5 Most Common Pelvic Floor Issues in Women and What You Can Do About It!
The pelvic floor is something that everyone has, but not something most people take care of OR even think about!
Your pelvic floor is made up of muscles that support some of your internal organs like your bladder, uterus or prostate, and rectum.
Importantly, your pelvic floor is responsible for supporting ESSENTIAL functions in the human body like urination, bowel movements, sexual function, and pregnancy.
Because your pelvic floor does all these vital jobs, it’s crucial that you take good care of it!
Unfortunately, pelvic floor issues are more common than you think.
Chronic pelvic pain, urinary incontinence, abdominal muscle separation, sexual dysfunction, and pregnancy associated pain are conditions that many people suffer from.
Even though these conditions are common, they aren’t normal and can be cured by a trained healthcare professional like a physiotherapist or a certified Pilates instructor.
Read on to learn more about common pelvic floor issues and how a skilled healthcare professional can help you today!
5 Most Common Pelvic Floor Issues in Women and What You Can Do About It!
1. Stress Urinary Incontinence
What is Stress Urinary Incontinence?
Stress urinary incontinence happens when your pelvic floor muscles and other structures in the area that are responsible for controlling the bladder and the release of urine are weakening.
Unfortunately, when these structures weaken, you can’t control your bladder as effectively. This leads to the release of urine at inappropriate times like when you cough, sneeze, bend over, run, lift, jump, or even without notice.
What Can I Do to Treat Stress Urinary Incontinence?
Pelvic floor physiotherapy should be your first choice as a treatment method that effectively solves your stress urinary incontinence.
Your pelvic floor physiotherapist will assess the muscles of your pelvic floor and help them function better so that you don’t leak at unpleasant times.
They’ll do this by educating you about your condition, giving you a home exercise program to work on your pelvic floor muscles, and guiding you through manual therapy techniques to help activate the right muscles to control your bladder.
2. Urge Incontinence
What is Urge Incontinence?
If you’re noticing that you’re going to the bathroom more often than every two hours, you make over 6-8 trips to the bathroom a day, or you haven’t made it to the bathroom in time, you could be suffering from urge incontinence.
Urge incontinence is when you have an overactive bladder. This causes the feeling of having a sudden and overwhelming urge to urinate that can be triggered by things like the sound of running water, drinking a small amount of liquid, intercourse, or sleeping.
What Can I Do to Treat Urge Incontinence?
Your urge incontinence could’ve started or progressed because of different factors like having a recent surgery, bladder infection, high caffeine consumption, increased fluid intake, damage to the muscles or nerves of the bladder.
Urge incontinence can be worsened if you have conditions such as diabetes, a previous stroke, Multiple Sclerosis, or Parkinson’s.
A pelvic floor physiotherapist is a specially trained healthcare professional that can help you solve your urge incontinence once and for all.
They’ll teach you lifestyle modification tips to reduce your incontinence, give you exercises to regain control of your bladder, and get you back to your regular activities without fear or worry of another bladder accident.
3. Pelvic Organ Prolapse
What is Pelvic Organ Prolapse?
Pelvic organ prolapse affects 1 in EVERY 3 women who’ve given birth.
It happens when one or more of your pelvic organs “droop” into or out of the vagina because of weakness in your pelvic floor.
What Can I Do to Treat Pelvic Organ Prolapse?
Fortunately, there are EFFECTIVE and NON-SURGICAL options to treat your pelvic organ prolapse.
A pelvic floor physiotherapist can reduce any uncomfortable symptoms by helping your pelvic floor work better, so that you gain control of your pelvic floor again.
They’ll guide you through strategies to help reduce constipation, show you exercises to help you strengthen your pelvic floor, and advise you on lifestyle modification strategies to help your pelvic floor function normally again.
4. Persistent Pelvic or Low Back Pain
What is Persistent Pelvic Pain and Low Back Pain?
Persistent pelvic pain is when you have pain for several months or longer in your pelvic area.
Low back pain is a similar type of longer-term pain that you may constantly have, or it can flare-up at different times.
Your pain can appear out of nowhere, or there might be a known cause to it.
Nevertheless, this pain is something that can disrupt how you move around in your everyday life.
What Can I Do to Treat Persistent Pelvic Pain and Low Back Pain?
So, you’ve been living with your pelvic or low back pain for a while and you feel like you’re going through a constant battle with your pain.
Thankfully, there’s a light at the end of the tunnel.
