Pelvic floor symptoms that are common but not normal: What you need to know
Common But Not Normal
Many people experience pelvic floor symptoms, but just because they’re common doesn’t mean they’re normal. Pelvic floor dysfunction is often brushed off or accepted as part of life, especially for women after childbirth or with aging. It’s important to understand that symptoms should not be ignored and there are solutions. Let’s find out what types of symptoms are commonly caused by pelvic floor dysfunction and what you can do about it.
What Is Pelvic Floor Dysfunction?
We all have a collection of muscles that span from our pubic bone in front, to our tailbone in the back, and lie between our sit bones. These are the muscles we may be able to feel when we sit down. This is your pelvic floor. Think of your pelvic floor like a bowl or a hammock. Like many of the other muscles of your body, your pelvic floor needs to be able to shorten, or contract, as well as lengthen and relax. The job of these muscles are to support the pelvic organs (ie. bladder, rectum, uterus, prostate), keep you continent, and they also play a role in core strength and sexual function. The term, pelvic floor dysfunction, quite literally means that the pelvic floor muscles are not functioning well - they either can’t contract, can’t relax, or have a coordination problem. It’s important to catch this early on, as the pelvic floor integrates with the rest of your body and therefore symptoms can snowball, affecting nerves, connective tissues, posture, and so forth.
Common Pelvic Floor Symptoms That Are Not Normal
Bladder Leakage, Urgency, & Frequency
There are different types of bladder leakage and I have another blog post dedicated to talking specifically about each one, HERE. Urgency and frequency commonly develop as a result of our bladder becoming conditioned to emptying too quickly. This can result from always using the toilet each time you leave the house, even if the urge isn’t present. Another possible explanation is that if your bladder has trouble emptying well (either due to an issue with the bladder or possibly due to your pelvic floor muscles), then you’ll experience urgency and frequency.
Constipation
Constipation, is not always a problem with the gut and digestion. In some cases, digestive issues will affect your pelvic floor muscles, while in other cases digestion is working just fine. For the latter, constipation is more of a mechanical issue caused by the pelvic floor muscles not coordinating correctly to evacuate stool. This is important for both bowel health and comfort, but also because constipation will worsen bladder symptoms.
Pelvic Pain
Pelvic pain includes pain around the pelvis, tailbone, at the perineum, or at the genitals. It’s often described as sharp, achy, or burning. Pelvic pain frequently is caused by nerve irritation or muscle guarding that restricts blood flow. This can come on gradually and seemingly “out of the blue” or can be more acute in onset, especially after some type of trauma. Pain is important not to ignore, as chronic pain can lead to the central nervous system becoming altered in processing pain, a phenomenon called Central Sensitization.
Pelvic Pressure
Pressure or heaviness in the pelvis is a common symptom of prolapse. This is when the pelvic floor muscles are not as supportive, causing one or more of the pelvic organs (bladder, uterus, rectum) to migrate downward. This occurs as a result of straining or increased downward pressure. A common misconception is that prolapse happens only after a vaginal birth. The truth is that individuals who have never been pregnant can develop a prolapse and those who give birth via c-section are also not immune to this. This is an important symptom to address, as catching it early can mean learning how to manage heaviness and avoid worsening of the condition. Not addressing prolapse result in difficulty emptying the bladder or bowel and if this becomes significant enough, can require surgery to fix.
Why These Symptoms Need To Be Addressed
As you can probably gather, these common symptoms can have a great impact on quality of life. Pelvic pressure and leakage will often cause people to sit out on certain activities for fear of making the symptoms worse or noticeable to others. Pelvic pain evokes stress and fear for many and can interfere with intimate relationships as well. All of these issues can take an emotional toll and therefore effects multiple areas of someone’s life and well being. This is why it’s important to acknowledge what is not normal and address it! So what should you do, if you have one or more of these symptoms??
What You Can Do
Pelvic Floor Therapy - This is by far the gold standard treatment for pelvic floor dysfunction (shocking, I know!) Pelvic floor therapy allows for a specialist to evaluate all aspects of your pelvic floor health and determine what is causing your symptoms. A pelvic floor therapist will construct a detailed plan for how you can overcome your symptoms, including both treatment approaches for future visits and home program items. You can check out my practice’s approach to treatment here.
Exercise - Having a balance of mobility and strength is key to a healthy and well functioning pelvic floor. For some people, their existing exercises may need modifying, while in other cases establishing a gentle routine from scratch will be needed. Starting with 1-2 walks each day of 15-20min can be enough to start making changes for the better.
Nutrition and Sleep - Both nutrition and sleep will impact your pelvic floor functioning. Staying hydrated and incorporating gut-friendly foods can aid in both bladder and bowel symptoms, while getting adequate sleep will be useful for your body’s repair processes and nervous system regulation.
Stress Management - Speaking of the nervous system, stress management is KEY to pelvic health! Stress and anxiety are the most underrated contributors to dysfunction and often the factor people poo poo. It’s silly to say that you need to eliminate all stress, as that is just not realistic. But working on small, consistent ways to mitigate the physical affects of stress on the body can have a great impact.
What Next?
I hope this information was helpful and maybe caused you to look at symptoms you have been ignoring. If you need help finding a pelvic floor therapist in Florida, we hope that you will consider us for either in-person or virtual appointments.
In the meantime, you can get more pelvic health content sent right to you, by completing the short form below👇
