Alcove Education

Alcove Education I’m Dr. Kelli Wilson, PT, DPT, and I talk about pelvic health, pain, movement, and other often-overlooked topics in a way that actually makes sense.

Offering both online and in-person courses that streamline the learning process for pelvic health professionals. Our unique approach concentrates on breaking down complex pelvic health diagnoses into a clear, easy-to-follow framework that simplifies assessment and treatment.

08/11/2026

The #1 muscle you should be thinking about for urinary continence after radical prostatectomy? 👇

The external urethral sphincter (rhabdosphincter) plays a major role in continence recovery—and it deserves our attention when assessing and retraining men after prostatectomy.

But it’s not working alone.

1️⃣ External urethral sphincter — a key contributor and predictor of post-prostatectomy continence
2️⃣ Bulbospongiosus (bulbocavernosus) — contributes to urethral compression and continence
3️⃣ Pubore**alis — part of the larger pelvic floor contribution to continence and pressure management

And what about the ischiocavernosus? Surprisingly, its primary role appears to be much more related to erectile/sexual function than urinary continence.

This is exactly why male pelvic health needs to go beyond simply telling every patient to “do Kegels.” We need to understand which muscles we’re targeting, what they actually do, and how to assess their function.

🎓 Want to learn more about treating the male pelvic floor?

Join us for our upcoming in-person male pelvic floor course for hands-on assessment and treatment—or start today with our online course covering foundational male pelvic health diagnoses, assessment, and treatment.

Check the link in bio for both.

08/07/2026

When a patient says, “My testicle feels tight,” ask one more question:

What exactly feels like it’s tightening or lifting?

Does the scrotal skin feel like it’s tightening from the bottom up? Or does the testicle itself feel like it’s being pulled toward the groin?

These may point us toward two different muscles:

👉 Dartos: Smooth muscle in the scrotal wall that tightens and wrinkles the scrotal skin. It’s influenced by the autonomic/sympathetic nervous system.

👉 Cremaster: Elevates the testicle toward the inguinal canal and is primarily innervated by the ge***al branch of the genitofemoral nerve.

Why does this matter? If the testicle itself is retracting, I may think more about the cremaster, spermatic cord and genitofemoral pathway. If it’s primarily scrotal tightening, the dartos and sympathetic response may deserve more consideration.

This isn’t a direct predictor of whether a spermatic cord block will work—but anatomically, it’s another clue worth considering.

Sometimes asking a more specific question changes your differential.

🎓 Want to learn more about male pelvic health? Start today with our Diving into the Male Pelvic Floor Online Course. Link in bio.

🙌 Want hands-on training? Join me September 26 in Austin for the Diving into the Male Pelvic Floor Lab.

We need more of you!Pelvic health therapists treating men!Last week, I had a patient drive over 4 hours for treatment. S...
08/04/2026

We need more of you!

Pelvic health therapists treating men!

Last week, I had a patient drive over 4 hours for treatment. So, 8 hours in one day. I wonder how effective I was in helping him since he had to sit for an extended period of time afterwards.

Well, actually he got 60% better in one treatment.

Let this be you and let this patient be closer to you!

Treating the male population in pelvic health is not scary. It can be straightforward and very effective.
Diving Into the Male Pelvic Floor is a hands on lab designed for clinicians who want more than theory. This course brings together real models, real anatomy, orthopedic integration, and practical techniques you can begin using in the clinic right away.

You will learn how to better assess and treat male pelvic health conditions with a clearer understanding of the pelvic floor, surrounding orthopedic structures, and the complex presentations that are often missed.

The course is intentionally kept small so you can ask questions, practice techniques, and receive personalized feedback throughout the day.

Because I will be there and I will be teaching. Come be part of a fun learning environment packed with immediate clinical skills to use in the clinic the next day!

Join me on September 26, 2026, at Voltex Physical Therapy in Austin, Texas.

Comment MALE below and we’ll send you the course details.

