There are lots of things that you can do to help your condition before coming to physiotherapy. To find out more about your pelvic floor muscles, what can go wrong and what you can do to help, have a look at these short Pelvic Health Information videos. The Pelvic Health Physiotherapy Service helps people who have the following problems. Follow the advice in these pages and you might even find you can cure yourself!
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Our team of experienced physiotherapists will put you at ease, listen to your concerns and give you advice to help you get back to normal.
Bladder or gynaecological problems
- Stress Urinary Incontinence is when stress on the bladder causes you to leak urine. This can happen when you cough, sneeze, get up from a chair, run, lift something, laugh or during sexual intercourse
- Overactive bladder or irritable bladder is a condition which can give you a sudden urge to pass urine which is difficult to control. You might leak urine or feel the need to go many times during the day or night
- Prolapse is a change in the vagina, where one, or a few, of the pelvic organs moves down into the vagina. It can feel like a heaviness or as if there is something coming down. You may notice a bulge inside or outside of the vagina
Pregnancy problems
- Keeping fit and active during pregnancy is an important way of preventing aches and pains
- Pelvic girdle, back and hip pain is common during pregnancy
- Abdominal muscle separation can occur as your baby grows
- Incontinence (leakage of urine) can happen during pregnancy
- Constipation is also common
- Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is wrist pain, numbness or pins and needles which can occur due to excess fluid in the body during pregnancy
Postnatal problems
- Caesarean Section is major surgery to the abdominal wall and you need to gradually increase your exercise to recover from it
- Diastasis Recti is a stretching and separation of the abdominal muscles
- 3rd or 4th degree perineal tear is a tear which occurs in the soft tissue between the vaginal opening and the anus (back passage)
- Incontinence is leakage of urine or faeces which is common in the postnatal period but not normal
- Postnatal exercise is important to help you recover from pregnancy and labour
Bowel problems (male and female)
- Constipation is infrequent passage of stool (poo), with difficulty evacuating, straining and the passage of hard, lumpy stools
- Faecal Incontinence is a distressing condition which means stool leaks from the back passage. This can happen without warning or can be associated with an urge to move your bowels but being unable to make it to the toilet
- Rectal Prolapse is where the lining of the rectum descends, and can even protrude from the anus
Men’s health problems
- Bladder problems include leakage of urine, a sudden feeling that you need to rush to the toilet or leakage of a few drops of urine after you have finished passing urine. This often occurs post prostatectomy
- Sexual problems like erectile dysfunction or premature ejaculation
- Bowel problems such as accidental leakage of faeces from the bowel, or difficulty in controlling wind
- Male pelvic pain can be felt in the low back, buttocks, coccyx (tailbone), hip, groin, abdomen, penis or scrotum
Female pelvic pain
- Female pelvic pain can be felt in the low back, buttocks, coccyx (tailbone), hip, groin, abdomen, vulva and inside the vagina
Children and Young People’s problems
- Bladder problems include daytime and night-time wetting
- Bowel problems are usually caused by constipation
Please help us reduce our waiting times
If you cannot make your appointment, please phone the department and let us know. If you fail to attend your appointment you will be discharged and a letter sent back to your doctor. If you cancel more than two appointments, you will be offered a third appointment but must attend it or you may be discharged. This system of working helps us to improve our attendance rates and make our service more efficient.
Referral routes
Self referral. If you are an adult female with bladder problems or a prolapse, ask your GP receptionist for a self referral form for the Pelvic Health Physiotherapy Service. However, if you have difficulty passing urine, blood in your urine, bleeding from your back passage, vaginal bleeding after the menopause or bleeding after sexual intercourse you must see your GP first. He or she will decide if referral to physiotherapy is appropriate.
GP referral. If you are male or under 18 or female with any other bladder, bowel or pelvic problem, you should book an appointment with your GP who can refer you to our service if appropriate.
Health Care Professional referral. You may be referred to us by a hospital doctor, another physiotherapist or nurse.
Locations and opening times
You may be offered a telephone or video consultation from your own home. For face-to-face appointments, outpatient clinics are held at the following sites:
- Pelvic Health Physiotherapy Department, Victoria Hospital, Kirkcaldy
- Pelvic Health Physiotherapy Department, Queen Margaret Hospital, Dunfermline
- Pelvic Health Physiotherapy Department, Adamson Hospital, Cupar
- Pelvic Health Physiotherapy Department, Randolph Wemyss Memorial Hospital, Buckhaven
The department is open weekdays between 08:30 and 16:00. Some smaller hospitals do not offer appointments every day of the week.
Please note that not all conditions are treated at each site. You may need to travel to ensure that you are seen by the right physiotherapist for your specific condition.
