Maximizing Pelvic Floor Health

Optimizing Your Pelvic Floor Health

Sound pelvic floor health is a vital component to your overall health and quality of life. Pelvic floor disorders (PFDs) are a group of conditions that are quite common, afflicting 1 out of 3 women (or 33%) in the U.S. A quarter of the U.S. population of women who are 20 years of age or older suffer with PFDs, with most struggling with more than 1 disorder of the pelvic floor.

Symptoms of PFDs may include incontinence, frequency or urgency of urination, pelvic heaviness or pressure, plus pelvic pain leading to sexual issues or inhibitions. If left untreated, PFDs can often lead to those afflicted experiencing social isolation, sexual inhibition, fear of committing to travel or social plans and interference with work, career and all forms of relationships. What’s more, many women with PFD-related issues avoid discussing personal symptoms with their doctors due to feelings of embarrassment or resign themselves to accepting their symptoms, even though symptoms for 70% of PFD-related issues may be vastly improved with professional diagnosis and treatment.

A woman’s pelvic floor health has great effect on the quality of her overall health throughout her lifetime. During reproductive years, a woman’s pelvic floor is rigorously tested, particularly if she experiences pregnancy and childbirth. Being overweight and having low estrogen levels, particularly after menopause and with aging, also greatly affect women’s pelvic floor health.

Your Capital Women’s Care team of women’s health professionals outlines common PFDs, important PFD-related signs and symptoms to watch for, an overview of the important benefits of good pelvic floor health, plus tips to maintain and achieve optimal pelvic floor health to augment your overall health and quality of life.

What Is the Pelvic Floor?

The “pelvic floor” is the group of muscles that form a sling or hammock across the floor of the pelvis. Together with surrounding tissues, these muscles hold your pelvic organs in place, so they function correctly. Your brain controls pelvic floor muscles via nerves.

Your pelvic floor can become either weakened or tense, depending on the strength and elasticity of the surrounding muscles and connective tissues. Women’s pelvic organs include the bladder, urethra, intestines, and rectum, plus the uterus, cervix and vagina.

PFDs occur when your pelvic muscles and surrounding connective tissues weaken or are injured. There are 3 common forms of Pelvic Floor Disorders:

Pelvic organs prolapse. “Prolapse” happens in women when the pelvic muscles and tissue can no longer support one or more pelvic organs, causing them to drop or press into the vagina.
There are several types:

– uterine prolapse occurs when the cervix and uterus descend into the vagina and may even come out of the vaginal opening.
– vaginal prolapse occurs when the top of the vagina loses support and drops toward or through the vaginal opening.

Prolapse also can cause a kink to occur in the urethra, the tube in which urine travels from the bladder to be expelled from the body, causing urination issues.
Bladder problems. Bladder control problems afflict 30 – 50% of U.S. women. Although rates of urinary leakage go up as women age, many young women commonly experience leakage, known also as urinary incontinence. Although it is common, urinary incontinence is not normal at any age.
Urinary symptoms can include urinating too often during either day or night, having strong urgency to urinate or urinary leakage. Leaking of urine can occur in both women and men. This leakage may happen due to exertion (cough, sneeze or laugh) or other factors involving bladder muscles.

The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) offers information on different types of bladder control problems, including:

– stress incontinence.
– urge or urgency incontinence (known as overactive bladder.)
– and overflow incontinence.
Bowel control problems. Leaking of either liquid or solid stool from the rectum (fecal incontinence) can occur in both women and men and results from damage to or weakening of the anal sphincter, the ring of muscles that keeps the anus closed, or from other causes.

PFD Symptoms and Signs

Symptoms of different PFDs can vary or overlap, depending on the type of PFD occurring. Women experiencing PFDs may:

feel heaviness, fullness, pulling, or aching in the vagina that worsens by the end of the day or is related to a bowel movement.
see or feel a bulge coming out of the vagina.
have difficulty starting to urinate or emptying the bladder completely.
experience leaking urine when coughing, laughing or exercising.
feel urgency or frequency with urination.
experience noted pain during urination or sexual intercourse.
leak stool or have difficulty controlling gas.
have constipation.
have difficulty getting to the bathroom in time.

Some women with pelvic floor problems do not experience symptoms initially. Many women are reluctant to tell their healthcare provider about symptoms due to feelings of embarrassment or because they think bladder control problems are normal, and therefore tolerate symptoms silently. However, bladder control problems are treatable, and these treatments can especially help women diagnosed with pelvic floor disorders.

