Are you paying attention to your pelvic floor health?
The pelvic floor is a group of muscles and nerves that form a “supportive hammock” from your back to your tailbone, lower abdomen, and hips, gynecologist and urologist Sonia Bahrani, M.D., told USA TODAY. This determines your urinary and stool patterns, sexual function, and even the way you sit.
“People never think of the pelvic floor as the powerhouse of the body, but it is,” says Dr. Bahrani.
Dr. Bahrani emphasizes that a common misconception about the pelvic floor is that the opposite of a strong pelvic floor is a weak pelvic floor.
“People think a tight pelvic floor means a strong pelvic floor. But a tight pelvic floor actually means a weak pelvic floor,” she says. These are two sides of the same coin. Both cause similar problems, but they are usually handled differently.
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Another misconception is that pelvic floor issues are only a concern for people with vaginas. These actually affect everyone, regardless of their anatomy, points out Dr. Bahrani.
Here’s what health experts want you to know about identifying a stiff pelvic floor and the best ways to fix it.
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How do you know if your pelvic floor is stiff?
Statistics show that approximately one-third of women and 16% of men will experience some type of pelvic floor disease during their lifetime.
According to the Cleveland Clinic, pelvic floor stiffness occurs when the muscles are in a state of continuous contraction. This can lead to problems such as urinary and fecal incontinence, painful intercourse, and pelvic organ prolapse, and “you can actually feel the uterus coming out of the vagina,” Dr. Bahrani says.
If you’re struggling with these issues, your doctor may want to test your pelvic floor strength using a biofeedback machine, Dr. Bahrani says. “They’ll say, ‘You’re going to contract your pelvic floor muscles, so you’re going to do something like you’re going to push the stool out, or you’re going to do something like you’re going to pee,'” she says. “And you can measure the strength of your pelvic floor.”
How to relax your pelvic floor muscles
According to Harvard Health, you’ve probably heard of Kegel exercises. This is an exercise where you tighten your vagina around a tampon or pretend to stop the flow of urine, as if you are trying to avoid passing gas, and contract your muscles.
Although this is the most well-known way to strengthen your pelvic floor, it may not actually be the best method for you.
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“Kegels only work for some patients whose pelvic floor is weak due to muscle relaxation, not muscle stiffness,” Dr. Bahrani says. She advises only about 20% of her patients to use Kegels alone. Physical therapy, yoga poses, bird dogs, and core-strengthening exercises may be suitable for some people.
In other words, if you have a weak pelvic floor, Kegels are effective, but if you have a stiff pelvic floor, it is better to treat it with methods such as yoga, meditation, and other relaxation techniques.