Why Pelvic Floor Therapy is Key to Preventative Care
Introduction
Our country’s medical system is designed to be a “sick system,” where once we become sick or disabled, we then are reactive in seeking health and wellness. Historically, Physical Therapy has certainly fallen under this umbrella and is usually thought of as rehab. It’s becoming clear that more and more Americans are fed up with this way of living and are taking the initiative to be proactive with their health and wellness, in an effort to remain active and able bodied. So why would Pelvic Floor Therapy be any different? Why wait for problems to arise, when we have many tools and strategies to stay ahead of them?
Why Pelvic Health Matters
Your pelvic floor muscles are directly involved in bladder, bowel, and sexual function. They also support your pelvic organs (ie. your bladder, rectum, uterus, prostate). When we add physical demands to our bodies, such as running, lifting weights, or chasing kiddos around, our pelvic floor muscles must work that much harder to withstand the additional stress and pressure. Therefore, it’s ESSENTIAL that we maintain optimal functioning of these muscles!
When we neglect our pelvic health and continue to increase stressors on our bodies, we often will notice unpleasant symptoms such as:
Incontinence that keeps us from doing higher impact activities in an exercise class
Pelvic pain after a long day of lifting and chasing toddlers
Pelvic pressure or heaviness after a run
Pelvic pain during or after sexual activity
Sexual performance decline
Even embarrassing flatulence during a quiet yoga class can occur due to pelvic floor issues.
The Benefits of Preventative Pelvic Floor therapy
Longevity
Taking a preventative approach to pelvic health, via pelvic floor therapy, can ensure you’re maintaining the health and longevity of your pelvic structures. This means we can stay drier, lighter, and pain-free for much longer in life. We shouldn’t keep dismissing leakage, pain, or whatever symptom, due to age or having gone through childbirth. There’s just no reason to do this anymore!
Lifestyle & Fitness Goals
Pelvic floor therapy is a great tool to support your overall lifestyle and fitness goals. Simply having an awareness of your pelvic floor muscles during squats, deadlifts, or yoga class can have a profound impact in a positive way. I know this, because I see it every day among my patients. People will often report feeling stronger, even before true strength is improved. This is because pelvic floor therapy helps you to recruit the right muscles in the first place. It helps your body to show up for you during the activities you love to do.
Prepare For Life Stages
Finally, preventative pelvic floor therapy is a game changer when it comes to preparing for certain life stages such as menopause, pregnancy, postpartum, and aging. We have the scientific knowledge to understand what changes occur to our body’s tissues at each of these stages and therefore we have the tools to get ahead of these changes and be better prepared for them. This is precisely why birth prep is becoming so popular among pregnant individuals who seek preventative care. Women are understanding that they can have an active role in experiencing childbirth the way they would like, while maximizing efficiency, comfort, and minimizing the risk for additional complications.
The Risk of Waiting
As with anything in healthcare, when you wait for problems to arise, you end up fighting an uphill battle to resolve symptoms that may have been preventable in the first place.
I can tell you from personal experience, I wish I had sought out birth prep before delivering my first child. I realized, in the delivery room, that I had no idea how to “push” and deliver vaginally. The old wives tale, “your body will know what to do,” is just that. I ended up with a traumatic birth, perineal tearing, and a prolapsed bladder. While some of the circumstances of my birth may have been unavoidable, I know with 100% certainty that many factors would have been drastically different with preventative care.
I’ve worked with countless individuals who ignored (or simply didn’t recognize) the signs of pelvic floor issues, whether it be pain, leakage, or changes to their bladder/bowel habits. By the time they seek out therapy, they’re desperate. Many of the women I treat have stopped having sex with their partners due to pain. Men often tell me that once they developed Erectile Dysfunction, that was enough to bring them to therapy. By the time these individuals reach our office, we’re often having to resolve multiple symptoms that impact different areas of their lives - sexually, activity level, and toileting. Not to mention the toll this takes on one’s mental and emotional well-being!
Take The First Steps Toward Prevention
If you remember nothing else from this blog, remember not to wait for symptoms to arise. Prevention is better than rehab! It takes only one hour of your time to get a pelvic health assessment and establish a baseline for how your pelvic floor is functioning. From there, your therapist can guide you on what to do to either maintain optimal function or make improvements for your particular lifestyle and activity level. If you’ve got health and wellness goals heading into this new year, your pelvic health should be one of the aspects you tackle head-on.
Here’s your sign to call and schedule a pelvic floor evaluation today! If you run in a circle of like-minded individuals who also value being active, healthy, and aim for longevity, please share this with them and help spread the word that pelvic floor therapy is key to preventative care!
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👇
