Pelvic Floor Dysfunction
“Watch your habits, for they become your posture. Watch your posture, for it creates your boundaries. Watch your boundaries, for they restrict your growth. Watch your restrictions, for they create immobility. Watch your immobility, for it becomes your illness.”― Katy Bowman
Pelvic floor
It is a muscular base of the abdomen which is attached to the bony pelvis. The pelvic organs are bladder and bowel in men, bowel and uterus in women.
Pelvic Floor Dysfunction
It is an inability to properly tighten and relax the pelvic floor muscles to perform bowel movements.
Symptoms
Pelvic floor dysfunction may not seem like a big problem but it can cause more problems in your life than what you can imagine. It is important to understand that you may not experience all the symptoms because people have them in different combinations. Some significant symptoms of pelvic floor dysfunction that can help in diagnosis are discussed here:
- Constipation
- Urine and stool leakage
- Lower back pain
- Frequent urine
- Muscle spasms in the pelvis
- Pressure in the pelvic region or rectum
- Pain in the pelvic region, genitals or rectum
- Discomfort in sexual intercourse for women
Causes of Pelvic Floor Dysfunction
Not everyone gets pelvic floor dysfunction due to the same reason. There are some possible causes of pelvic floor dysfunction which we discussed below:
- Childbirth
- Nerve damage
- Obesity
- Pelvic surgery
- Traumatic injury to the pelvic region
- Pain with intercourse
Diagnosis
Pelvic floor disorders can be diagnosed by symptoms and your doctor must ask you some questions to confirm that you have this disorder or not and these possible questions in detail are given below here:
- Do you have a history of urinary infections?
- Have you given birth to a child?
- Do you feel pain during intercourse?
- Do you have irritable bowel syndrome?
- Do you have interstitial cystitis?
Tests for Pelvic Floor Disorder
Doctors use some tests to diagnose the pelvic floor disorders and these are named as:
- Anorectal manometry
- Defecating portogram
- Uroflow test
Risk Factors
Some risk factors make you more prone to develop pelvic floor disorders. Such factors that increase your probability of developing pelvic floor disorders are mentioned below:
- Pregnancy
- Obesity
- Old women at great risk
- Lungs issues
- Kidney problems
- Constipation
- Muscle diseases
- Enlarged prostate in men
- Behaviors like smoking and caffeine consumption
Treatment
Some treatments are discussed here which therapists used and found to be effective to relax your pelvic floor muscles and treat you to so that you become healthy and feel better. Make sure you stick to the recommendations of your health care practitioner.
1- Medications
First of all, the therapists recommend you some medications which are muscle relaxant and this help to treat pelvic floor disorders. These types of relaxants prevent your muscles from contracting and therefore they make the painful sensations go away.
2- Self-Care Techniques
Doctor also may recommend you some self-care techniques that are yoga and stretching which can help you to relax your pelvic floor muscles and you should do some exercises for this purpose. Avoid pushing or straining in the bathroom as that might make your condition worse. Use warm water because it helps increase blood circulation and increased blood circulation leads to relaxed muscles.
3- Surgery
Doctors recommend surgery when your pelvic floor dysfunction causes rectal prolapse because in this situation rectal tissues fall into the anal openings causing many serious complications. That is why surgery becomes important as surgery helps to relax muscles and loosen the effects of pelvic organs on your gut.
