How to Better Manage Your PMOS Symptoms

If you have struggled with symptoms of polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome (PMOS), previously known as polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), you may be wondering if there’s anything you can do to control them.

Acne, sleep disruption, weight gain, mood swings, irregular periods, and other PMOS symptoms can be a huge pain—so it’s understandable you’d want to find some ways to better manage them. 

This blog looks to provide some actionable steps that you can take to manage your symptoms and find a better quality of life! But first, let’s talk a bit more about the condition itself and the symptoms it causes…

Polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome (PMOS) refers to individuals who experience changes to their body’s hormone production, hormone usage, and metabolic processes. PMOS affects those who are born with ovaries and are of reproductive age.

Management of this condition is very important not just for maintaining a higher quality of life, but also for preventing long-term health conditions like diabetes, heart disease, and much more. By taking steps to care for your health, you’ll be able to help lower your risk of these conditions and better manage symptoms such as the ones we’ll discuss below.

Visit the polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome (PMOS) page to learn more about this condition, how it works, and why it causes symptoms.

PMOS Symptoms

PMOS can create a wide variety of symptoms that vary greatly from person to person. 

This condition can affect menstruation and fertility, meaning many individuals with PMOS may experience difficulty getting pregnant as well as irregular menstrual periods. Your periods may feel heavier, longer, painful, infrequent, or just completely unpredictable.

Your weight may also be difficult to manage with PMOS. You may experience weight gain, or have difficulty maintaining or losing weight. Other symptoms include things like mood swings, anxiety, depression, trouble sleeping, dark patches of skin, excessive hair growth, acne, oily skin, skin tags, and more.

As mentioned earlier, PMOS can also affect metabolic processes, which means those with PMOS will want to engage in preventative care in order to avoid long-term health conditions.

Due to the fact that PMOS symptoms can vary widely, they often require different approaches to care and management.

For example, those struggling with mental effects of PMOS (anxiety, stress, or depression) may want to seek professional mental health services that help better manage their symptoms.

In other cases, your primary care doctor may recommend hormonal medications such as birth control, which may help regulate some aspects like hair growth, and menstruation. 

Outside of these more direct treatment methods, there are also many other steps you can take to better manage your symptoms and protect your metabolic health, which we’ll discuss below. 

However, if you find that you need further assistance with the strategies below, don’t hesitate to reach out for a physical therapy evaluation.

It may be surprising to hear that physical therapy can play a role in PMOS management, but the truth is that physical therapy can play a very significant role in managing musculoskeletal health—and movement is truly at the root of all aspects of health!

Your quality of sleep, stress management, weight management, and other PMOS symptoms can all be affected by exercise and movement; something that physical therapists are experts in!

So without further ado, let’s explore some actionable strategies for managing PMOS symptoms.

Tracking Your Symptoms

While it may seem unhelpful at first glance, tracking your PMOS symptoms can actually be a good way to better understand your unique experience with the condition.

PMOS affects each person differently, and so knowing what your individual symptoms are and their severity can support better treatment, management, and a personal understanding of your symptoms.

This can look like tracking your sleep quality, levels of fatigue or stress, mood, periods (even if they are irregular), weight fluctuations, and more. Not every person experiences PMOS “flare-ups” in the same way, so knowing how your body responds to life events or changes in daily habits can be helpful.

In practice, this can mean understanding how your body responds to certain eating habits, sleep cycle changes, stress levels, or other aspects of life.

Exercise Consistently

Movement is at the root of all health. Whether you have PMOS or not, movement and exercise are incredibly important to long-term health. Unfortunately, those with PMOS are at higher risk of long-term health conditions, and so regular exercise and a healthy diet are of utmost importance.

Exercise is shown to improve sleep, reduce stress, support weight management, and provide a multitude of other benefits. Exercise affects your body’s insulin usage, too! Therefore, those with PMOS will want to engage in exercise regularly to improve their long-term health and symptom management.

However, remember to be kind to yourself. While many with PMOS struggle with weight management (and, as a result, body image), exercise is still incredibly important for your health, energy levels, stress management, and more. Don’t give up, and don’t push yourself too hard; aim for a consistency that works best for your body’s long-term needs!

Prioritize Good Sleep

Sleep is incredibly important for hormone regulation, stress management, energy levels, and much more. Those with PMOS may have symptoms of sleep disorders such as insomnia, and so making an effort to improve your experiences with sleep may be even more necessary!

A good sleep routine (sleeping and waking up at consistent times), regular exercise, getting enough hours of sleep, and good pre-bedtime habits (less screen time) can all help support better sleep quality.

It can be frustrating to experience sleepless nights, but don’t give up! Aim for consistency, and find what best works for your body’s own needs.

Stress Management

Dealing with PMOS symptoms, in combination with everything else in life, can often result in a lot of stress. Unfortunately, stress can have negative effects on the body in a multitude of ways—affecting hormonal balances, sleep quality, mood, and your quality of life overall.

It’s important to find stress management strategies to implement throughout your life. The stressors unfortunately won’t go away on their own, but you can take control by finding ways to restore calm. For many, this can look like yoga, stretching, deep breathing exercises, meditation, journaling, light exercise, talking with others, self-care, and more.

