of every gender to restore how the pelvic floor actually works — and with it, the confidence to stop planning your day around the nearest bathroom.

A physical therapist reviews a care plan with two patients at her desk.

Bladder problems are rarely one thing. Stress incontinence (leaking when you laugh, cough, or lift), urge incontinence and overactive bladder (sudden, hard-to-defer urgency), and mixed incontinence each respond to different, targeted care — as do urinary retention and pelvic organ prolapse. Using pelvic floor retraining, behavioral strategies, and neuromuscular reeducation, I treat the cause rather than managing the symptom. For many people, that conservative approach reduces or resolves symptoms without surgery or medication.

For more on how these muscles affect bladder and bowel control, Cleveland Clinic’s overview is a good place to start.

Specialized treatments

  • Urinary Incontinence — Stress, urge, and mixed leakage, treated with conservative methods that often avoid surgery or medication.
  • Overactive Bladder (OAB) — Urgency and frequency retrained through behavioral strategy and neuromuscular reeducation.
  • Urinary Retention — Addressing the muscle or neurological causes behind incomplete emptying.
  • Pelvic Organ Prolapse (POP) — Heaviness and pressure often improved without surgery.
  • Interstitial Cystitis / Painful Bladder Syndrome — A multimodal approach combining manual therapy, behavioral strategy, and education.

You don’t need a referral to start feeling like yourself again. Whether your goal is running without leaking or simply sleeping through the night, we build the plan around it.

What I treat

Conditions treated

Bladder

  • Stress incontinence
  • Urge incontinence
  • Mixed incontinence
  • Overactive bladder
  • Urinary frequency
  • Urinary urgency
  • Urinary retention

Bowel & support

  • Chronic constipation
  • Fecal incontinence
  • Painful bowel movements
  • Pelvic organ prolapse

Good to know

Common questions

Very often, yes. Conservative pelvic floor therapy — retraining, behavioral strategy, and neuromuscular reeducation — treats the underlying cause of leakage and frequently resolves or greatly improves it without surgery or medication.

Absolutely. The pelvic floor supports bladder control in every body, and this practice treats all genders. Men experience incontinence, urgency, and retention too — and the same cause-focused approach applies.

It varies with the cause and how long symptoms have been present, but many people notice meaningful improvement over a course of care as the pelvic floor is retrained. Your plan is individual, and we track progress together.

Explore more care

Related services

Pregnancy & PostpartumLumbopelvic pain, diastasis recti, and recovery from vaginal or cesarean birth.Pelvic Pain & Sexual HealthChronic pelvic pain, pudendal neuralgia, and painful intimacy, treated with compassion.Menopause & Midlife HealthMenopause and midlife pelvic health — bladder changes, dryness and comfort, and intimacy.

Ready to stop planning your life around the bathroom?

Ready to start?