Reframe Pelvic Girdle Pain: A 21st Century Approach

Overview

This course enables participants to REFRAME lumbopelvic pain during pregnancy and beyond. Lumbopelvic Pain can be a frightening and overwhelming problem in pregnancy and beyond. This course will help you to better understand this common clinical presentation, which has little to do with the hormone relaxin! 

Pregnancy-related pelvic girdle pain (PPGP) is a separate diagnostic classification which may affect over half of all pregnant women with symptoms persisting well beyond the post-partum period. Although largely theoretical, PPGP is currently thought to be due to a diminished capacity for the pelvis to accept and transfer load. Several risk factors have been identified including pre-existing lumbopelvic pain, multiparity, previous pelvic trauma and emotional stress. Further, postpartum depression and identified anxiety have consistently been associated with PPGP. Physical therapists are very well positioned to deliver effective evidence-based care for women with PPGP.

In this course, participants will apply their knowledge of PPGP including pathomechanical background, etiological factors, classification and diagnosis, examination and intervention. A main focus of this course content relates to emerging data and associated theories related to pain science, HPA axis dysregulation and psychologically informed care concerning PPGP. Participants will understand the drivers that are relevant and as such learn to help their clients understand how to de-threaten the systems that are relevant to this clinical presentation. A systems biology perspective will be considered with a review of the importance of understanding over-recruiting and under-recruiting the pelvic floor musculature.

Evidence-based assessment and treatment techniques will be emphasized. Clinical vignettes will be used as a tool to apply all care concepts and inform healthcare professionals how evidence-informed cognitive approaches to care “fit” the established science relative to PPGP.

This course can also be complimented by the companion resource package found here.

Learning objectives

Upon completion of this course, participants will be able to:

1. Summarize the current literature on pregnancy-related pelvic girdle pain (PPGP), including etiology, risk factors, and prognostic indicators.

2. Justify appropriate assessment and intervention strategies for PPGP, including both primary and secondary prevention approaches.

3. Integrate emerging care models with traditional biomechanical perspectives, identifying strategies that are evidence-informed versus those that are outdated.

4. Apply evidence-based care principles for PPGP within a primary health care context, emphasizing the roles of physical therapists and other primary care providers.

Note

This course was originally a live course spanning two sessions that were intentionally spaced two weeks apart. After Day 1, live participants were expected to review several live sessions that demonstrated the application of care strategies that were then discussed in detail on Day 2. Both sessions were recorded and are now available together in this course, including several case studies, so you can learn at your own pace!

Audience

This online course is for all healthcare professionals, including physiotherapists and occupational therapists, who treat patients with pelvic girdle pain.