Did you know that about 1 in 3 women live with a pelvic floor disorder — leaks, urgency, pressure, pain during sex — and that most of these are treatable? I built Floored after needing relief from postpartum pelvic symptoms but receiving cookie-cutter care. Since then, I’ve specialized and built a practice focused on providing lasting relief from common pelvic health symptoms. So if you’ve been thinking about an evaluation but haven’t scheduled one, this is for you.
So why do so many of us wait? A 2025 study of over 1,000 women with urinary incontinence found that half had delayed seeking care — most often because of cost, fear, or believing the condition wasn’t even treatable. Nearly half thought nothing could be done. And rushed, generic healthcare hasn’t helped: a seven-minute appointment that ends in a “do your Kegels” handout — with no one ever assessing why you have symptoms — teaches a lot of women that seeking help isn’t worth it. I learned that one firsthand.
But “treatable” isn’t a sales word — it’s what the research shows. A Cochrane review found that women who did properly-guided pelvic floor muscle training were roughly twice as likely to report being cured or improved, and it’s recommended as first-line treatment — before medications, before surgery. Common is not the same as normal, and normal is not the same as permanent.
Still, I get that “book now” may not be where you are today. So while you’re thinking it over, here are three things worth doing — each one will make your decision easier and your eventual care better.
1. Track your symptoms — write them down, don’t estimate them
For one or two weeks, keep a simple daily note: leaks (how many, doing what), urgency episodes, bathroom trips, pain (when, what kind), anything you skipped because of symptoms. Symptom diaries are a standard clinical tool for a reason — memory smooths things over, but a written record shows the true pattern. “It’s not that bad” often doesn’t survive two weeks of honest tally marks. And whatever you decide, that record makes a first evaluation far more useful.
2. Start the three foundation habits — and note what changes
Relax when you use the bathroom (feet on a footstool, sit all the way down, no straining, no “just in case” peeing). Exhale when you lift anything heavy instead of holding your breath. Move and strengthen your whole body. I explain each in Keep Your Pelvic Floor Happy With These 3 Things.
Treat it as an experiment: a few honest weeks, tracked in your notes from #1. If mild symptoms improve — great, useful information. If nothing budges, that’s useful too: it suggests the cause needs assessing, not more guessing. (One thing habits and internet advice can’t do is tell you why you have symptoms — a weak floor, a tight overactive floor, and a coordination problem can all look identical from the outside, and the wrong plan for the wrong cause, like Kegels on a tight floor, can stall you or set you back.)
3. Notice what you’ve stopped doing
The sneakiest cost of pelvic floor symptoms isn’t the symptom — it’s the shrinking. The runs skipped, the trampoline avoided, the intimacy dodged, always knowing where every bathroom is. Add a line for this in your notes. Symptom counts measure severity; the list of things you’ve quietly given up measures what waiting is actually costing you.
When waiting isn’t safe
Most of this post says “take your time deciding.” These are the exceptions, said plainly:
Pain with sex and pressure, heaviness, or a bulging feeling — like something is sitting low — are evaluate-first symptoms. Not emergencies, not reasons to panic, but not territory for trial and error, because the cause matters too much. The same goes for symptoms that are clearly getting worse month over month.
What an evaluation with me looks like — and why it’s built this way
Sixty minutes, one-on-one. Mostly a conversation: your symptoms, your history, your notes if you’ve kept them. Then we assess how your whole body works together — breathing, movement, how your hips, core, and pelvic floor coordinate. An internal exam happens only if you’re comfortable. You leave knowing what’s going on — and from there, you’re not handed a Kegel sheet and passed off to support staff. If you choose to continue, it’s a one-on-one care journey with me: a custom plan built around your body and your goals, and personal access to me along the way.
Floored is self-pay by design — no insurance billing codes deciding what your visit can include. That’s what buys the full hour and a plan built around your goals instead of a generic protocol. (Oregon and California residents receive superbill receipts to submit for possible reimbursement.)
You don’t have to be “bad enough” to book. You just have to be done guessing. When you are, book your evaluation here.
