July 2023 | Issue No. 28

A Conversation between Dhara Solanki, founder and owner of Santa Barbara Pelvic Health and
Monica Lenches and Claudia Rucker

“The natural healing force within each one of us is the greatest force in getting well.”
– Hippocrates

Dhara is the founder and owner of Santa Barbara Pelvic Health. When I first met her, I had a sense that she was someone on a mission with a strong set of values guiding her practice and everyday life. After months of getting to know her, it became obvious in the way she conducted herself and spoke about her passion that she is dedicated to using her vocation, skills and talents as a vehicle for good. 

ML/CR: Tell us about your journey from a physical therapist to a pelvic health specialist.

DS: It was a phone call that changed my life. In 2010, I started my outpatient physical therapy private practice. At the time I was treating only the pelvis, low back and hip, not the pelvic floor. One day, I received a call from a man who was inquiring about treatment for his wife who was diagnosed with levator ani syndrome, a painful condition of the pelvic floor muscles. What she needed was internal pelvic floor releases.  She was in a significant amount of pain, and he told me that if I couldn’t treat her, they would have to go to Thousand Oaks. The problem was that she couldn’t sit. Despite my lack of experience with actual pelvic floor work, I took her on as a patient with the clear understanding that if the treatment was not helping, we would stop the care. 

I read everything about pelvic floor rehabilitation and taught myself how to do internal pelvic floor release. I treated this patient for 4 months.  When I saw her the day after Thanksgiving, she told me she was able to sit and enjoy a wonderful dinner with her family without any pain. That was an enormously gratifying and life-changing experience for me. It made me realize just how debilitating, isolating and demeaning pelvic pain can be. I decided to immerse myself in the education of pelvic health and eventually started a clinic exclusively dedicated to pelvic health physical therapy.

ML/CR: What are your company’s values?

DS: Trust. Psychological Safety. Excellence in Care and Patient-First are our core values.

ML/CR: How does your company live those values on a daily basis? 

DS: We are in a business where we treat patients with quite sensitive issues. Opening up about pelvic health issues is not easy for many, as it involves intimate and personal conversations. We believe and understand that it takes an elevated comfort level for someone to talk about urine and poop leaks, pain with intercourse, recovery after childbirth, constipation, chronic pain, trauma, infertility, pain with periods, etc.  Data suggests that people don’t even feel comfortable sharing such issues with their spouses or doctors. Building deep trust and providing a safe environment where patients can share about such vulnerable issues and receive the highest care is of the utmost importance to us.  Thankfully, our impact is reflected back to us by our clients: “You changed my life.” “I did not even know there was a solution to this problem.” “You are the first person in 5 years who understood my issues.”

ML/CR: In what ways has your practice evolved over the years?

DS: My journey of becoming a pelvic health physical therapist changed how I treat patients. When I started as a physical therapist, I learned a lot about the human body, injury, rehabilitation, etc. However, my pelvic health training helped fill in many of the gaps around how the body and human psyche work together. It gave me the answers that would allow me to treat my clients more holistically, and ultimately more effectively. For example, I discovered why one patient with a perfectly normal MRI could have excruciating pain, whereas another with a partially torn rotator cuff could function with no pain. Understanding that everything in our body is a nervous system response allowed me to view the healing process as a journey that involves both treating and supporting my patients. Time and time again, this approach provides me with opportunities to witness the mind-body connection and our body’s limitless capacity to heal.

ML/CR: How can our readers learn more about the body’s innate capacity to heal?

DS: Our bodies have an incredibly robust healing system. It can heal from injury, surgery, fall, or trauma. However, suppose our nervous system has not recovered physically or emotionally from an incident or still feels the need to protect essential structures. One may end up with chronic tightness, stiffness, or pain that never goes away. In this case, we must look to the nervous system and ask the body what it is trying to tell us and support it with its ultimate power to heal. This is what we mean by the mind-body connection. It is a fascinating and ever-growing body of knowledge recognized around the world and grounded in decades of science and research. Many researchers are studying the connection between mind and body. The concept has been around for decades, but it is fascinating to see the evidence supporting the idea. You can follow those researchers at Harvard, Encephalon Inc, Creighton University, King’s College London, and many more, or start with the groundbreaking and informative book, “The Body Keeps the Score”, by renowned psychiatrist, Dr. Bessel van der Kolk.

To learn more about pelvic health, visit: www.pelvichealthsb.com.