Episode 07: Pelvic Floor Wands – a Guide to Self-Treatment

Bibbidi, bobbidi, boo! In today’s episode, Dr. Alexis Anderson discusses the use of pelvic floor wands – and she’s not talking magical wands for casting spells. She goes over types, proper usage, benefits, and conditions treated. This episode provides a comprehensive beginner’s guide, including considerations and warnings, for safe and effective self-treatment of pelvic floor issues. 

🎧 PS - This episode has helpful visuals if you check it out on YouTube! 
 

Welcome to The Alexis Anderson Podcast. 

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Want more? Visit my website www.alexisandersondpt.com, and connect with me on Instagram (@alexisandersondpt). Thanks for listening and joining the conversation! 

RESOURCES AND REFERENCES 

• Free-Up Massage Cream (not a sponsor) 
• Body Glide (not a sponsor) 
• Episode 02: Belly Breathing and Total Body Relaxation 
• Episode 01: Pelvic Floor 101 
• Episode 06: Pelvic Floor Dilator Therapy – A Beginner’s Guide 

SHOW NOTES  

0:57 – A welcome and introduction to what we are talking about today! 

1:49 – Alexis shows off a pelvic wand, describing its shape and uses 

4:32 – Alexis runs down the type of wand tools that are available on the market 

6:27 – Alexis describes some non-negotiables to know before using a pelvic wand 

9:15 – Alexis explains techniques for both internal and external pelvic wand use 

19:45 – Alexis gives us an overview of what to expect and avoid when treating yourself with a wand 

26:56 – Alexis divulges which conditions might benefit from pelvic floor wand use, and when it might be a good time to contact your healthcare provider 

