Our pelvic floor muscles are a group of muscles that take the shape of a bowl and are situated at the bottom of our pelvis. The health of these muscles are essential for healthy bladder and bowel function as well as for sexual pleasure. Exercise for these muscles can help keep them in good shape, but lifestyle factors can make a huge difference as well.
What factors may contribute to unhealthy pelvic floor muscles?
- constipation
- chronic coughing
- stress
- postural misalignments
- high physical demands
- being overweight
Why may these factors lead to symptoms?
Chronic coughing and constipation put a lot of strain on the pelvic floor muscles, stretching-pushing them down, creating weakness.
Unaddressed ongoing stress changes our breathing pattern and encourages us to tense up our muscles, including the pelvic floor muscles. Constant tension will lead to decreased blood flow and less elastic muscles.
Postural issues change the way abdominal pressure is dealt with by the body, it affects the movement of the diaphragm, putting the pelvic floor muscles at a functional disadvantage.
Tight or overactive muscles are less pliable, and are less able to follow the given movement that the body demands. Muscles under constant stretch will become weak and less able to contract fully and quickly.
You may have high physical demands placed on you if you are a professional athlete (weight lifters, trampolinists, runners etc.) or you may have a job that requires a lot of lifting or standing on your feet. You may also be a mother of several young children, having to carry them for prolonged periods of time.
This is only a problem if these activities require more strength and endurance than which your pelvic musculature is currently capable of. What is considered high demand varies from person to person.
Being overweight loads the pelvic floor muscles fairly constantly, as we spend most of our time upright, with all the weight of the abdomen ‘sitting’ on the pelvic floor muscles. Increased abdominal fat will put more pressure on the pelvic organs and the muscles, weakening them in the long term.
What can we do to prevent overloading our pelvic floor muscles?
Constipation deserves a whole blog post, therefore click here to read more.
Make sure you are on top of asthma and allergies. Seek medical help to ensure these are under control with the correct medication. Smokers should quit, as it can lead to chronic coughing in the long run. Be prepared to have minimal increase in coughing while weaning or in the beginning of the ‘cold turkey’ phase, as the body gets rid of the harmful chemicals via mucus. If you catch a cold make sure you hydrate yourself properly and try sleeping in a semi-reclined position. There are also ways of coughing and clearing mucus that put less strain on the pelvic floor.
If life is throwing a lot at you and you feel stressed for prolonged periods of time, relaxation techniques to relax both your mind and body are recommended. Physical reactions to stress actually occur to help us perform better, occasional stress responses are no problem. If stress becomes constant and our bodies and minds are in perpetual stress responses, it can be a problem in the long run. Take, for example, a bit of excitement, increased sweating and faster breathing, slightly more tension in muscles and a hyper-focused state is natural before a big public speaking event and may even improve the performance of the person. If the person has not been sleeping well for weeks and has had so much tension in the muscles that it is causing pain and decreasing circulation in the area- then that is definitely not beneficial.
Most relevant postural problems for the pelvic floor are those that involve tilting of the pelvis or of the ribcage. Ideally the ribcage is situated above the bony pelvis, neither of them is more forwards or backwards, and there is minimal tilt in them compared to the vertical axis. If postural misalignment is present, it can be helpful to involve a physiotherapist, to find out what is causing it. Changes in posture can occur from muscular imbalance and it is important to find what is overactive, lengthened, weakened, etc.
Before starting vigorous physical activity, it is best to establish what condition our pelvic floor muscles are in, as this will determine what level of activity is too challenging for the area specifically. A person with strong, mobile pelvic floor muscles will have no problems running at a high intensity for long periods of time. For people with weak or dysfunctional pelvic floor muscles, this form of exercise would not be recommended. Many mundane tasks are associated with increased load on the pelvic floor muscles. Knowing what condition our pelvic floor is in will help determine how we go about these every day tasks. For example, if carrying the groceries is too much in one go, it is possible to take several turns to the car or use a trolley instead. Likewise, if the wet laundry is very heavy, to decrease strain on a weak pelvic floor complex, we can carry the load in smaller batches etc. We can learn how to kneel and bend etc. in a way that is less taxing for the muscles. Using an internal aid, such as a pessary, may also be an option.
Making sure that we are within the healthy weight range is important for our health, including the health of our pelvic floor muscles. If we want to lose weight, setting realistic goals is very important, and breaking it down to smaller, more tangible goals is even better. Focusing on small steps just ahead of us is helpful in keeping us motivated. Healthy sleeping habits and keeping stress under control is paramount for successful dieting. If these pose a challenge, it is worth finding a psychologist that you can work with. Finding physical activities or exercise that you enjoy and forming well balanced dietary habits is necessary. If the latter is difficult, involve a trained dietitian to tailor the diet to your needs and preferences.
By Zsofia Agg
