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Frustrated. Angry. Alone.

Worried that this will never go away.

These are some of the words we hear from our clients when they come to see us about their bladder or bowel symptoms, pelvic pain or pain with sex.

Book Now
Contact Us

Frustrated. Angry. Alone.

Worried that this will never go away.

These are some of the words we hear from our clients when they come to see us about their bladder or bowel symptoms, pelvic pain or pain with sex.

Book Now
Contact Us

We are here to help you get back to the life you deserve.

Dedicated To Pelvic Health

Juliet has spent her career helping those with pelvic issues finding the relief they deserve.

Finding The "Why"

We are committed to finding the underlying causes of your symptoms so you can find lasting relief.

Full-length Sessions

Hour-long and one-on-one with a skilled pelvic health physiotherapist.

What is pelvic health physiotherapy?

A pelvic health physiotherapist will evaluate your overall movement, strength, flexibility and areas of pain, as any physiotherapist might do. In addition to that, our advanced training allows us to assess the muscles and tissues of the pelvis internally, by way of a vaginal and/or rectal examination. 

The muscles in your pelvis are designed to help support your lower back (preventing low back pain with function), maintain continence of bowel/bladder, allow for sexual function and pleasure and provide support for internal organs (bowel, bladder, uterus). Our goal as pelvic physiotherapists is to relieve any discomfort you have while strengthening the pelvic muscles.

Meet Your Therapist.

With 20 years of clinical experience, Juliet Sarjeant, physiotherapist and founder of Prairie Pelvic Health, has helped thousands of individuals reduce their pain, improve their function and get back to activities they love.  She loves to educate and empower her clients to be active participants in their health and on their journey to recovery. Her goal is that you leave her office understanding more about your condition, feeling supported both emotionally and physically, and feeling confident in your strategies to help you get better and stay better. 

Outside the clinic, Juliet and her husband Mike try to keep up with their three teenagers. They lead an active life and love hiking and camping with the family and dogs Martha and Espen.

What We Treat

Urinary Incontinence
Men's Pelvic Health
Pregnancy and Postpartum
Pelvic Organ Prolapse
Pelvic Pain
Transgender Pelvic Health

Urinary incontinence

Men's Pelvic Health

Pregnancy and Postpartum

Pelvic Organ Prolapse

Pelvic Pain

Transgender Pelvic Health

Urinary incontinence (UI) is the loss of urine from the bladder and can affect approximately 30% of adult women and 3-11% of adult men. The most common types of UI are stress incontinence and urge incontinence. 

Stress incontinence

Stress incontinence is when you leak with increased pressure on the bladder, such as with a cough, laugh, sneeze, jump or heavy lifting. It normally happens because the muscles and tissues of the pelvis are not strong enough to manage extra pressure, from a cough for example. With this extra pressure, urine is forced past the muscles that keep the urethra (tube through which you void) closed. This can happen when the structures are weakened or damaged with having babies, chronic constipation, extra weight or simply getting older. 

Urge incontinence

Urge incontinence is when you have a strong urge to void (pee) and you are unable to get to the bathroom in time. It happens because the bladder itself is overactive and is trying to squeeze out the urine before you are ready. Some people do not get a warning from the bladder before they leak and others are overwhelmed by the urge to void. Some people also talk about triggers for their urgency, such as hearing running water, going out into the cold, arriving home, or standing up from a chair or bed. 

Many people are aware that women can benefit from pelvic health physiotherapy, but very few know that men can experience pelvic health dysfunction as well. Their symptoms may mirror those experienced by women, including bladder and bowel problems, but some are specific to men only. Several symptoms are related to overworked or too tight pelvic floor muscles. Pelvic health physiotherapists who are specially trained in treating male pelvic health work to optimize the strength and mobility of the pelvic floor muscles, in addition to addressing posture and global strength.  

Urinary (bladder) symptoms:

  • Urinary urgency, frequency and hesitancy
  • Urinary retention
  • Decreased force of urinary stream
  • Pain/straining with urination
  • Urinary incontinence (leakage), especially after prostatectomy

Bowel symptoms:

  • Constipation
  • Pain/straining with bowel movements

Sexual health symptoms:

  • Urinary urgency, frequency and hesitancy
  • Urinary retention
  • Decreased force of urinary stream
  • Pain/straining with urination
  • Urinary incontinence (leakage), especially after prostatectomy

Pelvic pain:

  • Penile, scrotal, perineal or anal pain
  • Pelvic girdle pain (tailbone, sacroiliac joint or pubic symphysis pain)
  • Pain that interferes with sitting and exercise
  • Pain that radiates to the abdomen, buttocks and/or thighs

Pregnancy and childbirth put many physical stresses onto a woman’s body, potentially causing a range of prenatal and postpartum conditions. Prenatally, a woman may experience urinary incontinence (leakage), or low back or pelvic pain, especially in the pubic symphysis or in the sacroiliac (SI) joint. While a woman may develop some of these conditions during pregnancy, the extra stretching and occasional damage to tissues of the pelvis during delivery may worsen her symptoms or cause new ones. A new mother may experience bladder prolapse, uterine prolapse or a prolapse of the rectum. She may also develop bladder or bowel incontinence, difficulty urinating or experience pelvic pain. 

