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PELVIC HEALTH

Pelvic health conditions, such as pain, incontinence, urinary urgency or frequency and bowel dysfunction are treatable with physical therapy. At Fit for Life Physical Therapy clinic we emphasize the latest research, self-reliance and gentle, hands-on treatment to effectively address common concerns in:

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All sessions of a sensitive nature are carried out in our private, comfortable treatment room and our pelvic floor specialist, Margaret Matthews, PT,  promises to listen carefully to your needs. Mags will spend as much time as necessary discussing your history and conditions and help you understand your symptoms and the anatomy involved. That same day we will most likely assess your posture, muscle strength, flexibility and low back, hip and pelvis mobility.

OUR SPECIALIST

Margaret "Mags" Yen-Chuang Matthews, PT

 

 

 

 

 

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GOAL

As a physical therapist my goal is to collaborate with you on a path to wellness, making bodies feel better, stronger, and more balanced.

 

SPECIALTIES

  • Pelvic Rehabilitation –  incontinence, pelvic organ prolapse, chronic and acute pelvic pain, urinary frequency and urgency

  • pre-natal and post-natal physical therapy, pain with menstrual cycle, Fertility support and enhancementWomen’s Health

  • Men’s Health –prostatiatis, pre/post prostatectomy rehabilitation, fertility support 

  • Maya Abdominal Therapy

  • Digestive Health Support

  • Headaches

  • Jaw Pain- Temporal-Mandibular Joint (TMJ) dysfucntion

  • Visceral Mobilization

  • Orthopedic Physical Therapy

  • Geriatrics

  • Care giver and Partner training

  • Health and Wellness – fitness

  • Hula Hoop Dance

  • Pilates

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BACKGROUND

I came to physical therapy and pilates through my experience rehabilitating injuries as a dancer and athlete. After a brief career in professional dance, I realized that I was more drawn to the biomechanical aspects of movement and healing than artistic expression alone. I have been teaching movement and pilates since 2001, and I enjoy awakening your body’s inert ease and fluidity of movement. I integrate the latest research, traditional healing, and what is proven to work for you in our treatments. I was raised within a family of medical professionals and midwives, stimulating my interest in medicine at an early age. After practicing Orthopedics and Women’s and Men’s Health Rehabilitation at UC San Francisco Medical Center, as well as running my own Women’s Health PT and Pilates clinic, I am thrilled to bring my practice to Nevada City, CA at ALIVE Physical Therapy, PC.  I enjoy working with patients from all walks of life and from 5 to 95 years old. Whether you want to strengthen your body from past injuries, decrease pain, improve function, or just get definition in your abdominal muscles, we will get results!

I enjoy empowering women and men in their bodies that may have rebelled with pain or discomfort for years.  I am drawn to working with parts of the body that other practitioners choose to ignore, or don’t have the expertise to treat from head to tail. The pelvis is the seat of life, the base of our spine, and the center of our mass.  If we empower the pelvis, you can walk stronger, and taller, and feel more ALIVE!

Pelvic dysfunction challenges the medical world with a complex presentation, often the source of pain is not the place of pain. I treat the entire body with a focus on pelvic stability, flexibility, and strength with mobility. I integrate a wide range of functional manual therapy techniques, joint mobilization, computerized biofeedback, and neuromuscular exercise and  for your body and brain. I have taken over a thousand hours of post-graduate education and am working towards Board Certification in Women’s Health Physical Therapy. I have the honor of studying the Arvigo Techniques of Mayan Abdominal Therapy  in Belize with the world renowned Napropathic physician and ethnobiologist Rosita Arvigo, ND.  I am privileged to continue the lineage of this traditional massage as an adjunct to my physical therapy work.

I love working with dancers, athletes, musicians, artists, and performers of all kinds.  As a former professional dancer I understand the physical demands of intense performance and I embrace the challenge to make your art more organic and free from discomfort.

 

EDUCATION

  • Masters of Physical Therapy,  California State University Long Beach

  • Bachelors of Fine Arts in Dance, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

  • Clinical Internship in Women’s Health Physical Therapy, UC Irvine Medical Center

  • Advanced Pregnancy and Postpartum Physical Therapy- APTA Women’s Health

 

CERTIFICATION

 

  • Certificate of Achievement in Pregnancy and Postpartum Physical Therapy (CAPP Obstetric),  APTA 2014

  • Therapist of Arvigo Techniques of Maya Abdominal Therapy (AT-MAT) 2012

    • Pregnancy and Postpartum 2014​

  • California Physical Therapy Board Specialization in Women's Health In Progress

  • Certificate of Achievement in Pelvic Physical Therapy (CAPP- Pelvic), APTA In Progress

  • Hoopnotica Hoop Dance Levels 1-3, Hoopnotica, Inc  2012

  • Advances of Pilates Movement, Long Beach Dance Conditioning 2003

  • Basic Life Support- Healthcare Provider, American Heart Association 2003-Current

 

COMMUNITY

In addition to my numerous professional memberships I also teach pelvic and breast health classes in the community and at UCSF, Stanford, and Touro Medical Schools through Project Prepare, Inc.  I am a practitioner-member of The NEST Family Resource Center, a local non-profit providing birth education, fitness classes, and parenting resources.

 

ASSOCIATIONS 

  • APTA- American Physical Therapy Association

    • Member of Women’s Health and Orthopedic Chapters

  • International Continence Society

  • International Pelvic Pain Society

  • National Cooperative Business Association

Margaret Matthews, MPT | Fit for Life Physical Therapy | Grass Valley | Nevada City | California | United States
Mags extended bio
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