Risk Factors Affecting Pelvic Health

Consistent pressure on the pelvic floor adversely affects the quality of women’s pelvic floor health. Such pressure derives from:

Childbirth. Pregnancy, childbirth and their link to pelvic floor problems have been an active area of research, but the connection is not clear. A recent NICHD-funded study showed that, among first-time mothers, mode of delivery (vaginal vs. surgical) was linked to PFDs risk. In some studies, the risk increases with the number of children a woman has delivered. PFD risk may be greater if forceps or vacuum device is used during delivery. However, because pelvic problems also affect women who have never been pregnant, and because delivering via cesarean section only reduces but does not eliminate the risk of pelvic floor problems, the relationship among pregnancy, childbirth and PFDs remains unclear.
Overweightness or obesity. Many women tend to carry extra weight at the lower abdominal region, the area surrounding the pelvic floor, thus weakening the pelvic floor and increasing risk of PFDs.
Chronic constipation or straining to have a bowel movement place added pressure on muscles and connective tissues surrounding the pelvic floor.
Chronic coughing from smoking or other health issues. PFDs risk is double for those women who smoke. Health conditions or injuries that affect the nerves (diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, stroke, back surgery, spinal stenosis, or childbirth) can weaken the pelvic floor muscles.
Emotional stress. Stress negatively impacts pelvic floor health by adversely affecting proper and complete elimination of urine and composition of fecal material.
Ethnicity. Both Caucasian and Latina women face higher PFD risks than women of other ethnicities.
Having weaker tissues. Genes influence the strength of a woman’s bones, muscles and connective tissues. Some women are born with conditions affecting the strength of connective tissues; they are more likely to have pelvic organ prolapse.
Aging. The pelvic floor muscles can weaken as women experience menopause and become older.
Surgery. Previous hysterectomy and prior surgery to correct prolapse are associated with higher risk of PFDs.

Talk with your Capital Women’s Care practitioner to determine if your symptoms are related to PFDs or if you have identifiable PFD risk factors to determine your best treatment option.

PFD Treatments

Sometimes simple changes and interventions can significantly affect your daily quality of life. Urogynecologists (urogyns) provide a variety of treatment options, depending upon the severity of your condition, your general health and your wishes. Doctors often recommend a combination of PFD therapies based on your personal PFD diagnosis.

Lifestyle and behavior PFD treatments include:

diet and fitness. If you are overweight, as little as a 5 – 10% drop of pounds will reduce weekly incontinence episodes by more than 50%. Core exercises are a crucial part of developing a healthy pelvic floor.
pelvic floor muscle exercises (Kegels.)
bladder retraining.
pantiliners, pads, briefs and diapers.
physical therapy focused on the pelvic floor.
and/or vaginal devices (pessaries) and medicines.

PFD procedures and surgery treatments include:

If you feel you’re experiencing PFD symptoms, discuss treatment options with your Capital Women’s Care provider. Be certain to ask your practitioner to review all pertinent treatment options, adverse effects, potential treatment complications, post-treatment care and anticipated outcome to optimize and achieve sound pelvic floor health.

Benefits of Sound Pelvic Floor Health

Achieving and maintaining pelvic floor health offers many benefits to your overall health and quality of life, including:

increased bladder control.
ease of passing bowel movements.
protection against prolapse of the uterus.
improved recovery from childbirth and surgeries.
increased sexual function and orgasm during intercourse.
reduction in lower back pain.
reduction in pain during sexual intercourse.
increased ability to exercise comfortably without pain, pressure or urinary leakage.
plus, increased confidence, mobility and independence.

Tips for Optimal Pelvic Floor Health

There are many things within your control that you can do to optimize your personal pelvic floor health:

Maintain a healthy weight.
Eat a healthy diet. Reduce bladder irritants, including caffeine (found in coffee, tea, chocolate, cola and some energy drinks) and artificial sweeteners. These foods may cause bladder muscle spasms, which can make you suddenly feel like you must urinate. Eat plenty of fiber daily to avoid constipation.
Exercise regularly to help keep bowel movements normal and minimize constipation. Practice pelvic floor exercises, including those to enhance bladder control function. For additional pelvic floor exercises, click on this link.

Your local Capital Women’s Care team of compassionate, empathetic women’s health professionals is here to address your concerns and answer your questions relating to pelvic floor health and any women’s health issue. Our premier practices offer you comprehensive care and treatment so you may achieve and enjoy a quality long life.

Sources:

https://www.healthline.com/health/pelvic-floor-dysfunction
https://www.nichd.nih.gov/health/topics/pelvicfloor/conditioninfo/symptoms
https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/womens-health/in-depth/kegel-exercises/art-20045283
https://www.verywellfamily.com/8-signs-of-a-weak-pelvic-floor-5197205
https://www.urologyhealth.org/healthy-living/urologyhealth-extra/magazine-archives/fall-2021/women-keep-your-pelvic-floor-healthy
https://www.womenshealthmag.com/fitness/g29799963/pelvic-floor-exercises/
https://www.womenshealthnetwork.com/sexual-health/pelvic-floor-strengthening/
https://www.mayoclinichealthsystem.org/services-and-treatments/pelvic-health
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/14459-pelvic-floor-dysfunction
https://www.womenshealth.gov/a-z-topics/pelvic-organ-prolapse
https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/digestive-diseases/bowel-control-problems-fecal-incontinence
https://pfdnetwork.azurewebsites.net/About/PelvicFloorDisorders.aspx
https://www.voicesforpfd.org/pelvic-organ-prolapse/symptoms-types/
https://www.voicesforpfd.org/bladder-control/
https://www.nichd.nih.gov/health/topics/pelvicfloor/conditioninfo/causes#:~:text=Factors%20that%20put%20pressure%20on%20the%20pelvic%20floor.,from%20smoking%20or%20health%20problems.%201%2C%203%2C%204
https://www.petermlotzemd.com/9-surprising-benefits-of-a-strong-pelvic-floor/
https://www.voicesforpfd.org/

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