If I had a C-section, is there any benefit to seeing a pelvic health physiotherapist?

A woman who undergoes a Caesarean section (C-section) may not experience the same stretching of the pelvic floor muscles as a woman who delivers vaginally, but her body still undergoes a lot of the same stresses. As a result, she may experience many of the same postpartum symptoms that are mentioned above, including pelvic pain. A C-section is also a major surgery that cuts through layers of connective tissue and also impacts the abdominal muscles. Recovering from a C-section means taking time for all the layers of abdominal tissues to heal and then starting to strengthen them again. Some mothers benefit from seeing a pelvic health physiotherapist for assessment of the pelvic floor muscles and to assist with a carefully tailored abdominal strengthening program.

I am worried about a diastasis – should I be?

Postpartum, some women are concerned about a diastasis rectus abdominis (DRA). During pregnancy, our abdominal wall needs to stretch to accommodate the growing baby. This means that the connective tissue that runs down the centre of the abdomen (the linea alba) stretches too. Once the baby is delivered, it takes time for all the stretched abdominal tissue to regain strength. Some women will notice a doming or a sunken appearance of the linea alba when they lift their head, as in a sit up. While stretching of the linea alba is a normal part of pregnancy and may take a while to strengthen postpartum, some women benefit from the guidance of a pelvic health physiotherapist to regain their abdominal strength and return to the activities that they enjoy

Up to 50% of women will develop a pelvic organ prolapse, which occurs when either the bladder, uterus, gastrointestinal tract or bowel loses its support and ‘falls’ into the vaginal wall because of a loss of muscle and connective tissue support. It is popularly believed to happen to only those women who have been pregnant and had a vaginal delivery but in reality, any woman can have a prolapse. Prolapses can vary in size and are graded on a scale of I-IV, with IV being the most severe. A woman may have one or more prolapses at the same time and the position of the prolapse can vary throughout the day, depending on whether she is standing, lying down or sitting. Activities that may make symptoms worse include: heavy lifting, coughing, straining with bowel movement and being on one’s feet for long periods of time. 

Pelvic organ prolapses have different names, depending on the organ involved: 

  • Bladder: cystocele or anterior vaginal prolapse  
  • Uterus: uterine prolapse 
  • Rectum: rectocele or posterior vaginal prolapse  

How would I know if I have a prolapse?

Symptoms of a prolapse include: 

  • Feelings of heaviness or bulging from the vagina
  • Heaviness in the lower abdomen
  • Leaking from the bladder or bowel (incontinence)
  • Difficulty emptying the bladder or bowel
  • Urgency or frequent trips to the bathroom for bowel or bladder
  • Frequent urinary tract (bladder) infections 
  • Painful sex

Is it safe to have sex with a prolapse?

Many women (and their partners) are concerned that further damage will be done if she has penetrative sex, but this is not true. Although some women with a prolapse may find sex uncomfortable, altering her position can often improve her sensation and experience. Discomfort during sex can also be due to other factors, such as vaginal dryness related to menopause. Try changing positions and/or adding a lubricant to your intimacy and see how you feel!

Pelvic pain can be broken up into two categories: acute, like pain in the pelvis related to pregnancy, or that you might get after a fall; and chronic.  ‘Chronic’ pelvic pain is having felt pain in structures of the abdomen or pelvis lasting at least three to six months. It can come and go, or can be there all the time. At Prairie Pelvic Health, we don’t really like the term ‘chronic’ because that can make you think that these symptoms are permanent. In fact, pelvic pain is treatable.

Pelvic pain occurs more often in women than in men and may have many contributing factors, including interactions between the digestive, bladder, sexual, muscular and nervous systems. We also know that our emotional well-being and social and cultural factors have roles to play in pelvic pain. 

Pelvic pain may: 

  • Be constant or may come and go
  • Be sharp or cramping
  • Be dull or aching
  • Feel like pressure
  • Vary in intensity: from mild to disabling

Pelvic pain can be felt in many places:

  • Pelvic girdle pain (tailbone, sacroiliac joint or pubic symphysis pain)
  • Pain that interferes with sitting and exercise
  • Pain that radiates to the abdomen, buttocks and/or thighs
  • Pain in the rectum or bladder
  • Pain during or after penetrative sex
  • In women: vulvar, vaginal or perineal pain
  • In men: penile, scrotal or perineal pain

Gender affirming surgical procedures can sometimes have negative effects on the pelvis, such as urinary, bowel and/or sexual dysfunction. 

Potential symptoms include: 

  • Pain from surgical scars or vaginal penetration
  • Generalized pelvic pain
  • Inability to achieve vaginal penetration
  • Urinary dysfunction such as: urgency, frequency, difficulty starting your stream, spraying and incontinence
  • Bowel dysfunction such as: constipation and pain with evacuation

Pelvic health physiotherapy can improve the pain and dysfunction resulting from surgical procedures.

Contact Us

#105 - 619 8th Street East, Saskatoon, SK, S7H 0R1

(306) 244-0244

(306) 700-2377

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