A pelvic floor physiotherapist can help minimize your pain, decrease the likelihood of flare-ups, and help prevent your pain from coming back. Some pelvic floor physiotherapy treatments that may be offered to you to solve your pain include a specialized exercise program that’s geared toward pain reduction and better functioning, relaxation and breathing techniques, electrical stimulation, and hands-on therapy to release trigger points and tightness in your pelvic floor.
5. Pregnancy and Postpartum Conditions
What are Pregnancy and Postpartum Conditions?
Your body goes through a lot of physical changes at each and every stage of your pregnancy.
Some of these changes can cause pain or discomfort in your body. It’s not uncommon for those who are pregnant to develop low back pain, pelvic discomfort, urinary leakage.
After you’ve given birth, you’re also vulnerable to developing those same conditions AND other conditions like abdominal separation known as diastasis recti, feeling instability in your pelvic region, pain in any areas with scarring, and stiffness in your hips, pelvis, or low back.
What Can I Do to Treat Pregnancy and Postpartum Conditions?
Pelvic floor physiotherapists can help you at ANY and ALL stages in your prenatal and postnatal journey!
They’re trained in reducing pain or discomfort during pregnancy, helping you prepare for labour, and can also fix postpartum conditions related to your pelvic floor.
Some treatments that your pelvic floor physiotherapist may use include breathing and mindfulness exercises, electrical stimulation or TENS, postural correction, exercises to strengthen or stretch your pelvic floor, and education about your condition.
All in all, pelvic floor physiotherapists are here to help your body get to its healthiest self throughout the preparation, delivery, and birth of your baby!
How Pilates Can Improve Your Pelvic Floor Issue
Pilates is a tried-and-true method that’s proven to help many people with pelvic floor issues!
Many pelvic floor issues stem from your deep core muscles in your stomach not working properly.
Both your pelvic floor and your deep core muscles can weaken from things like pregnancy, giving birth, menopause, and pelvic health conditions.
Over time, a weakened pelvic floor could lead to urinary incontinence, pelvic organ prolapse, low back pain, and other uncomfortable symptoms.
In Pilates, you’ll be shown how to activate your deep core muscles which can help improve the functioning your pelvic floor, stabilize your entire body, AND reduce your pain!
Pilates also has many other health benefits like helping you lower your blood pressure and heart rate without medication, decreasing your likelihood of injuries, increasing your mood, and decreasing your stress levels.
Overall, doing regular Pilates has many health benefits and could be your key to movement without pain!
Ready to Get Your Pelvic Health Back on Track?
If you’d like to start your pelvic floor rehabilitation and recovery today, then Book now or TRY A FREE 20-MINUTE PHONE CONSULTATION with one of our certified Pelvic Floor Physiotherapists who are trained Pelvic Floor Physiotherapists that’ll be happy to talk to you about your pelvic floor concerns and discuss your treatment options.
If you want to try Pilates to improve your pelvic floor and restore your inner core, then book now with Pari or Monica, our certified Pilates instructors. They’re trained experts that are here to help you strengthen your core and feel healthy in your body!
At PhysioPlus Health Group, we pride ourselves in supporting the Toronto community for over 20 years.
We take every means possible to create a warm, welcoming, and safe environment for your recovery and wellness journey.
Our team is here to help you find confidence in your pelvic floor again and get you back to doing the things you love to do without pain!
This blog was written by Anna Zheng, a Physiotherapy student at the University of Toronto.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Pilates help your pelvic floor?
Pilates will absolutely be beneficial for anyone with a pelvic floor issue. In Pilates, you’ll be taught how to properly activate and strengthen muscles that support your pelvic floor. When you’re able to properly train these muscles, you’ll likely see a reduction in your pelvic pain and see improvements in your overall health!
What does pelvic floor physiotherapy do?
Pelvic floor physiotherapy helps to improve the function of your pelvic floor through hands on manual treatment, exercises to strengthen or stretch your pelvic floor, education on ways to modify your lifestyle, and other modalities or treatments to reduce your pain.
How do you know if you need pelvic floor physiotherapy?
Anyone who has symptoms of pelvic floor dysfunction should see a pelvic floor physiotherapist. Some symptoms of pelvic floor dysfunction include an overactive bladder, urinary incontinence, pelvic organ prolapse, pain during or after intercourse, pelvic organ prolapse, diastasis recti, lower abdominal, pelvic, or back pain, painful bowel movements, constipation, discomfort associated with pregnancy or giving birth, and chronic pain related to endometriosis, fibromyalgia, or irritable bowel syndrome.
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