07/26/2026

Could cl****al pain actually be coming from a muscle we may not be connecting the dots on how closely correlated it could be?

The ischiocavernosus is a small but important muscle that runs along the ischiop***c ramus and wraps over the crura of the cl****is.

When this muscle becomes overactive, shortened, or develops trigger points, it may contribute to symptoms such as:
• Cl****al pain or hypersensitivity
• Pain with arousal
• Pain during or after in*******se
• Burning or aching around the v***a
• Pelvic floor tension

This does not mean the ischiocavernosus is the cause of every case of cl****al pain. Pelvic pain is often multifactorial. But if we only focus on the symptoms and never assess the surrounding muscles, fascia, nerves, hips, low back, breathing mechanics, and movement patterns, we may miss an important contributor.

As pelvic health clinicians, our job is to ask better questions and evaluate the entire system rather than chasing one painful structure.

Sometimes the key isn’t where the pain is.
It’s understanding why that tissue became sensitive in the first place.

👇 I’d love to hear from you.

Clinicians: Is the ischiocavernosus part of your pelvic pain assessment?

If you’re ready to become more confident evaluating and treating complex pelvic pain, check out my Alcove Pelvic Health Education courses. I dive into the clinical reasoning, anatomy, hands-on techniques, and whole-body approach that I use every day in the clinic.
Check link in bio for upcoming courses.

07/11/2026

“I can’t feel the trigger point...”
If you’ve ever thought that while treating the male pelvic floor, you’re definitely not alone.

One of the biggest differences between treating the female and male pelvis is space. The male pelvic floor is naturally more compact, and during a re**al examination, the muscles can all feel relatively firm or guarded. That can make identifying a distinct trigger point much more challenging than many clinicians expect.

Even after nearly 20 years of treating men with complex pelvic pain, I still don’t rely solely on what I feel.

Instead, I rely heavily on the patient’s subjective input.

✔️ Compare the right side to the left.
✔️ Ask the patient to rate tenderness.
✔️ Look for familiar pain reproduction.
✔️ Reassess after treatment.

Sometimes the biggest indicator that you’re on the right tissue isn’t that you found a “perfect trigger point”—it’s that the patient’s tenderness decreases after your intervention.

The male pelvic floor requires you to blend your palpation skills with the patient’s feedback. That combination often tells you far more than your fingers alone.

Remember: Subjective findings are still objective clinical data when they’re measured consistently. Don’t underestimate the value of reassessing tenderness before and after treatment to help guide your clinical reasoning and demonstrate treatment effectiveness.

👇 Have you found the male pelvic floor more difficult to palpate than the female pelvis?

🎓 Looking to build confidence treating male pelvic health?

Diving into the Male Pelvic Floor Online is a 10-hour clinician course covering:
• Male pelvic floor anatomy
• External & internal palpation
• Urinary, bowel, sexual & pelvic pain diagnoses
• Orthopedic contributions
• Clinical reasoning you can use immediately

🔗 Check the link in my bio to learn more about Alcove Pelvic Health Education.

MenHealth

07/10/2026

Could the bulbospongiosus be contributing to your patient’s symptoms? 🤔
When clinicians think about male pelvic pain, the bulbospongiosus muscle is often overlooked.

Yet dysfunction in this muscle may contribute to symptoms such as:

✅ Post-void dribbling
✅ Tip of the p***s pain
✅ Urethral burning
✅ A pulling sensation along the p***s

One important anatomy pearl: the bulbospongiosus does NOT run the length of the p***s. It originates at the perineal body and surrounds the bulb of the p***s, making its attachment near the p***c ramus an important area to assess.

Remember, this is just one piece of the puzzle. Always zoom out and evaluate the hips, abdominal wall, breathing mechanics, pelvic floor, and surrounding tissues to understand the full picture.

👇 Looking to build confidence treating male pelvic health patients?

