unPAUSED with Dr. Mary Claire Haver

Pelvic floor symptoms need more than generic Kegels

Bladder Leaks, UTIs & Pelvic Floor Health with the Vagina Whisperer

Leakage, urgency, painful sex, UTIs, and prolapse can affect quality of life, but menopause does not make them untreatable or inevitable.

3 key takeaways
  1. 1Individualized pelvic floor physical therapy can assess muscle function and address causes beyond generic Kegel instructions.
  2. 2Urinary symptoms deserve evaluation, including urinalysis or culture, rather than automatic antibiotics or assumptions about incontinence.
  3. 3Pessaries, vaginal estrogen, therapy, and informed surgical decisions offer alternatives when prolapse or menopause-related symptoms arise.

Don't miss

Sara Reardon reframes pelvic floor care as individualized evaluation and progressive training rather than a generic Kegel prescription.

The brief

Sara Reardon argues that leakage, urgency, painful sex, UTIs, and prolapse are common but not inevitable consequences of menopause or aging.

The episode moves beyond generic Kegels: pelvic floor therapy begins with history and assessment, then matches treatment to muscle function, symptoms, and daily activities.

Urinary complaints need better evaluation, including attention to nocturia and confirmation of suspected UTIs before antibiotics become the default response.

For prolapse, Reardon lays out a wider decision set—vaginal estrogen, pessaries, therapy, and careful surgical questions—while addressing mesh complications and postoperative rehabilitation.

The standout shift is from normalizing pelvic floor symptoms to treating them as specific, assessable problems with multiple options.

Books & mentions

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