Mastering the Movement System | Diagnosis & Management of Pelvic Floor Movement
On-Demand Courses
6 Contact Hours
Effective patient care requires a systematic approach. Using the movement system framework allows you to quickly determine the primary movement problem as the physical therapist, which then leads to quicker decisions about what to do for your patient. Translation? Better, quicker patient outcomes and a more confident therapist! This approach will be detailed in depth in this course using visuals, lectures, discussions, asynchronous activities, and movement videos to allow you to truly master the movement system. You will learn about pelvic floor movement diagnoses, when to consider adjacent regions of the hip and spine, and how to apply these concepts for patients at any fitness level, including even higher-level athletes.
- Describe the history of pelvic floor/health diagnoses/categorization
- Discuss intra vs extra pelvic movement diagnoses
- Identify the pelvic floor muscle movement diagnoses and how to use the diagnosis to direct treatment
- Create a physical therapy (PT) diagnosis using consistent language in pelvic health physical therapy eval and treatment
- Understand how to incorporate movement diagnoses if internal pelvic floor exam is not possible
- Appreciate when to apply a differential diagnosis of hip and spine movement conditions
- Appreciate the need for symptom monitoring and secondary testing
- Consider the transition of a pelvic floor movement condition from initial activity level to high activity level activities.
Karla Wente, PT, DPT, CLT, Board-Certified Women's Health Clinical Specialist
Karla Wente is a Doctor of Physical Therapy and Women’s Clinical Specialist, graduating from Washington University in St. Louis Program in Physical Therapy in 2013. She completed her Clinical Residency in Women’s Health with a focus on application of the movement system in 2014. She has practiced in private practice for most of her career throughout Chicagoland (her hometown), and has focused in evaluation and treatment of males, females, and children with pelvic health conditions. She also loves to treat orthopedic conditions from a movement system approach, and loves treating older adults. In addition to her pelvic floor specialization, she loves education and has served as the Educational Review Committee chair for the Academy of Pelvic Health, earning her Volunteer of the Year from the Academy at Combined Sections Meeting in 2020. She loves all things patient education, teaching, clinical instruction, and mentorship and has served in a variety of capacities in all of these roles. She has also recently started PhysioSage, which is dedicated to promoting physical therapists as patient educators.
When she is not geeking out about physical therapy, she loves to do yoga, write and make music (she plays 6 instruments!), go for long walks with her husband, and spend lots of time cuddling her two cats, Meeper and Sarabi.
Theresa "Tracy" Monaco Spitznagle, PT, DPT, MHS, Board-Certified Women's Health Clinical Specialist
Theresa Monaco Spitznagle PT, DPT, Board-Certified Women's Health Clinical Specialist is currently a Professor in the Program in Physical Therapy at Washington University in St Louis. Over the past 25 years Tracy has focused her clinical practice on the treatment of patients with fecal and urinary incontinence, painful bladder syndrome, pelvic pain, dyspareunia, and pregnancy-related lumbo-pelvic pain. Professional contributions that Tracy has made include, the development of a post-doctoral fellowship training program for Pelvic health Physical therapy, Chair of the American Board of Physical Therapy Specialist’s, Board member of the Worldwide Fistula Fund and a founding board member of the Global Women’s Health Initiative.
Through her involvement in international organizations Tracy has developed an expertise in treating patients with obstetric fistula as well as providing capacity building for Physical Therapy Education in Ethiopia. Publications include topics associated with; capacity building in Ethiopia, chronic pelvic pain, diagnosis for pelvic floor conditions; diastasis recti abdominis; movement related urinary urgency; and physical examination of the pelvic floor muscles. Dr Spitznagle’s research activities have resulted in presentations at multiple professional meetings including; the American Urogynecological Society Conference and the American Physical Therapy Association’s Combined Sections Meeting, World Congress of Physical Therapy, World Congress on Low back and Pelvic Pain and the International Pelvic Pain Society.
Jenny LaCross, PT, DPT, ATC, CLT-LANA
Jenny received her B.S. in Kinesiology-Athletic Training from University of Michigan-Ann Arbor in 2011 and her Doctorate of Physical Therapy from Washington University in Saint Louis in 2014. Upon earning her doctorate, Jenny’s passion for women’s health care led her to complete a 15-month post-professional physical therapy residency in women’s and men’s health at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center: Centers for Rehab Services, where she also became a certified lymphedema therapist and clinical instructor. She received her Board Specialty Certification in Women’s Health Physical Therapy in 2016 from the American Board of Physical Therapy Specialties. She then completed a post-professional certificate program in Women’s Health Physical Therapy at Texas Woman’s University’s in May 2018, where she is also working on her PhD in Physical Therapy. She will be taking qualifying exams this spring. Her research interest is in the relationship between hip and pelvic floor function in active females across the lifespan. Jenny values service to the profession and has volunteered for the American Physical Therapy Association: Academy of Pelvic Health in numerous roles including chair of the clinical practice guideline on physical therapy management of constipation development team, assistant educational review committee chair, and item writer/ member of the specialized academy of content experts in women’s health.
Alexandria Uding, PT, DPT
Alex Uding is a Doctor of Physical Therapy, graduating from Washington University in St. Louis Program in Physical Therapy in 2015. She has practiced and coached for most of her career in Massachusetts, with an emphasis in the evaluation and treatment of female and male athletes. Alex’s personal experiences as an athlete and past struggles with injury and illness have made her passionate about bridging the gap between rehabilitation and performance to promote health and wellness across the lifespan. As she gained experience in the orthopedic and sports sector of physical therapy and performance training, she couldn’t deny the connection the pelvic health has on the movement system. This connection expanded her special interests in orthopedic and sports rehab into pelvic health as well. She is always seeking how to better provide well-rounded, person-centered care to promote health literacy and healthy living.
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