If you've landed on this page, you are likely in the process of researching your options for Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy, but you've found differences in how each pelvic therapy clinic is practicing.
Now you are wondering, "Is pelvic floor therapy covered by insurance?" and if not, what would be the reason?
Traditional Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy that takes insurances:
This sounds great in theory! You get to use your insurance and may reduce your out of pocket expense to a copay amount if you have that kind of plan. However, there are several limitations when choosing pelvic therapy clinics that are in the network with insurance.
1 - It only takes 1 weekend course to begin practicing with pelvic health physical therapy patients. This means that your PT could be newly in the pelvic health field without much in depth training into the vast majority of conditions.
I often see patients who have tried in network pelvic therapy that tell me they felt like it didn't really do much for their symptom relief. After I evaluate them, I find that the true root cause of their pelvic symptoms was completely missed by the previous PT.
This is why it's so important to work with someone who is truly trained in the field of pelvic floor therapy and not just trying to dabble in this field because it's becoming popular. One weekend course is truly not enough to become a specialist.
2 - Sessions are often spent lying on a table with basic exercises and biofeedback machines.
This is a hugely outdated approach to pelvic therapy, but insurance will reimburse for this kind of treatment so often in the insurance setting, pelvic therapists are required to use them so they can bill for it.
Biofeedback is a type of training where a probe is inserted into the pelvic floor that measured your resting tone of your muscles. You can watch on a graph and see if your muscles are contracting or not and you can even practice kegels this way by seeing if the graph changes with your kegel.
However, many pelvic therapists who use biofeedback are RELIANT on it to assess what the pelvic floor is doing instead of their hands on manual skills. They also tell patients to practice for 15-20 minutes of the session with this machine while they go and do something else.
The end result? You've just practiced a bunch of kegels with computer feedback without actually translating that into real life. This treatment does not help you lift without leakage, squat without pain, reduce pressure postpartum, get your ab separation to close, or reduce painful intercourse.
3 - Mostly lying and seated exercises are performed without functional training specific to your goals
Again, this is because insurance will not reimburse for higher level functional exercise, and they will not reimburse for more than one body part. They will consider that wellness and wellness treatments are not what insurance is supposed to cover.
Not only do majority of in network PT's get a ton of pressure to be more productive with their patient volume, but they can also be pressured to stick with these more simple exercises to improve insurance reimbursement.
Whenever I audit a previous patient's home exercise program, I often find the same exercises without much challenge. What's missing is that next level to bridge you from rehab to fitness and truly translate your symptom resolution into daily functional habits and movement.
4 - Patients are typically seen between 12-24 times with insurance
I honestly can't imagine going to PT or any other appointment that many times to get results. If you're doing the same lying exercises, biofeedback, and maxing out when it's time to move to functional training, what is the benefit in going 12-24 times?
But this is what is presented after you are evaluated, because it's what the insurance wants to see in order to reimburse for the pelvic therapy.
Even if your insurance is covering it with a copay, that's a copay you have to pay 12 times. And even worse, if you're paying towards your deductible, then you are paying the same cash rate as out of network pelvic therapy clinics.
Out of network pelvic floor physical therapy only requires a few sessions to see results because of the higher quality and focused specialty care.
Louisiana Pelvic Health is an out of network pelvic floor specialty clinic. Let's breakdown what that means next!
1 - I, Dr. Melissa, have years of both in person and online pelvic floor trainings with significant experience treating exclusively pelvic health conditions
I am trained through the traditional pelvic rehab route through Herman and Wallace Pelvic Rehab Institute, certified as a Pregnancy and Postpartum Corrective Exercise Specialist (PCES) with Core Exercise Solutions, have taken several prenatal rehab trainings, and I'm a Fertility Awareness Method (FAMM) practitioner with a year long certification process through Lisa Hendrickson-Jack to improve fertility naturally.
I have truly devoted my career to specializing in the field of pelvic therapy so I can help my patients get to the root of their issues and create more comprehensive treatment plans.
My training has significantly enhanced my treatment by allowing me to teach cycle charting, analyze hormonal imbalances, understand labs, utilize lifestyle changes for pelvic health, program and create strength training and exercise routines, assess the pelvic floor properly, and work with patients with complex pelvic pain conditions.
2 - I get my patients up and moving instead of just lying on tables doing the same exercises
Because of my up to date specialist training, I practice with a full body approach to get you up and moving.
Kegels and biofeedback just aren't enough.
My patients benefit from learning new squat patterns, deadlift and hinge patterns, and full body exercise incorporated into their pelvic health treatment specific to their goals.
Most patients aren't having their symptoms lying down!
Not only does functional movement train the actual pattern causing the symptoms, but we can teach the pelvis to open and close the way we want it to so the pelvic floor can truly get stronger -- all without kegels!
It's just a matter of having me prescribe the correct movements with the correct cueing for your situation.
3 - Patients are typically seen 3-6 times for the initial symptom reduction phase
This is way less than the 12-24 session requirement for insurance.
Practicing with my full body approach leads to accomplishing SO MUCH MORE at each session. Combining manual therapy, appropriate functional exercise, hormone education, and direct communication to me makes it much more likely that you have the tools to see progress much faster.
As you can see, not all Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy models are created equal.
If you're looking for a specialist approach that incorporates full body treatment in less time than the traditional model, I'm happy to help you at Louisiana Pelvic Health in Lafayette, LA.
Dr. Melissa Thompson, PT, DPT, MTC, PCES, FAMM
Owner and Pelvic Health Physical Therapist
Louisiana Pelvic Health
102 Magnate Drive, Suite 105, Lafayette, LA 70508
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