Meet Your Michigan Pelvic Pain Specialist: Dr. Kim Leishear
Dr. Kimberlee Leishear is an osteopathic physician specializing in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and an expert in women's and men's sexual health. She feels so much fulfillment talking to patients and providing answers to questions they’ve been asking for a long time, about why they are having pain and what’s going on with their bodies. Her specialty focuses on optimizing a patient’s level of function which includes sexual, bladder, and bowel function.GET TO KNOW YOUR DOCTOR
WHY DID YOU BECOME A DOCTOR?
I've always had a love of science and a curiosity for how things work. My passion for medicine grew out of the ability to build relationships and connect with people while helping to make a difference in their lives.WHAT IS YOUR APPROACH TO PELVIC PAIN?
My approach truly aligns with what drove me to be an osteopath as well as a physiatrist, which is to use a holistic, multidisciplinary approach to improve a patient's quality of life using the least invasive treatment possible.WHAT MAKES YOU MOST PASSIONATE ABOUT HELPING PRM'S COMMUNITY OF PATIENTS?
I am very passionate about helping patients who have been suffering for so many years, often not having their symptoms validated and taken seriously, and really having no answers, particularly in females. In women’s health, many sexual, bladder, and bowel symptoms including pelvic pain have been normalized and women often feel like they are not believed by providers over years or decades especially in the setting of “normal” workups including tests and imaging failing to provide any answers. However, what they are experiencing is not normal. My goal is to first listen to patients and then validate patients’ symptoms. I talk about why they are having the pain and discuss a treatment plan to get them better faster.HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE PATIENT CARE?
I believe the foundation of patient care starts with listening to and understanding what the patient is going through on both a physical and emotional level – only then can the best level of care be provided. I really get to know the patients, what they’ve been going through, and really listen to them tell their stories. I learn what they’re feeling, what they’ve done to try to relieve their pain, and what has and hasn’t worked. This all helps me to know what is going on and how to best treat them moving forward. It’s a conversation, and I want everything that happens to be what the patient is comfortable with. I know that they’ve gone through difficult experiences, so I want to make sure that my time with them is as comfortable as possible. The patient is always in control, and I will always explain what I’m about to do as far as a physical exam whether I’m examining the pelvis, abdomen, hips, or lower spine. I’ll also spend a lot of time educating patients using pictures to explain what’s going on in the pelvis and the whole body that is causing their symptoms and how I will help them on the path to healing.WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE PART OF YOUR JOB?
Meeting patients, talking to them, and helping them heal and get on the road to recovery.WHAT DOES PRM'S MISSION OF "DECREASING THE TIME PATIENTS ARE SUFFERING WITH PELVIC PAIN" MEAN TO YOU?
This means that we want to get the patients back to their lives. Patients come to me with years of suffering and pain, limiting their time at their job, time with family, affecting their relationships, and impacting their function and their quality of life. This pain has usually been going on for years, sometimes longer, so getting patients better faster is the key. Using a multi modal approach really does that – it's not just one nerve or one muscle. It's not just the pelvis, it’s treating the central nervous system and the whole body and getting patients back to their lives.WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON HELPING THE POPULATION OF WOMEN SUFFERING WITH ENDOMETRIOSIS?
As a pelvic pain specialist, I am truly on the front lines of endometriosis care and treatment. Most of my female patients are either diagnosed with endometriosis through surgical excision and biopsy or are suspected of having endometriosis. Often, I’m the first one mentioning endometriosis to patients. Since I’m a muscle and nerve specialist focusing on the pelvis and pelvic floor, I’m first evaluating for any dysfunction or abnormality in the pelvic floor muscles and nerves that I can help treat. I always try to find out what may be the underlying cause for the muscle and nerve dysfunction. There often are many different reasons contributing to this dysfunction. In females, many patients may have underlying gynecological pathology including endometriosis causing dysfunction of the muscles and nerves in the pelvis. If I suspect that someone may have endometriosis, I first talk to them about my findings, including the specific issues with the pelvic muscles and nerves and how I can help treat those issues. I ask them if they have ever heard of endometriosis and go on to explain what it is, if they have not heard of it, answering any questions that they may have. We discuss a holistic, multimodal treatment plan because endometriosis not only affects the pelvic muscles and nerves, but really affects the whole body. Endometriosis is a systemic (whole body) inflammatory disease and to be treated properly needs a multimodal “whole body” treatment approach. Only having surgery to remove the endometriosis lesions is just the tip of the iceberg. It is only a small part of the treatment for endometriosis. This is why even after endometriosis surgery patients can still have pain. The pain and symptoms that a patient has is not only coming from the inflammatory lesions of endometriosis, but is also coming from the whole body’s reaction to the lesions including the sensitized central nervous system or that “fight or flight” that is always on, when it shouldn’t be. These are all contributing to a patient’s symptoms, pain, and quality of life. While I do discuss surgery with my patients, my goal is to try a non-surgical approach first to get people back to their lives and doing what they love. Also, if patients do have endometriosis surgery after treating and “rehabbing” the pelvic muscles and nerves, their bodies are going to be in a calmer state and better prepared for surgery and will ultimately have a more successful surgery, recovery, and long-term outcome.WHAT'S SOMETHING YOU WOULD LIKE PEOPLE TO KNOW ABOUT PELVIC HEALTH?
It's not normal to have pain with your periods that limit your schoolwork or social activities.EDUCATION & EXPERIENCE
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Philadelphia College of Osteopathic MedicinePROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS & AFFILIATIONS
American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation American Osteopathic Association Dr. Kimberlee Leishear completed the Interventional Pain Course presented by the Alan Edwards Pain Management Unit of the McGill University Health Centre.PRM CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
Dr. Leishear continually provides educational content for both PRM’s patients and our online audience. She has also spoken to many pelvic floor physical therapy groups to educate them on our treatment approach and how we can work together to get patients better.Professional Medical Association Memberships