33:05 - Alexis brings the episode to a close 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Hello, and welcome to the Alexis Anderson Podcast. I'm your host, Alexis Anderson, pelvic health physiotherapist and guide for anyone navigating the messy, confusing, and often isolating world of pelvic and sexual health. This season, we're breaking down the myths, sharing real stories, and giving you evidence-informed tools to understand your body. Whether you're a patient, a clinician, or someone quietly struggling, you're in the right place. Let's take the shame out of the conversation, bring clarity where there's confusion, and make pelvic health feel human, hopeful, and actually talked about. Before we get into it, let's talk the legal stuff. While I am a physical therapist, I am not your personal physical therapist. So please remember, this content is for educational purposes only and not a substitute for personalized medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Now let's get started. Hello and welcome to the Alexis Anderson Podcast. I am your host, Dr. Alexis Anderson, Doctor of Physical Therapy. Today we will be talking about pelvic floor wands. No, these are not magical wands where you're gonna cast a spell and these beautiful, wonderful things are going to happen into your life. I wish. These are pelvic floor wands. A pelvic floor wand is a tool that pelvic floor physical therapists often use to treat the muscles and soft tissues of the pelvic floor, either externally and or internally. So in today's segment, I will cover what is a pelvic floor wand, what are the different types of wands, what to consider when you're picking out your wand, how to use it, the benefits that you should expect to see from using a pelvic floor wand, and which conditions are appropriate for pelvic floor wand use. Let's get into it. This is a pelvic floor wand. Those of you who are on YouTube, you can see that it is a plastic wand that has two S shapes to it. Both of them are about 90 degrees. For those of you who are on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, you're not gonna be able to see this. But if you would like to see this, check this out on YouTube. This is a pelvic floor wand, yes. But does it do magical spells? No. But does it do magic for your pelvic floor? Yes. So we treat pelvic floor issues with these wands. We can treat the pelvic floor structures externally, but we can also treat pelvic floor structures internally. So that's why it has this curvature to the wand. A pelvic floor wand is a tool that pelvic floor physical therapists use to treat the pelvic floor structures. We treat soft tissue structures with the wand. So things like muscles, tendons, ligaments, sometimes nerves, that sort of thing. That's what we are treating when we are using these pelvic floor wands. We can use them externally and internally. Think of it like a massage tool, right? So some people have the back buddies where they use, you know, these wands or these instruments to massage different parts of your body. This is no different. This is just using a wand to insert into the rectum or into the vagina to treat your pelvic floor muscles. And just like any other muscles in your body, if your muscles feel tight, if they are tender, some people will report that they have muscle knots or these areas that feel restricted. And they use a massage tool or they use a back buddy to massage different parts of their body to release tension, to release tightness. This is exactly what we're doing with this wand. But we insert it into the vagina and/or we insert it into the rectum. My friends who do orthopedic physical therapy, just like myself, right? So I'm an orthopedic physical therapist, meaning that I treat necks, backs, shoulders, knees, whatever. My orthopedic friends say, How do you do pelvic floor physical therapy? I'm so confused. And I say, Well, it's no different than orthopedic physical therapy. It's just that as a pelvic floor therapist, I'm treating inside of an orifice. It's like a cave, right? And so I'm treating into areas that I can't see, but I'm treating by feel. So that's exactly what these wands do. They allow you to insert into the rectum. They allow you to insert into the vagina and treat your pelvic floor structures. So this is a wand, this is what it looks like. And if you're curious, you can uh search into the internet pelvic floor wands, vaginal wands, rectal wands, and you'll get some things that come up on your search engine so that you can look at these wands yourself. On that note, let's talk about the different types of wands that are out there. The pelvic floor industry and the tools that are out now have come a long way. So these wands nowadays are very different than when I first started in pelvic floor physical therapy. So, for example, this is an older wand. It's clear, it's plastic, it's pretty hard, and it's a little bit larger. They have wands that are much smaller in size now. They have wands that are still hard plastic, but they have wands that come in silicone, so they're nice and flexible. There are wands that heat up, there are wands that you can cool down, they have ones that vibrate, they have some that are shorter in size, they have some that are longer in size. And one of my favorite wands that's on the market, it's flexible. So it's a pretty long wand, which I really appreciate, and it's pretty flexible. So you can bend it into different shapes. You can make it into a long arc, you can straighten it. It's pretty awesome. So that particular wand that is pretty flexible is my favorite. And like I said, there are wands that are specific to vaginal use, there are wands that are specific to rectal use, and they are thinner, thicker, et cetera. When choosing a wand, it is important to consider if you're looking for something with temperature, if you're looking for something that vibrates, if you're looking for something that's long or short. Do you require a wand with a handle? Are you looking for something that's a little bit harder, material like plastic, or are you looking for something that's more soft and flexible like silicone? All those considerations, but the most important consideration is are you able to use a wand that feels comfortable for you inside your body, outside of your body, but also are you able to reach your targeted body part while you are in a comfortable position? So check them out, see what's out there, and choose one that is the best fit for you. Before using a pelvic floor wand, there are some non-negotiables. First