Pelvic Care Blog

Our blog is dedicated to supporting acupuncturists who specialize or hope to specialize in pelvic health. We hope you enjoy our musings and offerings.

How to Collaborate with Pelvic PTs
Pelvic Health Krystal Couture Pelvic Health Krystal Couture

How to Collaborate with Pelvic PTs

Let's talk about what it looks like to actually walk into your community and build referral relationships with pelvic PTs without shrinking yourself in the process. This is the question I hear from acupuncturists more than almost any other. How do I work alongside the pelvic PTs in my area without stepping on their toes? How do I get on their radar without underselling what I do?

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Featured in Voyage LA: Closing the Gap, One Acupuncturist at a Time
Pelvic Health Krystal Couture Pelvic Health Krystal Couture

Featured in Voyage LA: Closing the Gap, One Acupuncturist at a Time

The interview gave me the chance to say, in one place, the thing I have spent 19 years trying to say.

Someone nominated us for Voyage LA, and I still don't know who.

I got the note that The Pelvic Acu had been chosen for a feature, and I sat with it for a minute, a little teary, because someone out there decided this work was worth pointing a light at. If that someone is reading this: thank you. You have no idea.

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Ashi Points vs. Trigger Points: What Research Tells Us About Dry Needling
Pelvic Health Krystal Couture Pelvic Health Krystal Couture

Ashi Points vs. Trigger Points: What Research Tells Us About Dry Needling

As acupuncturists, we have been navigating a quiet identity question for years. A growing number of physical therapists, chiropractors, and athletic trainers are inserting filiform needles into muscle tissue and calling it dry needling. Patients are receiving the work. Insurance is increasingly covering it. And our profession has been left to ask whether what they are doing is, in fact, our medicine practiced under a different name.

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Vulvodynia
Pelvic Health Krystal Couture Pelvic Health Krystal Couture

Vulvodynia

Vulvodynia affects approximately 7% of American women, yet many suffer for years before receiving an accurate diagnosis. This chronic vulvar pain of unknown origin, lasting at least three months, can devastate intimate relationships and severely impact quality of life. For acupuncturists treating pelvic health conditions, understanding vulvodynia and the growing evidence supporting acupuncture as an effective treatment offers hope to patients who have often exhausted conventional options.

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NEW PUBLICATION: CHRONIC PELVIC PAIN & ACUPUNCTURE
Pelvic Health Krystal Couture Pelvic Health Krystal Couture

NEW PUBLICATION: CHRONIC PELVIC PAIN & ACUPUNCTURE

Dr. Krystal Lynn Couture has officially been published in collaboration with Golden Flower Chinese Herbs.

This work brings forward a powerful and much-needed conversation around chronic pelvic pain (CPP) and the role of acupuncture in addressing one of the most complex and underserved conditions in modern healthcare.

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The Gut-Pelvic Floor Connection
Pelvic Health Krystal Couture Pelvic Health Krystal Couture

The Gut-Pelvic Floor Connection

When a patient presents with both chronic constipation and pelvic pain, or when bladder urgency seems to worsen alongside digestive distress, many practitioners recognize that something connects these seemingly separate systems. For acupuncturists treating pelvic health conditions, understanding the intricate relationship between digestive physiology and pelvic floor function is essential. The connection runs deeper than simple anatomical proximity. It involves a complex interplay of nervous systems that communicate bidirectionally, creating cycles that can either support health or perpetuate dysfunction.

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Mast Cell Activation Syndrome in Pelvic Health
Pelvic Health Krystal Couture Pelvic Health Krystal Couture

Mast Cell Activation Syndrome in Pelvic Health

When patients present with a constellation of seemingly unrelated symptoms (skin flushing, digestive issues, pelvic pain, and unexplained reactions to foods or temperature changes), many practitioners find themselves searching for answers. For acupuncturists specializing in pelvic health, understanding Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS) is becoming increasingly essential to providing comprehensive, effective care.

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