Owner and Founder of Empower Yourself PT
Psst! Do you sometimes pee on yourself a little? When you laugh, or run, or jump? Or right when you get into the bathroom and begin unbuttoning your pants - as if your bladder gave a little sigh of relief? This happens to a lot (most) women, even those that haven’t had babies. It is so common we joke with each other about it, and then avoid doing things we might otherwise enjoy. Incontinence is so common among women that it is just considered “one of those things” that happens after having a baby, with age, or weight gain. It is inevitable like grey hair and wrinkles right? Nope, although it is common, it isn’t normal.
Did you know you had a pelvic floor AND it could need therapy?
There is a whole specialty many people have never even heard of: Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy. BAM! I know, right?! Did you know you had a pelvic floor AND it could need therapy? In fact everyone (even men) have pelvic floors and from time to time they can use a little extra attention. Pelvic floor PT isn’t just for incontinence but diastasis recti, fascial adhesions, post-surgical scar tissue in the pelvic floor, low back, and abdomen, vaginismus, painful intercourse, vulvodynia, painful periods, endometriosis, rectal pain, and more.
Let me now introduce you to Karen Kowenski, a pelvic floor physical therapist and owner/founder of Empower Yourself PT. Not only does Karen have more than 10 years of experience specializing in pelvic floor PT, she is dry needling certified, a certified pilates rehabilitation practitioner, and completed Julie Wiebe’s courses of Piston Breathing and training the Female Athlete.
Karen’s mission is to Empower women with confidence and care. “In this day and age, it's hard to be a woman that has it all, does it all, and makes it look effortless. It is really an unrealistic expectation. Nevertheless, as women, we persevere.”
You want to get back to your baseline postpartum? great!
You want to lift heavy weights? Awesome!
You want to make sure you can relax your pelvic floor muscles while birthing? Yes!
Karen's motivation is her patients' success. “Just last week my patient was able to run 5 miles after the birth of her second daughter without worrying about her prolapse- her and I have put a ton of effort into this and she has reaped the rewards! Now she wants to train for a marathon. I told her great, send me pictures crossing the finish line!”
I meet women where they are at, find out what they want to achieve- not what society says they need to achieve.
“After 10 years of working as a pelvic floor physical therapist, I asked myself ‘how can I really help women meet their goals?!’ Answer: I am a mobile pelvic floor physical therapist, I meet women where they are at, find out what they want to achieve- not what society says they need to achieve.” Karen’s clients get a realistic physical therapy program that works for them. Who has time to do 40 minutes of physical therapy exercises 7 days a week? No one! She helps clients make the small changes first and work together to meet their goals!
Empower Yourself PT currently provides services in clients homes but Heart of Houston Birth and Wellness Center is excited not only to provide space for Karen to see individual clients, but also collaborate with other providers. Karen sums up what I think all of our partners feel about this opportunity, “I am a woman helping women. At Heart of Houston we are women helping women. I am so excited for the birth of this center. We are creating a safe and supportive place to support women on this motherhood journey that can sometimes be easy-peasy and other times have a lot of twists and turns. These great women are smart, collaborative and compassionate. With all of our minds and healing hands put together: body work, nutrition, counseling, coaching, and physical therapy; we are sure to create a safe space for women's health care.”