and foremost, it is extremely important to get clearance from your medical doctor and or your healthcare provider before starting any pelvic floor wand treatment, either externally or internally. Second non-negotiable is that you work with a pelvic floor physical therapist or a pelvic floor expert so they can show you exactly where and how to use your pelvic floor wand correctly. For example, when working with my clients, typically what I do during our session is I will treat them manually, meaning I'm treating their pelvic floor either externally or internally with my hands first so that they can feel what it's like for me to treat their soft tissues. Then we introduce the wand to the patient during their session and they use the wand on themselves. So I'm there to guide them and how to use it. We work on different positioning. But most importantly, I want them to compare what it felt like for me to treat them with my hands first. Then they use the wand and I say, okay, does that feel about the same? Does it feel similar? Are you in the right place? Right. And I'm double checking that. So I'm having the patient feel what it's like for me to treat them first manually. Then we use the wand together so that they know that they're in the right place, they're using the right pressure. And I am double checking, making sure that they are using the wand appropriately. After showing the patient how to use the wand during our treatment session, they try it at home. Then we have a return session so that if the patient has any questions or wants to show me anything, then we can review together as well. We can review any questions that they have, review techniques. So this is not a solo mission situation where you are just experimenting by yourself and not knowing what to do. This is a guided treatment with a healthcare provider in session and after, so that you are getting your questions answered, you're reviewing your techniques with your healthcare provider to make sure that you're doing this correctly and effectively. When using a pelvic floor wand, you always, always, always want to use a lubricant. So you're going to put lubricant on the wand, the part that's going to go into the body. You want to put lubricant on the orifice. So at the opening of the vagina or the opening of the rectum. Then you want to put a little bit of lubricant inside. So inside the vagina or inside the rectum. If you're using the wand externally, you want to make sure that you have a medium on the skin. So, for example, with my clients, we use things like freeup. It's a cream that doesn't have a scent to it, and it lets you glide over the skin pretty easily so that you're not using a dry wand on dry skin. Now let's talk about how to actually use the wand. First thing is setup. Make sure you have all of your products near you. That includes your wand, obviously, your lubricant, any towels that you might need, maybe a mirror so you can see what you're doing, some pillows to support your body, and a comfortable place to rest your body. For example, on your bed or on your couch. It is extremely important that your body feels supported and you are relaxed while using your pelvic floor wand. For example, you can place yourself on your bed with your back and your head resting comfortably on your headboard and placing some pillows underneath your knees to support your body so you can fully relax, feel supported, and reach the orifices that you're trying to treat. Or you can lay on your side with your head resting on pillows, placing two or more pillows in between your knees and your ankles. And then now you can reach forward to reach the vaginal area, or you can reach backward to reach your rectal area. All the while your body is nice and supported so it can relax. So now you have your products ready. You are in your comfortable supported position. Now I would suggest starting with total body relaxation and belly breathing. If you're not sure how to do that, refer to my podcast episode number two, where I review how to do this and take you through a total body relaxation belly breath practice. Using your pelvic floor wand, there are different techniques. Just like you would use a tool to massage different parts of your body. This is no different except for you're on your pelvic floor. So you can do little pressing techniques. You can press gently into these tissues. You could do little sweeps where you're sweeping along the tissue. You can do little circles, little circular strokes. You can do a gentle hold and stretch. Okay. So different techniques using the wand. I'm going to quickly go over some of these techniques externally. Then I'll go over the same techniques how to use internally. So for those of you who are watching on YouTube, you can see my pelvic model here. This is a model of a penis owner. And the penis has been removed, but the pelvic floor muscles are still here. So imagine that this model has skin over it. So if you're lying down or lying on your side, however you want to use it, now you have your cream on your skin. You can get out your pelvic floor wand. And now you can gently press into this tissue. Just press around. So if you want to press around the base of the penis, if you want to press around the external angle sphincter or around the tissues that connect into the tailbone, you can do that. I'm also going to demonstrate on a model that is an owner of a vagina and a vulva. So same thing here, you can press into these soft tissues. Okay. You can do gentle light sweeps. So if I want to sweep along this tissue, you can do circles, little circles around different areas. So basically, when you're using your pelvic floor wand externally, you're looking for any areas that are tight, that are tender. Okay. So most people who are using wands have pain. So let your pain be your guide, right? So you can easily find these different uh muscles, these different areas of tension. Maybe you feel these bands of tightness. You can use the wand to massage circular, you know, moving around in different circles, sweeps, gentle hold and stretch. So this is a nice way to treat your pelvic floor muscles externally. Now let's talk about how to treat your pelvic floor muscles internally. You again are going to be in your comfortable position. You can do some belly breathing, some total body relaxation. You might do some pelvic floor opening or some pelvic floor elongation. Whatever you need to do to get yourself as comfortable as possible. You can light candles, you can play some relaxing