Tag: research

The Day in the Life….of a Working Mom Who Loves What She Does and Would do Anything for her Family

On By bbpt1In bladder, bowel, constipation, Core Stability, education, fitness, Health, health awareness, marathon, multiple sclerosis, orthopedics, Pelvic Pain, Uncategorized, urinary dysfunctionLeave a comment

By, Amy Stein, DPT (Founder and owner of Beyond Basics Physical Therapy; President of the International Pelvic Pain Society; Author of award-winning book: Heal Pelvic 

Amy was presenting on the benefits of physical therapy in individuals with Multiple Sclerosis(MS) . In addition to our educational outreach, we are collecting money for NYC’s TISCH ‘s MS research arm through the New York City Marathon. Please Click here to donate.  

amy2016I had an amazing, and thank goodness a positive spin during and after my talk at the TISCH Multiple Sclerosis Patient Summit on Sunday. Thank you to Dr. Sadiq, Dr. Kanter, Dr. Williams and Pamela Levin for the invitation to share my expertise. I was so honored and felt blessed to be asked to speak at this conference. There were 1,200 people registered…..no pressure! And when I walked in prior to my talk, I saw the below photos on three HUGE screens! Again, no pressure. I practiced my breathing and my confidence building. Jessica Babich, DPT met me there to set up our table. She was a huge help, considering they wanted me to mic up right away.

I had practiced the material quite a bit so felt confident that it would go well…..and it did! I ran through everything in the 20 minutes I had and then had tons of questions after, of which I could only answer 4 in the time allotted.

A couple questions:

1. Does pelvic PT still work/can it be beneficial while a person is getting botox into the bladder?

Most definitely if the pelvic floor muscles are involved.

2. Does bladder frequency change when you have MS?

It shouldn’t change too much. If it does, as  pelvic physical therapists, we teach you strategies to manage this.

3. How often should you go to the bathroom at night if you have MS?

I am not sure there are any studies on this, but I would say no more than 2 times. We give our patients strategies to help with nighttime frequency as well.

After the Q and A, I felt like I was on cloud nine, because I gave a lot of great info in a short period of time….I sat down, and picked up my phone to take photos and noticed 2 missed calls and multiple texts from my sitter and a friend (my husband was away on a motorcycle trip). I thought….uh oh, because it had only been 30 minutes. Sure enough, the call that all mothers expect at some point, but hope it never happens….My son, Zachary had fallen off the jungle gym and it looked like he needed stitches. Thank goodness for babysitters and good friends! I explained the situation to a few colleagues from TISCH and praised Jessica at her awesomeness for taking charge, and I left immediately. My boy was a champ, and didn’t cry, even when he got the 8 stitches in his head….as I almost passed out!

In the end, amazing meeting and opportunity, and a strong and brave boy. What could a working mom ask for! I count my blessings every day!

J babs and Amy Stein
Jessica Babich and Amy Stein
Screens
These are the big screens I was talking about!
Zacary and Zoe
My Kids, Zachary and

Rock the Research

On By bbpt1In Pelvic Pain, Women's HealthLeave a comment

By Riva Preil

The field of vulvovaginal health and pelvic floor therapy is exciting and dynamic.  A wide variety of research is being performed on an ongoing basis to discover the best and most efficient practices and treatments. In addition, research contributes to a greater understanding of pelvic floor therapy dysfunction, and it helps search for answers to the many “why” questions.  For instance, why do some women develop pelvic pain or dyspareunia (pain during intercourse) while on birth control, but others do not?

Dr. Andrew Goldstein, world renowned vulvovaginal specialist and surgeon, is in process of searching for answers.  His theory is that some women have an actual genetic predisposition to developing pain in response to birth control.  Through gene pattern analysis, Dr. Goldstein has discovered a trend regarding the specific gene in question- that it is common for women who develop pain on the pill to have a LONGER gene with more alleles compared to women who do not develop pain on the pill.  The correlation between gene length and pain may be extremely important.  The clinical significance of this could be helpful in deciding whether or not the pill is an appropriate form of contraception for this specific woman.  This model of INDIVIDUALIZED MEDICINE takes the unique composition of each person into account and is much more appropriate than the previous “one size fits all” medical model.

YOU may be able to assist Dr. Goldstein with his research!  High quality research with meaningful results must contain both an experimental group as well as a control group.  The experimental group in the aforementioned research is the group of women with pelvic pain who are on the pill, and the control group is the group of women ALSO on the pill who do NOT experience pelvic pain.  The control group provides a framework for proper comparison with the experimental group.  Dr. Goldstein is searching for women to participate in the control group.  Participants will have a blood sample drawn and will be compensated fifty dollars.  The process takes approximately ten minutes, and his office is conveniently located in the heart of Manhattan, around the corner from Grand Central Station (and Beyond Basics Physical Therapy)!  If you or someone you know is using birth control and not experiencing any pain or adverse effects and would like to make a contribution to the medical community, please email Dr. Goldstein at obstetrics@yahoo.com for more information.