Pelvic Health Services

Nearly 1 in 3 women experience some form of pelvic floor dysfunction, including incontinence, frequency and urgency of urination, pelvic pressure or heaviness, pelvic pain, and sexual problems.

At Mayo Clinic Health System, we provide comprehensive, individualized care for women’s pelvic health and reconstructive surgery. Our team of experts work with you to diagnose and evaluate potential issues, and design a treatment plan specific to your needs.

Learn more about: 

• Pelvic health conditions
• Treatment options
• What to expect at an appointment
• Why you should choose us for your pelvic health care

Pelvic health conditions

We treat the following pelvic health conditions:

• Bowel or fecal incontinence is the inadvertent escape of flatus or partial soiling of undergarments with liquid stool, and the involuntary excretion of feces.
• Chronic pelvic pain is pain in the lower part of your abdomen that lasts longer than six months.
• Constipation is defined as having less than three bowel movements per week.
• Dyspareunia is painful sexual intercourse.
• Urinary incontinence and urge urinary incontinence are involuntary loss of urine due to lack of bladder control. Watch a video to learn more.
• Overactive bladder is the sudden urge to urinate. This condition may be due to your bladder's inability to store urine.
• Pelvic organ prolapse occurs when pelvic organs slip out of place due to weakened muscles and ligaments. It often gives the sensation or feeling of sitting on a ball, or pelvic pressure or heaviness.
• Urinary stress incontinence occurs when physical activity places pressure on the bladder, resulting in the loss of urine.

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Treatment options

Our pelvic health experts offer a large variety of treatment options from lifestyle changes and medication to physical therapy and advanced minimally invasive surgery. Mayo Clinic Health System's providers will work with you to find the treatment option that best meets your needs and lifestyle. A combination of treatments may be needed.

Nonsurgical treatments

You may benefit from simple lifestyle modifications and exercises that build pelvic floor muscles. Many women find these nonsurgical treatment alternatives extremely beneficial at easing their symptoms and dramatically improving their quality of life.

Medications

Medications can be used to treat a number of pelvic health issues, such as constipation, fecal incontinence, overactive bladder, painful intercourse (dyspareunia) and pelvic pain, based on your individual needs and medical conditions.

Pelvic floor exercises

Pelvic floor exercises strengthen pelvic floor muscles may help relieve urinary and anal incontinence.

Pessary

A pessary is a device that is inserted into the vagina to support the pelvic floor muscles. It can relieve symptoms associated with pelvic organ prolapse and sometimes urinary incontinence.

Physical therapy

Physical therapists who specialize in pelvic health evaluate pelvic floor functions to create an individualized physician therapy treatment plan when strengthening exercises are not enough.

Surgical treatments

Sometimes simple lifestyle changes, physical therapy or medications are not enough to treat pelvic floor conditions, and surgery may be required. However, many of today's surgeries are noninvasive and often can be performed as outpatient procedures. 

Minimally invasive surgery

For many women, surgical treatment is the right choice for a pelvic floor disorder. Today's surgical options, including robotic surgery, are minimally invasive and require little to no hospital stay.

Sacral nerve stimulation or modulation

Patients with urinary incontinence, overactive bladder and fecal incontinence who do not respond to more conservative treatments may be treated with sacral nerve stimulation or modulation, where a neurostimulation device is implanted in the body.

Transvaginal obturator sling

Transvaginal obturator sling procedures are minimally invasive procedures used to treat urinary incontinence, or leakage of urine, with coughing, sneezing and other physical activity.

Some services are available at certain locations. Ask your health care provider to help you find the nearest location for a services or procedure not offered locally.

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What to expect

Your provider will assess your symptoms and needs, answer questions, manage and recommend treatment options, refer you for other appropriate treatments, and follow up with you to ensure satisfactory results.

Before your first visit, you may receive a questionnaire and bladder diary to complete and bring with you to your first appointment. These tools will help the OB-GYN team understand symptoms, past treatment, history and expectations.

At your first visit, you can expect to discuss your concerns, symptoms and questionnaire, as well as diagnosis and treatment options. You also will receive a detailed physical exam. You and your provider will work together to find a treatment plan that is appropriate for your lifestyle.

The OB-GYN team will work with you to schedule any further diagnostic tests, lab tests or appointments that you will need for further evaluation, testing or follow-up.

Learn how the experts helped Kathy Myhre's pelvic health issue.

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Why choose us? 

The highest level of expertise: Mayo Clinic Health System brings together a multidisciplinary team of therapy and surgical professionals, including board-certified experts trained in urogynecological care, who hold academic appointments at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science. Whether you have a single concern or a combination of issues, we have the expertise and training to help.

Specialty care close to home: Patients appreciate that they can receive all the specialty care services they need, without the need for excessive travel or visits to multiple clinics. Our team of women’s pelvic health professionals work closely and are conveniently located at our New Prague and Mankato locations.

Treatment options: We provide nonsurgical and surgical treatments for pelvic floor disorders, including pelvic reconstructive surgery. Our surgeons are trained in the latest surgical techniques and medical treatments, including advanced robotic surgery and minimally invasive techniques to treat urogynecologic issues.

Compassionate care: Pelvic health dysfunction may cause women to feel socially isolated, experience sexual inhibition, or become afraid to make social or travel plans. Careers and personal relationships are often impacted. Yet many don’t seek care because they don’t know that treatment is available or think the condition is too minor or embarrassing to pursue. Our health care professionals understand this, and treat each patient with understanding and compassion.

Personalized treatment: The care you receive is unique to your needs. Pelvic floor disorders affect women in several ways. Our team of specialists create individualized treatment plans to address each woman’s needs and preferences.

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