music. Some people like to put a little warm pack on their pelvic floor before they do this treatment. Whatever you desire, whatever's going to help you feel the most comfortable and relaxed, that's what you want to do. When using your wand internally, you want to make sure that you have lubricant on the wand, the part that's going to be inserted into the body. Then you want to put lubricant at the opening and definitely inside the opening. So you want to be in a comfortable position, relax, do your breathing. Then you want to gently insert the wand into the orifice. Okay. So again, there shouldn't be any pain when you insert the wand into your orifice, either vaginally or rectally. You're going very slow. You're breathing as you insert. For some folks, they may need to do a big belly breath, open and elongate their pelvic floor as they insert the wand inside. Once the wand is inside, then you can do some of those same techniques that we talked about externally. You can do little presses. So you can press down into the tissue. You can do some stretching. So lightly stretching at the opening, lightly stretching at the tissues. You can do this rectally, you can do this vaginally. On YouTube, I'm showing how to use the wand with a model. So you can see this. Inserting the wand. Now I can gently press into these tissues, just do a gentle press and hold, breathe, relax, release. I can do sweeps where I sweep down the muscle. I can sweep through these muscles using the wand. I can press into the pelvic floor muscles. Again, I can do little circles to massage that muscle. I can do some stretching. So I can kind of hold and stretch the muscle a little bit. So let's say you have tailbone pain. I can come down here on that coccygeus muscle that attaches to your coccyx, hold and stretch that tissue. So you're just gonna go through your pelvic floor muscles, your pelvic floor soft tissues, and explore and see do you have any pain? Do you have any tenderness? Are you able to locate the area of your body that is tight, that's tender, that's been causing your symptoms? Can you reproduce your symptoms with the wand? That's really good too, because then now you know exactly where to go to treat it. So this is a great tool. You can insert rectally, you can insert vaginally, finding the areas of pain and treating them. You're going lightly, you are not pushing hard into these structures. Some folks may ask, how do I know if I am treating muscle versus bone? Very simple, great question. You're gonna contract your muscles and then relax. If that tissue that you're on moves, right, with the contraction or relaxation, if it gets stiff and then softens, you're on a soft tissue, aka contractile uh structure. If you're on something that's hard and it feels bony and you contract and you relax and nothing changes, it stays really hard and bony, then you're on bone. So we don't want to rub on bone with the wand. We're obviously not going to soften the bone, right? Um, you really want to stay on the soft tissue structures when using a pelvic floor wand. Harder is not better. Light is right. Okay. I just want to repeat that. You do not need to push hard when treating your pelvic floor. In fact, I recommend against it. They did the study where they had pressure gauges on pelvic floor wands and they had people who identified as men and people who identified as women using pelvic floor wands. And what they found in this study is that people who identified as men applied more pressure when treating their pelvic floor. And the results of the study show that they found no statistical difference between those who pushed hard and those who pushed lighter in treating your pelvic floor. So please do not push hard when treating your pelvic floor with a wand. I repeat, do not do it. If you piss off a nerve, it's gonna let you know. So if you have nerve pain and/or if you have muscular pain and you push too hard and you really get in there with the wand and are aggressively treating yourself, you will irritate some things and you're gonna piss off a nerve and it's gonna give you more pain. It can give you more numbness and more tingling if that's part of your symptom profile. So please do not do this. Okay. So light is right. Go super light, go slow. You wanna treat yourself over time. This is not a situation where you're gonna insert the wand and you're like, I'm gonna treat this pain tonight, right? Please don't do that. Uh, don't do that to any part of your body, not even your pelvic floor. Like, don't do that to your neck or your back, okay? You wanna move gently. If there is an area of your pelvic floor that is super tender, treat around it, okay? If you have a spot that is just really, really ouchy, they'll say, oh my gosh, that's really tender, that's really tight, no problem. Treat around that tissue area for a little bit and then come back to it, reassess it. Most likely after treating the structures around it, that particular pinpoint where it was really tender or really tight, that probably has gotten better. If it's still super tender, again, go around, treat a different area, come back in and check on it. If it's too tender to treat right on that area that day, no problem. You're gonna come back to it, let yourself rest for a couple days at your next self-treatment session, see if you can treat it. And that's actually really good feedback to know that you're making progress. Go slow, be gentle. Over time, this tissue will respond to treatment and it will get better. Which leads us into the topic of what to expect when treating yourself with a wand. Every person responds differently to manual therapy. Every person responds differently to wand therapy. And that is okay, and that is absolutely normal. For some folks that I treat, they feel better immediately. So after I do manual therapy andor after we incorporate wand treatment into their session, they may say, actually, my tissue feels softer, my symptoms have decreased. That's great. That is their response to treatment. However, I have other patients when I treat them manually and or we treat them with a wand, they say, actually, my uh my symptoms are a little flared, right? I have more symptoms in that area. That's okay too. That can be a normal response for some people. They may flare, not really flare, but you know, their symptoms kind of increase during that treatment session, just like if they were to get a deep tissue massage. But over the next few days, their symptoms decrease and they feel much better. So that's a different type of