What do I wear to pelvic floor physical therapy?

One of the most common questions that we get asked is “what do I wear to pelvic floor PT?” As silly as it sounds, this is a GREAT question!

First, you should understand what is going to happen at your pelvic floor physical therapy appointment. If you are unsure, check out the blog article on what to expect at your first session.

Your pelvic floor therapy session will consist of some movement analysis, as well as assessment of your abdomen and internal pelvic floor muscles.

The first part of your examination will be movement based, so you’ll want to make sure that you are comfortable moving around. Your therapist will have a much easier time assessing how your legs are moving if you are wearing leggings or yoga pants.

The next part of your examination will likely include some kind of abdominal wall assessment, so wearing a loose fitting shirt that you can lift up to expose the abdomen would be helpful. If you have to head back to work after your session, you’ll likely want to change out of your work attire since the shirt may wrinkle or may get some lotion on it if your therapist does any treatment.

Typically the last part of your assessment is the internal assessment. You will keep your top on for this part of examination and will undress completely from the waist down (you will have a sheet to drape yourself). You’ll want to make sure that your pants are easy to take on/off.

Things that I absolutely would avoid for treatment include jumpers and rompers. Although cute, they will definitely limit our ability to keep you comfortably draped/covered while performing your examination. Another item of clothing to avoid wearing to pelvic PT is tight fitting/restrictive clothing like jeans. We really want to get a good sense of how your body is moving and wearing restrictive clothing will give us false information about your flexibility and range of motion.

Our favorite thing to recommend is “work out attire”. This allows us to thoroughly assess your movement, is easy to roll up to expose the abdomen, and is easy to slip on/off for internal work.

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