We were lucky to catch up with Ariel Wynne recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Ariel, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear stories from your time in school/training/etc.

I went to SUNY Buffalo for my Doctorate of Physical Therapy (DPT). I graduated in 2018 and started immediately on the path to become a pelvic floor PT. It wasn’t my first choice but my hands on training led me straight to that conclusion.

I have one of those faces that people just want to tell me about their pelvic floor. During my clinical rotations in PT school, I would occasionally get pulled away by a patient for a private conversation. Sometimes it was how their incontinence had increased after a recent hip fracture. Sometimes it was advice on sexual positions that wouldn’t aggravate their low back. These situations made it painfully obvious we don’t learn enough about sexual health or the pelvic floor muscles in PT school. I started researching more about pelvic health so I could answer these patients and this started my journey towards becoming a board certified pelvic floor physical therapist. Now my face is my superpower!

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

I am Ariel Wynne PT, DPT, WCS and I am the founder of Ground Floor Physical Therapy. We are a specialty pelvic floor physical therapy clinic with a mission to improve pelvic health for everybody!

Pelvic floor PT is just like any other form of physical therapy. We focus on function and getting you back to doing what you love to do. Most people are familiar with physical therapy for your back or your knee, so that you can go back to exercise. Pelvic floor PT is the same but with a focus on the pelvic floor muscles.

Pelvic floor PT is also nothing like run-of-the-mill physical therapy. We discuss pain, peeing, pooping, and sex which can be sensitive topics for anyone. An internal examination may be needed to figure out what is going on and how we can get you back to your goals. We need more 1-on-1 time, trust, and privacy to make this all possible. That is why finding the right PT is key!

I am a pelvic floor PT and I got into this specialty to make pelvic health accessible, approachable, and fun for everyone. Pelvic floor function has a huge impact on quality of life and I wanted to be there to guide my clients to better health. That means putting together the pieces of multiple different specialist visits, connecting the dots of the low back and hip to the pelvic floor, and finally communicating all this to the patient in a story they can understand. The pelvis is complex but I think anyone can unravel that mystery with the right detective on their team.

Training and knowledge matter of course, but beyond that what do you think matters most in terms of succeeding in your field?

You have to be a storyteller. Every patient has a story and every story has a beginning, middle, and end. That story is what keeps your patient coming back to the clinic week after week.

The patient will tell you the beginning of the story. What issues they are having, how they started, and who they have already talked to. Most people who come to pelvic floor PT have seen multiple specialists already but, as a holistic provider, a pelvic PT is likely the first medical provider to put the puzzle pieces of their body back together. The first person to connect the dots between their hip, bladder, and sexual symptoms for example.

Then you need to find what is meaningful and motivating to this person to create their long term goals. People don’t work hard for months just to get stronger. They work hard to get strong enough to carry their children upstairs without pain. Or to run a race without leaking. The point is you need to create a clear vision of what “getting better” looks like for each individual person.

Once you know the beginning and the end of the story, you can find the treatment path between them. Every intervention and home exercise needs to be a chapter that is clearly leading to the end of the story. It needs to fit in with their past history, their present daily routine, and align with their future goals. This is the only way to get follow through from your patients and see positive results!

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

I have built my reputation on creating a welcoming environment for everyone and especially the people who have felt excluded from healthcare in the past. I make conscious efforts to use gender-neutral language and speak in plain language rather than medical jargon. Everybody has a pelvis and everybody should feel welcome in pelvic floor PT!

Pelvic floor PT can be intimidating and most of my patients enter my clinic hesitant and uncertain of what pelvic floor PT will be like. My clinic is private and quiet so they can speak freely about sensitive topics. I reserve an hour for evaluations so there is no rush on the first day. There are plants on every wall to bring nature and growth into the environment and make it feel less sterile. Finally, I have a repertoir of punny jokes and metaphors to lighten the mood and make learning about the pelvic floor easy and fun. At the end of that first visit, they leave smiling and confident that they have guidance on the journey to feeling better.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.GroundFloorPT.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/groundfloorpt/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GroundFloorPT
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/groundfloorpt/?viewAsMember=true
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/GroundFloorPT