Don’t Suffer in Silence

For weeks after Gail T. of Oak Park gave birth to her first child, she experienced tremendous pain and discomfort. Veteran moms told her this was her official welcome to motherhood and that she would learn to live with it. Fortunately, her obstetrician suggested physical therapy and that’s when Gail wound up in Rinku Singh’s office in Farmington Hills. “All that pain was normalized, and it really bothered me,” Gail, an Orthodox mom of two, shared. “But Rinku showed me how to strengthen my muscles and helped fix my scar tissue from the birth. Within a couple of weeks, I could feel the difference.”

When Gail discovered she was pregnant the second time, she was extremely nervous but didn’t experience any issues at all.

Gail said, “Everyone had told me to just get used to the pain, but why? It can be fixed! Every woman should get physical therapy after having a baby.”

Singh has been a practicing physical therapist for 21 years. She began her career in sports medicine and did a stint in outpatient neurology, but didn’t find it completely fulfilling. A co-worker confided she’d been experiencing pain during intercourse for nine years, which was cured after two months of physical therapy.

After hearing about her co-worker’s experience, Singh became interested in

the topic, took classes in women’s health, became board-certified and completely switched her specialty in 2011. Now a certified pelvic floor specialist with the American Physical Therapy Association and a board-certified women’s clinical specialist with the American Physical Therapy Associaton, Singh works with women suffering from painful periods or sexual intercourse, difficult pregnancies, incontinence, postpartum pain and more. “When women first meet me, they often feel very alone and embarrassed Rinku Singh and I provide a safe, comforting place,” Singh said. T.S, another Orthodox woman from Oak Park, went to Singh because she was experiencing a prolapse. She said Singh was able to help her restore her pelvic floor strength in just eight sessions. “Never just say ‘this is life.’ Every woman should see a therapist when they’re uncomfortable. There are solutions. There is always help available,” T.S. said.

ROCHEL BURSTYN CONTRIBUTING WRITER