Navigating Pelvic Floor Disorders at TidalHealth

BERLIN, Md. – In this week’s Health Beat, brought to you by TidalHealth, WMDT spoke with urogynecologist, Dr. Peter G. O’Hare III, about the services available to those struggling with pelvic floor disorders.

Dr. O’Hare trained as a OB-GYN in Philadelphia, and took on urogynecology as a subspecialty.

“We’re cross-trained in these different fields to offer women treatments for these pelvic floor disorders,” said Dr. O’Hare. “We try to identify them and then offer options that are non-surgical as well as surgical.”

Pelvic floor disorders are issues where the support to the pelvic organs have been compromised. Dr. O’Hare tells us that most commonly, patients will complain of bladder dysfunction. Symptoms include difficulty emptying or holding their bladder, leaking issues, and possible urinary urgency frequency.

Bowel issues can also arise as a result of pelvic floor disorders. All symptoms are evaluated in conjunction with other specialists, like gastroenterologists or colorectal surgeons.

“We treat women of all ages,” says Dr. O’Hare. “The mantra nowadays with urogynecology is try to identify these problems early on because some of these treatment options, if you don’t identify it early, you may not be able to offer it.”

Suggestions for treatment can be something as simple as casual exercise. Other treatment options for more advanced cases include medication, injections, and in some cases, surgery.

If you’d like to talk to a specialist about urogynecology or schedule an appointment, you can call Tidal Health in Berlin at (410)912-5674.