Women’s Health: Keeping Your Pelvic Floor Strong

Listen up, ladies. This series is for you!

Whether you’re entering early perimenopause or in the throes of menopause, AARP Ohio is bringing together women’s health experts to lead conversations designed for women who want answers, support, and expert guidance through the transition.

In this session, Dr. Shannon Wallace and Dr. Anna Spivak will guide the conversation about how midlife brings changes to the pelvic floor—but what’s normal, what’s not, and what can we actually do about it? This talk will explore the “aging” pelvis, from bowel and bladder changes to prolapse, incontinence, sexual function, and pelvic pain, with a practical focus on recognizing problems early and keeping the pelvic floor strong, functional, and healthy through midlife and beyond.

About the Experts:

Dr. Wallace has a special passion and enthusiasm for pelvic floor disorder research. Specifically, she has previously received grant funding to study the neural innervation of the bladder at the basic science level. She has also been awarded multiple clinical grants to evaluate outcomes after treatment of pelvic floor disorders. Dr. Wallace devotes a significant portion of her research time to understanding and studying combined rectal and vaginal prolapse with her colorectal colleagues. She also has a special interest in the costs and benefits of healthcare and has received awards for this research. Dr. Wallace holds leadership positions in numerous urogynecologic societies including the International Continence Society as well as the American Urogynecologic Society.

Dr. Wallace sees patients and operates at Cleveland Clinic Main Campus as well as the Hillcrest Hospital. She has special skills in vaginal surgery, laparoscopic surgery and robotic-assisted laparoscopic surgery. She is passionate about improving the quality of life of her patients as well as providing compassionate and evidence-based medical and surgical care.

Anna Spivak, DO, is a colorectal surgeon at Cleveland Clinic and an Assistant Professor at Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine. She completed her medical education at Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, followed by general surgery residency at Lankenau Medical Center and colorectal surgery fellowship at Allegheny Health Network.

Dr. Spivak specializes in complex pelvic floor disorders, with particular expertise in rectal prolapse, fecal incontinence, obstructed defecation, and complex pelvic floor reconstruction. She serves as  a section chief of pelvic floor surgery at Cleveland Clinic and has developed a multidisciplinary practice focused on the evaluation and treatment of complex pelvic floor disease. Her academic interests include advancing multidisciplinary models of care, developing evidence-based treatment algorithms, and research and education in pelvic floor surgery.