response, right? What you're tracking is how you feel over time. So often I tell patients, it's not what you feel in the moment. So week to week, you should be noticing that overall your symptoms are decreasing, you are feeling better, your tissue flexibility is improving, and your pelvic floor function is improving. What are some red flags when using a wand and when you should call your healthcare provider? First red flag is if you have any bleeding. You should not have any bleeding, period. So, for example, if you have a wound in the vagina or a wound in the rectum, do not use a pelvic floor wand. If you have stitches in the area, do not use a pelvic floor wand. Wait until your tissues are healed, the stitches are out, and you've been cleared by your MD. If you have an active fissure, or if you have active hemorrhoids that are bleeding, any bleeding at all, any sores, any wounds, do not use a pelvic floor wand. Get clearance from your MD andor health care provider before starting a pelvic floor wand practice, andor have. Them check that you're doing it correctly once you've started. Let's say you don't have any active bleeding before you start wand use, but when you remove the wand, either vaginally or rectally, you see a little blood on the wand. Definitely let your healthcare provider know. Stop using the wand so that they can do an examination and see why that's happening. Another red flag that would indicate that you need to stop using the wand and contact your healthcare provider is if your symptoms are getting worse or if your pain is outside your normal range. That may include your pain is increasing, your pain symptoms are changing and they're getting worse. Maybe you have nerve symptoms like numbness and tingling, and that's getting worse. Whatever the case may be, whatever is outside of your normal range, stop using the wand. Let your healthcare provider know so they can do an examination and help you problem solve to see what's going on. Often patients ask, how long, how often should I use my wand? That is very individualized, and that varies from patient to patient depending on your condition and your clinical presentation. So your pelvic floor physical therapist or healthcare provider will guide you and give you individualized recommendations for frequency and duration. Typically, I tell my clients that during each session, you're looking for a change in tissue and/or a change in symptoms by at least 20%. So, for example, if you're treating an area of your body that is tight and tender andor painful, gently treat it, treat around that area until one, you feel a change in the tissue structure. So maybe it was really tight, maybe it was really restricted, but now the tissue feels softer, you have more mobility, you have better flexibility, maybe you can contract better, maybe you can relax a little bit better, that's an indication to stop that that session for today is done. And or if you feel a change in your symptoms. So oftentimes if you're having pain, or if you're having sensations of tightness or any other uncomfortable sensation, and you're using the wand, let's say for about eight to 10 minutes, and your symptoms have decreased by about 20%, that's a good time to stop for the day. You never want to push through tissue, you never want to push hard. You can irritate things and make things worse. Plus, we want to protect the organ structures in your body, like the prostate, the uterus, if you have either one of those, the bladder, your rectum, your urethra. You never want to go hard or push through anything. You want to go slow and be gentle. You want to test things and build up gradually over two weeks. So, for example, you want to treat yourself with a wand and then see how you feel over the next two days. Based on how you feel, you may change your treatment session. So if you have a really big increase in symptoms, you're not getting relief, let your healthcare provider know. Maybe don't go as hard and maybe have more time in between your wand sessions. If you feel pretty good, then you probably did it just right. When starting off, I typically will have my patients use the wand, wait two days, see how they feel, then use it again. They do this for about one to two weeks. Oftentimes I get a text message or a voicemail or an email from my patient and say, Hey, I'm feeling really good. I'm getting really good results from the wand. Can I use it every day? I always ask. I'm like, I'm okay with that. As long as, number one, you know your response to treatment. What is your response to treatment? What is the typical response that you have that you've noticed so far? They let me know what their response to treatment is. I see, okay, now we know what's normal for you. If you are feeling anything outside of this normal increase of symptoms, or your symptoms are spreading, something like that, then we back off, we stop, and I want you to consult me. This communication is really important. Once I get these answers from my patient, I give them the clearance to go ahead. I do have some patients that use the wand a little bit every day, and they do just fine. For most of my clients, I have to say, they probably use their wand something like three times a week, and that's a really good interval for them. While other patients, maybe they only use it once or twice a week. It really depends patient to patient. Also, I might have some clients that use the wand first and then they use their dilator. So if you're one of those people who are using a dilator because you have pelvic floor pain and/or you're trying to get to a place where you can accept pain-free and pleasurable vaginal or rectal penetration, check out my episode on dilators. The link will be down in the show notes. Now let's talk about which conditions might benefit from pelvic floor wand use. I'm obviously not going to be able to list all of the conditions in this podcast episode, but basically, a wand is used to treat any pelvic floor tension, any pelvic floor pain, any scar tissue, any restrictions that somebody has in their pelvic floor, either externally or internally, can be treated with a pelvic floor wand. Some examples may include painful penetration, like I talked about before. Some people choose to use the wand before. So they're massaging their pelvic floor muscles externally, they're massaging their pelvic floor muscles internally. They may stretch their vaginal opening a little bit, they may stretch their rectal opening a little bit, and then use a dilator. For some people who have a spot or