Guide to Telehealth Physical Therapy

We’re delighted that you’ve decided to pursue Telehealth Physical Therapy (PT) with us! Here are a few guidelines to optimize your Telehealth PT experience. The details of this handout are geared toward optimal privacy, space, and material considerations for doing a guided self pelvic exam in session. These details may not be relevant for orthopedic clients whose issues are body parts beyond the pelvis, or for clients who for trauma or other reasons don’t desire to perform a self pelvic exam. 

If you’re unsure whether your concerns are primarily orthopedic or pelvic, or you have other concerns, fill out your intake form well in advance and text us at 405-240-9575 to request feedback. A PT on staff will review your intake form and advise what privacy, space, and material needs they anticipate for your optimal Telehealth PT experience. We require intake forms be submitted 72 hours prior to your appointment, if you need feedback, or 48 hours prior if you don’t need feedback. 

Privacy considerations:

  • You may prefer to conduct your session in a room with a door that shuts/locks if others will be home at the time of your appointment. You may also want to close drapery over windows.

  • Chat with any family that will be around at the time of the session, and make sure they understand you’ll need privacy for the duration of your session. 

  • As busy parents ourselves, we sympathize that little ones may need to interrupt or share our space in session. Don’t worry if you need to pause briefly during the session to care for your family. We are flexible! 

Setting up your space:

  • You will need space to lay the full length of your body on the ground. We recommend laying a yoga mat or blanket on the ground so that you are comfortable. If you don’t have enough space to lay on the ground, you can lay on a bed or couch. If you experience bony discomfort when you lay on the ground, layer extra blankets on top of your mat.

  • For a guided self pelvic exam, it is ideal to support your knees in a hooklying butterfly position as shown in the images below. Supporting the legs this way allows the pelvic floor to relax to its resting tone, which will make your self exam more accurate and comfortable. If possible, lay your yoga mat/blanket next to a wall so you can rest one knee on the wall, and put another heavy piece of furniture on the other side to rest your other knee on. Alternatively, get two pillows. Double the pillow over into a “C” shape with the edges of the pillow on the ground, and rest each knee on the middle of a pillow.




  • For those of us with short arms or long torsos, reaching to palpate our pelvic floor with our hands makes us do a “crunch” movement. Crunching contracts our pelvic floor muscles and this is not ideal because we want the pelvic floor to be at rest during a self exam. If you have short arms or a long torso, elevate your torso into a “semi-reclined” position to make it easy to reach your pelvis. A wedge cushion, as shown in the image below, is very useful for this purpose–but please don’t go buy one if you don’t have one! You can also position yourself semi reclined against a wall, headboard, couch armrest, or even in a recliner. We recommend you “try out” whatever space you intend to use before your appointment, to make sure it feels comfortable to you and to test if you are able to reach with your arms to palpate your genital region without doing a “crunch” movement.




  • Depending on your concerns and symptoms, you may also need room to perform some basic functional movements like an air squat or a lunge. If, for example, you are seeking out pelvic floor PT because you have urinary incontinence with jumping jacks, it’s very likely your PT will ask you to do a few jumping jacks to assess your form. So, think about what movements are aggravating and alleviating factors for your pain or other symptoms, and if possible prepare your space to accommodate performing these movements during your Telehealth session. If you don’t have room, don’t stress too much about this! Your physical therapist and you can figure out how to accomplish your exam and start working toward your goals, regardless of any space constraints you may have.

  • Prior to your appt, figure out where to place your laptop or phone so that your therapist will be able to see your whole body, both laying on your mat/blanket and in standing. For your privacy, it’s important for your body and your device to be positioned in such a way that no genitals are shown on camera. Don’t worry if you can’t figure out where to put your device to meet these parameters. Your PT can help you in session!

Setting up your phone or laptop for good sound, volume, and visibility:

  • Consider in advance what device you plan to use for your Telehealth appointment: smart phone, tablet, laptop, etc.

  • Android and PC users should use Chrome for an optimal experience. If you are using an iOS device, you will need to download the Jane Online Appointments app, available on the app store.

  • You will receive a reminder email 30-60 minutes prior to your appointment start time. Click the “Begin” button at the bottom of the email to join the session.

  • If you don’t use your device often for Telehealth or virtual meetings, you may need to check that you and your device are ready for an optimal Telehealth experience. Our scheduling and Telehealth platform is called “Jane.” Please review this Jane Telehealth Guide prior to your appointment to ensure you have your device ready for successful audio and visual connection. If you are a novice at online meetings, you may also want to log on to your Telehealth appointment 30 minutes early the day of, so you can realize any connectivity issues and notify us via text or voicemail at (405) 240-9575 prior to your appointment start time.

https://jane.app/guide/using-your-ipad-iphone-for-1-1-online-appointments-for-clients 


Useful materials to have on hand:

  • Wear comfortable clothing like you would to work out (e.g., yoga pants or sweatpants and a t-shirt). 

  • If you tend to be cold or if you prefer to remain draped throughout your self exam, prep some extra sheets or blankets. 

  • For a guided internal self pelvic floor exam, you will need: well trimmed fingernails, clean hands, personal lubricant, and a towel to place beneath your bottom to catch any excess lubricant. Some people may prefer to use latex or nitrile medical gloves for the self exam, others will prefer to use their bare hands. Some may want to have hand sanitizer nearby to use after their self exam, or baby wipes/personal wipes to wipe excess lubricant off after their self exam.

  • For self examination of the abdomen or other non-pelvic regions of the body, you may need: body lotion.

  • If the aggravating/alleviating factors for your symptoms include use of equipment that you’d like to demonstrate for your physical therapist, have this equipment available. For example: a jump rope if you have incontinence with jumping rope, your infant car seat if you experience pubic symphysis pain with lifting it, or a lacrosse ball if you experience relief of gluteal pain with use.

Scheduling Follow-Up Appointments, and Payment

  • Your physical therapist will talk to you at the end of your session about how often you’d like to be scheduled for physical therapy. You are able to schedule the next session(s) with your therapist at the time of each visit, if upcoming sessions will occur at variable times. Or, if you’d prefer a consistent recurring schedule, let your therapist know (e.g., every other Saturday at 12pm).

  • Text or call us anytime at 405-240-9575 if you realize you need to make changes to your schedule, or don’t have a follow-up on the books. We don’t have front desk staff to answer phones during typical business hours due to the small, client-centered nature of our practice. But we will always get back to you within 24 hours if you leave us a text or voicemail. You can also log onto your client profile at https://pelviccare.janeapp.com and make changes yourself 24/7, 7 days a week. If you don’t see times that work for you online, text/call. There is often more available than is apparent online, because our office manager can make adjustments and work magic with the schedule in ways our scheduling app can’t!

  • Please note: Email is not ideal for making schedule changes, especially if they are last minute. Please use the Pelvic Care Physical Therapy phone number instead.

  • You are required to list a credit card on file when you submit your intake form. Your card on file will automatically be charged after your appointment. Due to logistical issues specific to telehealth and HIPAA law, we do not accept cash, check, nor other forms of electronic payment for telehealth appointments.


We are here for you. Don’t hesitate to reach out if you have questions or concerns prior to your Telehealth Physical Therapy.





Pelvic Care Physical Therapy

3770 W. Robinson St. - Ste. 112 - Norman, OK - 73072 

www.pelviccare.org - 405.240.9575 – info@pelviccare.org