How Your Pelvic Floor Muscles Affect Your GYN Health
Have you ever been embarrassed by urinating at an unexpected moment?
Maybe you’ve experienced this incontinence when laughing too hard. Even a sneeze can cause problems…
…and you don’t dare go to exercise class anymore without a panty liner or leakage protection.
Chances are, you’ve never thought about your pelvic floor muscles, but if you’re plagued with situations like the ones described above, you may have a disorder that’s affecting them—and negatively impacting the quality of your life.
We know that these muscles have a powerful impact on your overall gynecological health, causing anything from stress incontinence to an overactive bladder. Life events such as childbirth and menopause can cause issues with pelvic floor muscles. We want to assure you that we will work with you to treat these conditions to help improve your overall quality of life. Please contact us for an appointment.
If you’re having the symptoms we’ve mentioned, we’ll provide tips to help you regain control of these important muscles so you won’t have to worry about unexpected “accidents.”
Where Are My Pelvic Floor Muscles?
These muscles are located within your pelvis, between your pubic bone and your tailbone. They support organs such as your uterus, bladder and bowels. These are the muscles you use when you urinate, have a bowel movement or have intercourse.
For easy reference, you might find this illustration of the pelvic floor muscles helpful.
Why Do I Urinate When I Cough, Sneeze, or Exercise?
We would need to perform a physical examination to reach an accurate diagnosis, but issues with your pelvic floor muscles can cause you to involuntarily urinate.
When these muscles become weak, it’s difficult to hold your urine, and stress–such as laughing, coughing or sneezing–can cause leaking.
Sometimes, this can create a situation known as pelvic organ prolapse which occurs when the pelvic floor muscles are no longer able to hold your organs in place. Treatment may include surgery.
What Causes These Pelvic Floor Muscles to Weaken?
Here are a few reasons:
How Can I Strengthen My Pelvic Floor Muscles?
Kegel exercises are one of the best ways to strengthen these muscles. During Kegel exercises, you tighten and release these muscles. If you’re not sure where these muscles are, the next time you’re peeing on the toilet, stop the flow of urine. This will enable you to feel where these muscles are located.
(But we don’t recommend frequently stopping the flow of urine when you’re going to the bathroom. This could cause an infection if you’re doing it too often. )
Practice tightening and releasing these muscles. We’ll work with you to determine how often and how many you should do. If you have trouble identifying these muscles, just talk to us.
Can I Fix My Weak Pelvic Floor?
While the previously mentioned exercises can help, there are also other methods of treatment that can assist you. These include:
Relieving stress from the pelvic floor muscles
If you’re straining with constipation, you’re stressing your muscles every time you have a bowel movement. It may help to use treatments to provide relief from constipation.
Medical devices
There are medical devices that can hold your organs in place if you have organ prolapse.
Physical therapy
We can refer you to a certified physical therapist who can help you strengthen these muscles.
Surgery
At certain times, surgical intervention is required.
You Don’t Have to Put Up With the Inconvenience of Incontinence: Associates in Women’s Healthcare Is Ready to Help You
We get it. Talking about incontinence is difficult. You may even find it embarrassing.
But we never want you to feel embarrassed to talk to us.
Problems with the muscles in your pelvic floor can not only cause you to lose urine, but it can contribute to an overactive bladder and even cause organ prolapse.
We’ll align treatment strategies to ensure you get the care you deserve. Contact us for an appointment today.
The information in this article and the articles on this website is for educational purposes only and should not be considered medical advice. If you have questions or concerns, please contact your healthcare provider.
