Therapist Highlight: Dr. Shirley Kent

Did you know that Dr. Kent is not only a pelvic floor therapist but she is also a board certified orthopedic specialist? Dr. Kent loves everything pelvic floor but she also loves working with patients to rehab shoulder injuries. 

“I was very fortunate to have had the opportunity to work in an orthopedic surgeon’s office so I saw everything from rotator cuff repairs, ACL reconstruction, and knee replacements. She was a great surgeon so this opened up a lot of opportunities for me to work with a lot of active duty military and college athletes that were trying to avoid surgery or were recovering from surgery getting back to sports like swimming, throwing athletes, etc. There was also the occasional 65 year old yogi that wanted to be able to do downward dog and crow position. That was a fun case.” 

Why the shoulder of all body parts? 

“The shoulder is such a beautifully complex joint. All these parts and players must work together and be able to move well independently so that they can properly move together as a cohesive team just to lift something overhead. Of course, there is an important relationship with shoulder movement and the core and posture, which is the bread and butter of what a pelvic floor therapist is the best at integrating. Your limbs need to have a good stable foundation to work on otherwise all that energy you use to lift, push, pull, etc is going to go somewhere and usually that somewhere is what hurts.” 

Do you still see patients for shoulder pain or other things that aren’t pelvic floor related?

“Yes. I’ve definitely incorporated shoulder work in sessions. Sometimes it’s to address faulty lifting mechanics that are hurting someone’s back or shoulders. This is especially true, but not limited to, postpartum moms who are hurting themselves lifting the baby or the carrier out of the car. Sometimes a whole session is spent on the shoulder or hip because that is what is bothering the patient the most that week or doing some treatment to the neck because they have pre-existing neck issues causing pain or limiting their ability to do a certain exercise. The beauty of cash pay therapy is that I can address a problem right then and there without the confines of insurance telling me that I have to stick to just one part of the body. True holistic care is when we get to address the body as a whole instead of parts and pieces.”