Diving into the Male Pelvic Floor Online is a 10-hour, on-demand course that covers:

✔️ Male pelvic floor anatomy
✔️ Internal & external assessment
✔️ Pelvic pain
✔️ Urinary dysfunction
✔️ Bowel dysfunction
✔️ Sexual dysfunction
✔️ Clinical reasoning and treatment strategies

🔗 Check the link in my bio to learn more.

07/07/2026

👇 Comment “FEMALE” and I’ll send you more information about Alcove’s 14-hour online pelvic floor course!
If you’re ready to step up your game, build confidence, and learn pelvic health skills that are 100% clinically applicable in the clinic, this is the place to start.

The superficial transverse perineal muscle is one of those structures that’s easy to overlook, but understanding its anatomy can make your palpation much more precise.

One important difference between males and females is the size of the pelvic outlet.

🔹 Female: The pelvic outlet is wider, so I typically use approximately two finger widths to help identify and palpate one side of the superficial transverse perineal muscle.

🔹 Male: Because the pelvic outlet is smaller, I generally use one finger to localize and palpate the same muscle.

Small adjustments like this can improve your accuracy and confidence during an external pelvic floor examination.

Learning pelvic health isn’t just about memorizing anatomy—it’s about understanding how to adapt your examination to the individual sitting in front of you.

⬇️ Comment “FEMALE” and I’ll send you more information about Alcove’s 14-hour online pelvic floor course, where you’ll learn practical examination and treatment techniques you can start using with your patients right away.

07/06/2026

One of the biggest things I look at is how the femoral head is moving within the hip socket.

If the femoral head is gliding too far forward, it can create irritation in the front of the hip. Sometimes that happens because the muscles in the back of the hip, especially the deep hip external rotators like the obturator internus, aren’t doing their job efficiently.

Here’s where it gets interesting...

The obturator internus is closely connected to the pelvic floor. If one starts compensating, the other often follows. That can leave the pelvic floor feeling tight or shortened, even though the real driver may be coming from the hip.

And what about the psoas?

Just because it feels tight doesn’t mean it’s actually short. Sometimes the psoas is already lengthened and working overtime to protect an unstable or irritated hip. It’s acting more like a bodyguard than the problem itself.

That’s why the question isn’t always:
“What should I stretch?”

It’s often:
“What actually needs to move better, and what needs to become more stable?”

Every hip is different, and understanding the “why” behind your pain is what guides the right treatment.
This is exactly the topics we cover in our public education courses. We bring back Orthopedics to the pelvic floor, so you understand the whole picture.

🎓 Want to learn more? Check out our upcoming continuing education courses through Alcove Pelvic Health Education. Visit the Linktree above for upcoming classes.

📍Are you in Texas? If you’re dealing with hip pain, pelvic pain, or movement-related pain, we’d love to help. Schedule an evaluation with Alcove Pelvic Therapy through the link in our bio.

OrthopedicPhysicalTherapy

🧠🦴 Men’s groin pain is rarely just one thing.In this carousel, I highlighted just a few musculoskeletal reasons groin pa...
03/31/2026

🧠🦴 Men’s groin pain is rarely just one thing.

In this carousel, I highlighted just a few musculoskeletal reasons groin pain can show up in men—when it’s not a hernia, not the bladder, and not the prostate.
Think

🫁 lower rib hypomobility and breathing mechanics

🔄 thoracic–lumbar junction stiffness where key nerves originate

🦴 pelvic and hip rotation patterns

💪 adductors and gluteal contributors

And that’s not even the full list.
We also have to consider things like abdominal fascia, load transfer, and neural sensitivity.

This is why treating men in pain requires integration, not silos.

🎓 For clinicians
Want to learn how to assess and treat men with this level of depth and clarity?

👉 Or dive deep with Diving into the Male Pelvic Floor (100% online)

🏥 For patients
At Alcove Pelvic Therapy, treating males isn’t an afterthought—it’s elevated care. If you’re in Central Texas and struggling with persistent groin or pelvic pain, help is available.

👉 Links are in the bio.

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Austin, TX
78701–78705, 78708–78739, 78741–78742, 78744–78769

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