an area of their pelvic floor that has pain with penetration, they can use the wand to really target that area and treat it pretty effectively and pretty quickly. We use pelvic floor wands to treat scar tissue. This may include scars from stitching. Maybe you've had a tear after you had a vaginal delivery. Maybe you have scar tissue after having pelvic surgery. There's so many different pelvic surgeries out there. Maybe you had endopesiotomy. Basically, we're using the wands to treat that scar tissue. We want to make sure that your scar is mobile, it's non-tender. This allows the tissue to contract, to relax, and to stretch and expand. All of those are super important for a healthy, strong pelvic floor, but also one that's mobile enough that allows you to urinate, defecate, and have pain-free, pleasurable sex. Basically, we want to make sure that you can pee poop and have sex and that scar tissue is not restricting any of that. We also want to make sure that your scar tissue is not restricting you when you're contracting or relaxing your tissue, because we want to make sure that we rehabilitate your scars so that they're strong but yet flexible. I've also used pelvic for once for patients before they have a pelvic surgery. For example, if you are going to have a total knee replacement, my job as a physical therapist in doing prehab is to make sure that you have great knee range of motion. You can bend your knee, you can straighten your knee as far as we can. We want to make sure that we're strengthening you, not only your legs and your lower extremities, but your whole body. We're getting you in the best shape as possible before your surgery so that your post-op recovery is faster and more efficient. Your pelvic floor is no different. If you are going to have pelvic surgery for a variety of reasons, I think it's important that you see a pelvic floor physical therapist so that we can make sure that your tissues are flexible, you're strong, you're not having any pain, you're not having any areas of restriction, so that postoperatively you are rehabbing really well. So, for example, I've had some patients who see me before they have pelvic surgery, and I find that they have tightness or they have restrictions or they have areas of pain. So we will typically have them use a pelvic floor wand pre-surgery to treat all of that out before their surgery. So I and their surgeon know that they're walking into that surgery pain-free. This is also helpful so that after their surgery, once they're cleared for pelvic floor physical therapy and they're cleared for wand use, if they need a wand to treat any scars, any tightness or areas of pain, then they already know how to use it. We've gone through it together. They know what's normal, they know what's not, so that their post-op rehabilitation process is much faster and much more efficient. Some other conditions and or diagnoses that might benefit from wand use may include painful bladder syndrome, people who have extreme menstrual pain, also called dysmenorrhea or endometriosis, constipation because of pelvic outlet syndrome or pelvic portitness, people who have hemorrhoids or rectal pain, or a phenomenon called proctalgiafugax, where there's spasming of the muscles around the anus, pain with sex, vaginal or rectal pain, scarring, pain or restrictions after radiation treatment, difficulty accepting penetration vaginally or rectally, or difficulty using tampons or inserting menstrual cups, pelvic floor spasms, pain with arousal or pain with orgasm or climax, vulvar pain, any type of pelvic pain, penile pain, testicular pain, tailbone pain, pain with sitting. Like I said, there's so many different diagnoses. I'm not going to be able to name them all. But basically, a pelvic floor wand is a tool that we can use to treat pain, scar tissue restrictions, muscular tightness, andor other symptoms that are a bother to you. So if you're having any of these symptoms, contact your healthcare provider or your local pelvic for a physical therapist and see if pelvic wand therapy is right for you. But remember, you need to have your MD andor healthcare provider clear you so that you can start pelvic wand therapy, have them guide you on how to use it, and make sure that you connect with your healthcare provider after you've used the wand so that you can ask any questions to them and make sure that you're using the wand appropriately and correctly. Go slow, be gentle, track your symptoms week to week, not day by day. Stop and check in if anything feels off or if you have bleeding. Pelvic floor wand physical therapy is not strange. It's not weird. It's just like massaging any other part of your body. You're just using a tool like a back buddy, right? Like a back buddy, you would massage your back, you would massage your neck. In fact, I've used my pelvic floor wand to treat my neck, to treat different parts of my body. You're just treating your pelvic floor just like you would any other part of your body. We do it internally, we do it externally. It's not a big deal. Actually, it's really helpful, and many patients get a ton of relief if done correctly. Thank you so much for spending time with me today. I know you can spend your time anywhere, and I'm so happy that you're here with me. If you have a friend or family member who would benefit from this episode, please like, share, and comment. This is how this information gets in front of the people who need it. Please feel free to reach out to me on Instagram, on YouTube, on Spotify, on Apple Podcasts, ask me questions, let me know if there's any other topics you'd like me to cover. I am here to help you. Remember, you're not broken. Care is out there that could help your pelvic pain and or your pelvic floor dysfunction. You're not alone, and you will get better, you will get through this. Thanks for joining me today. I hope this was helpful, and I'll see you in the next episode. Thank you so much for joining me in today's episode of the Alexis Anderson Podcast. I hope you learned something that brings you more clarity, validation, and compassion for your body and your journey. If this episode supported you or you think you could help someone else, please share it, leave a review, or send it to someone who might need to hear it. And if you're a clinician or a patient looking for more resources, tools, or support, you'll find everything linked in the show notes. Remember, you're not alone, you're not broken. And treatment exists that treats you as a whole person. I'll see you in the next episode.