Find what works best for you, and implement those strategies whenever they’re needed. Don’t let stress take over your health! 

Additionally, those who struggle with things like anxiety or depression should consider speaking with mental health professionals. Mental health can be directly impacted by stress, and should therefore not be ignored or taken lightly.

Consider Physical Therapy

You might be thinking, “Why physical therapy for PMOS?” 

As briefly mentioned before, physical therapy—or more specifically, pelvic floor physical therapy—can offer a range of benefits for those looking to better manage their PMOS symptoms. 

While pelvic floor physical therapy doesn’t exactly aid in managing things like acne or hair growth, it can be a fantastic form of guidance for exercise, mobility, stress reduction, and pain management.

PMOS does not necessarily directly cause pelvic pain, but as mentioned before, many individuals with PMOS may be more prone to stress and irregular menstruation. Both of these things can lead to pelvic floor tension, which can cause pelvic pain. Stick with me here!

Pelvic floor tension is a form of pelvic floor dysfunction, a broad term for when you have a problem with your pelvic floor. The pelvic floor is a group of muscles found in your pelvis. 

They’re responsible for a ton of different functions! Thanks to these muscles, you can use the restroom, lift items, engage in sports, keep your pelvic organs in place, support a pregnancy, and so much more.

When these muscles are dysfunctional, a lot of different symptoms can form; including pelvic pain, constipation, urinary incontinence, painful sex, lower back pain, and more.

If you experience symptoms like these or fear that PMOS-related stress may be affecting your pelvic health, you’ll want to consider seeking a pelvic floor physical therapist such as myself. 

Alternatively, if you want guidance for relaxation techniques and effective exercise, stretching, or mobility training, you should try pelvic floor physical therapy, too. Together, we can create a routine that best works for your body, your needs, and your unique PMOS symptoms!

So, we already described above that physical therapy can be very beneficial for those with PMOS. But what does pelvic floor therapy actually look like?

When starting this form of treatment, you’ll first engage in a consultation process. Here we’ll discuss your medical history, PMOS symptoms, concerns, and other related topics. I’ll also perform an examination, which will allow me to see where things may need improvement—your posture, muscle balance, pelvic floor health, and more.

Once I have a clear understanding of your unique needs, I’ll be able to create a curated care plan just for you! This can include a wide variety of treatments, such as the following examples:

Targeted Exercise Plan

Like I mentioned earlier, having a regular and consistent exercise routine is essential for managing PMOS. However, it can be hard to know what is really right for you when it comes to exercise and strengthening.

With a proper evaluation, I’ll be able to create an exercise routine that best suits your body’s needs, current difficulty level, and personal goals. I can ensure your posture and form is correct as well, which will help prevent injury and ensure proper gains.

Manual Therapy

Manual therapy refers to hands-on techniques that manipulate the body’s tissues in order to reduce tension, improve blood circulation, encourage nerve function, and much more. This treatment will be very important for those with symptoms of pelvic floor dysfunction, including any tension caused by stress!

Pelvic Floor Training

Pelvic floor training may sound like something that is only necessary for those with dysfunction—and you may think that it doesn’t apply to you. However, you’d be surprised how many people unknowingly have a weak, tight, or uncoordinated pelvic floor!

These muscles need to be strong, healthy, and coordinated in order to best support daily function. Weakness and tension can create problems you may not have even thought were pelvic floor related.

If your evaluation yields evidence that your pelvic floor could use some work, I’ll be sure to guide you through exercises and activities to restore your pelvic floor back to an optimal state. This can include exercises to strengthen your pelvic floor, as well as other treatments that will help regain your understanding and control of these muscles.

Pain Management

As discussed earlier, PMOS can often contribute to pelvic floor dysfunction, which can lead to pain in the hips, pelvic, back, and more.

Luckily with physical therapy there are many ways to manage all of these different types of pain. I can provide hands-on treatments to support pain relief right in the clinic, as well as teach you strategies for managing your pain at home. This can look like gentle stretching, light exercises, yoga, massage, and more.

I may also recommend products or tools that suit your individual needs, such as TENS, dilators, pelvic wands, and more.

Deep Breathing

The last treatment example I wanted to discuss here is deep breathing techniques. While this may seem simple, deep breathing can provide significant benefits for both managing stress and reducing tension in the pelvic floor!

Many people fail to perform deep breathing correctly, but rest assured that I’ll lead you through the process so that you can perform it properly at home. I can also suggest other relaxation techniques to assist in down-regulation of your nervous system, which is helpful for managing stress and more (you can find a free guide on that topic here as well).

There are many other treatments that can be used in pelvic floor physical therapy, but these will all depend on your unique situation, symptoms, medical history, health goals, and needs.

If you’d like to see if pelvic floor therapy could be a good fit for you, make an appointment with me. The only way to know for sure is with a consultation, so don’t hesitate to get started!

I welcome patients of all gender identities and ages—physical therapy is for everyone, after all! And whether you’ve struggled with PMOS symptoms for years or only just recently got diagnosed, it’s never too late to get started. 

If you have any appointment-related questions, check out the FAQ page or consider a discovery call.