Meeting Me

By Dr. Kavitha

I had known I wanted to enter the medical field for as long as I can remember. I grew up watching both my parents serve as physicians: my mother as an OB/GYN and my father as a pediatrician. I thought I would be a physician like them. I attended medical school for more than a year but found out quickly that it was not the field for me. I would faint at the sight of blood! The way events were unfolding showed me it was not God’s plan for my life.

However, I was still passionate about wanting to serve people doing something that didn’t involve handling and dealing with blood or the stress of being a physician. I wanted to make a difference in people’s lives, improve their overall quality of life.

I found this quote somewhere in my travels and adopted it as mine: “Doctors add years to your life; I (as a PT) add life to your years.”

This started my journey to discover what I wanted to do in the healthcare field. I applied to different colleges, but none of them got back to me like PT. I got into a PT school even past the deadline. And once in PT school, I excelled in education and enjoyed studying as well. It was meant to be.

I was on my way to becoming a physical therapist. I got my Bachelors in Physiotherapy in India followed by my Doctor of Physical Therapy from Temple University in Philadelphia and Postdoctoral certification from Herman and Wallace.

I worked as an orthopedic PT for about 10 years, at which point I needed more challenge and variety in my work. This got me thinking “What else can I do in the area of PT and what do I want to specialize in?”

This was around the time I gave birth to my first child, my son. As joyous and momentous as that event in my life was, the postpartum recovery was a whole different ball game. I had pelvic floor issues and needed a pelvic floor therapist. The closest one was an hour away, which wouldn’t work with my schedule and having a newborn. I decided to rehab myself, and, since I had knowledge of anatomy and physiology, I was successful.

I began to realize the importance of pelvic floor PT and the lack of awareness and availability of access to such care. I explored the pathway to becoming a pelvic floor PT. It took me 2 years to prepare to take my board exam for pelvic rehabilitation practitioner certification (PRPC). I received my PRPC from Herman and Wallace Pelvic Institute and have been working as a pelvic floor PT for the past 6 years in various capacities. I’m part of a practice exclusively for pelvic floor PT, treating men, women, and children.

I am also a certified pregnancy postpartum corrective exercise specialist (PCES), specializing in pregnancy and the postpartum stage of life. We hold monthly birth prep classes at our clinic to teach women to deliver babies in a way that is least harmful to the pelvic floor and to have an easier recovery than I had.

As background, pelvic floor physical therapy is a special branch of PT involving and treating dysfunction of the pelvic floor muscles, including the bladder bowel and sexual dysfunctions. Common conditions that we address are:

  • incontinence
  • overactive bladder
  • pelvic pain
  • pelvic organ prolapse
  • constipation
  • painful intercourse
  • pregnancy-related pelvic girdle pain low back pain and hip pain
  • diastasis recti
  • sitting pain or coccyx pain, and more

As the owner of BeWhole Pelvic PT, my mission is to help patients have lasting symptom relief in a truly holistic and effective manner. I treat the whole person. I am passionate about finding the root cause even if it takes time to first address the root cause of the symptoms so that the results from the treatment would “stick”. I give you all the tools to help keep issues at bay. I know I’ve done my job when you can live your life again.

So what is it like to work with me?
The initial evaluation usually takes an hour. I examine you to find the root cause of your symptoms and address it. After the exam, I summarize my findings and come up with a plan of care and the number of sessions that would be effective to reach your goals and find lasting symptom relief. I am also easily available via text or a phone call in between sessions to answer any questions or address concerns that may come up.

I am thrilled to start this new chapter as an entrepreneur. I never imagined I would start my own practice when I entered PT. It was not my idea to start my practice…it was inspired by God, my personal journey of healing, and my mother who was my biggest cheerleader from the start.

In future issues, I’ll discuss each one of the pelvic floor dysfunctions in succession as it builds one on top of the other, so please don’t miss an issue.

If you think you or someone you know might benefit from pelvic floor PT, if you have interest in the profession yourself, or if you would simply just like to say Hi, I would love to hear from you. Feel free to reach out to me at bewholepelvicpt@gmail.com