Determining a Mechanical Component - Pelvic Pain & Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms

Overview

Lumbopelvic pain is the number one cause of disability worldwide.  People with chronic LBP are often tough and complicated patients.  

When you treat their low back, do you think to screen their pelvic floor beyond looking for signs of Acute Cauda Equina Syndrome?  Research has shown that 95% of women who have LBP have a concurrent pelvic floor complaint.  This is so commonplace, and yet most of us don't even follow up the bladder/bowel question with further follow-up questions to help sort out the relevance of the pelvic floor complaint.

We have come to accept that many patients who come to us for help with their low back pain are often not “textbook” cases, but usually, come with multiple issues. Could they be related?

Perhaps you are a pelvic health therapist, and focus on the pelvic floor already but don't look for the driver of lumbopelvic pain outside of the pelvic area? 

Low back pain and pelvic floor problems are like two peas in a pod. You have to understand both to really help your patients get better. This may be one reason that worldwide disability with lumbopelvic pain continues to be on the rise.

Learn how to determine if these comorbid symptoms are relevant, and how to help people get better, faster by registering for this course!

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this course, participants will:

• Reach beyond the anatomy to understand the inter-relation between the spine, pelvis, hips and LUTS
• Effectively screen any patient with lower back pain for LUTS through efficient questioning and applying the course principles
• Determine if patients whose primary complaint is LUTS would have a relevant spinal component (directional preference), and how to systematically address it
• Understand appropriate outcome measures and when to use the DASS, TSK-11, PCS, Fremantle Back Awareness, CSI, PANAS and PSEQ-2 with your patients

Audience

This online continuing education course is targeted to:

1. Pelvic health physiotherapists usually treat LUTS by addressing bladder health, pelvic floor health, and central nervous system issues.  However, an equally important component of treating LUTS is to understand the relationship between low back issues and LUTS, and use an effective and concise method to determine if a mechanical component exists in an individual.  
   
   
2. All clinicians who see patients with acute and chronic low back pain.  The correlation between Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms (LUTS) and Mechanical Low Back Pain is poorly understood and can change the trajectory of a patient's recovery from either condition when the inter-relationship is uncovered and addressed.
   
   
3. Orthopaedic physiotherapists: One of the foundations of orthopaedic practice is to treat low back pain and pelvic girdle pain. However, aside from screening for cauda equina syndrome, orthopaedic therapists may have little understanding of lower urinary tract symptoms.  The research has clearly demonstrated a strong correlation between LUTS and low back pain for the past decade. With increasing low back pain disability over the past decade, orthopaedic therapists need to broaden their scope of treating low back pain by considering the role of the pelvic floor and LUTS as comorbid conditions.

The course participant should be familiar with:

• Patients presenting with LUTS who may have a relevant spine component
• Patients presenting with lower back or pelvic girdle pain who may have relevant LUTS

Course Bundle

THE Biopsychosocial Bundle is a carefully designed learning experience that includes 6 different courses by 6 experts in their respective fields. These courses have been carefully selected and constructed for clinicians who wish to excel in a biopsychosocial framework.

Learn more about THE Biopsychosocial Bundle by clicking here!

What other Healthcare Professionals are saying about this Course!

Lynda McClatchie is an excellent presenter and her course, Determining a Mechanical Component, incorporates the McKenzie System of Mechanical Diagnosis and Therapy (MDT) method to enhance the assessment and treatment strategies utilized when working with patients who have persistent pelvic pain (PPP) and/or lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS).

Her course draws on her clinical experience and extensive evidence to emphasize the importance of ALWAYS assessing the lower back when working with patients who have PPP and/or LUTS. She shares a number of her virtual real-life assessments/treatments that help consolidate the education provided.

Any physiotherapist treating low back pain and/or LUTS should definitely consider taking this course as it will likely change your practice and improve patient outcomes.

-Christina Dzieduszycki, PT, MSc(PT)
Registered Physiotherapist