Pelvic floor weakness is something that many of us postpartum mamas have experienced.
In fact, it’s so common that it’s become almost a rite of passage. I remember one of my friends telling me when I was pregnant, “Welcome to motherhood, hon. Get used to crossing your legs every time you sneeze.”
I’ve seen so many memes and jokes about pelvic floor weakness. Like this mug from Amazon:
In all seriousness though, pelvic floor weakness can cause a range of issues, from poor posture to urinary incontinence. It’s caused some of those issues for me, which is why I’ve researched it. I’m hoping that this can help someone else who is struggling with the same thing.
In all seriousness, pelvic floor weakness doesn’t have to be a part of your life! Let’s talk more about it.
Problems Caused by Pelvic Floor Weakness
Many new moms experience pain during sex or difficulty reaching orgasm long after recovery from childbirth should have occured. Pelvic nerve pain can also be a common symptom that something is wrong (this can feel like the lightning crotch you remember during pregnancy, except it occurs long after your baby has been delivered). And of course, there’s the contipation or classic urinary incontinence that everyone warns us about.
There are other, more serious side effects too. Fecal incontinence, or inability to control poop, can happen. Bladder, vaginal, or rectal prolapses (where those organs protrude into areas where they shouldn’t) is uncommon in young women, but sometimes shows up later in life.
What Are Your Pelvic Floor Muscles?
The pelvic floor muscles are a group of muscles that create a dome-shaped cover over your pelvic outlet. These muscles support all the organs between your hips. They function as a hammock of sorts, supporting your spine, rectum, uterus, and vagina.
Both men and women can have pelvic floor weakness. However, it can cause different problems in both men and women. We’ll discuss women today, and I’ll leave the men’s discussion to someone else. 🙂
The pelvic floor muscles have three jobs:
- Support the pelvic organs.
- Help with urination and defecation.
- Contribut to sexual arousal and orgasm.
When pelvic floor muscles are weak, those things don’t happen.
What Causes Pelvic Floor Dysfunction?
In women, pelvic floor weakness usually happens after menopause, obesity, or childbirth. (You can read more about the link between directed pushing and pelvic floor weakness here.)
Even if you’ve had a C-section, your pelvis still changes during pregnancy. So even mothers who’ve never had vaginal deliveries can experience pelvic floor weakness.
There’s a lot of extra pressure on your pelvic floor during pregnancy, just because of that extra weight from baby. There’s also a lot of trauma that happens during labor when baby comes through the pelvic floor. Our bodies are made for that, but it still is (quite literally) a stretch.
One article mentions that collagen abnormalities during pregnancy could be one reason for pelvic floor weakness.
Pelvic Floor Tightness vs. Weakness
It’s important to know that pelvic floor muscles can be too weak or too tight. Just like any muscle, overly tight or tense muscles cause pain. And overly loose or flabby muscles don’t support the way they should. Many women need to tone and tighten their pelvic floor after chidbirth, but others need to relax overly tight muscles.
Treatment
Sometimes treatment is surgery, especially for prolapses. However, most cases are best treated with physical therapy or home excercises.
Doctors often will recommend pelvic floor excercises. These are simple things you can do at home. Here is a simple YouTube video to watch that explains some basic information and excercises. This video is super easy to follow, but has a TON of super helpful information.
Most healthcare professionals immediately recommend Kegels, which help to tighten and tone overly loose pelvic floor muscles.
Kegels are great if you have flabby muscle. However, if your problems are caused by overly tight, tense muscles, Kegels won’t help to solve your problems. You’ll use different types of excercises for that. Additionally, a pelvic floor physical therapist can be super helpful.
So if you don’t see an improvement with Kegels, you’re not crazy! Overly tight pelvic floor muscles are not uncommon. Talk to your doctor. Check into seeing a physical therapist. Many times, a therapist can help you to learn excercises that you can do at home to relax your pelvic floor.
Wrapping it Up
Okay, that was a lot of information! Thanks for sticking with me.
To sum it up:
- Pelvic floor dysfunction happens a lot
- It doesn’t have to stay this way! You CAN strengthen your pelvic floor muscles.
- It’s important to understand that your pelvic floor can be overly loose or overly tight
- Excercises can help, but pelvic floor therapists can really help as well
I hope that helped you as much as it helped me! We’ll be back with a part two later this week. See you soon!
Until next time,
Lynette
Photo by Kamaji Ogino on Pexels.com, Photo by Yan Krukau on Pexels.com, Photo by Valeria Ushakova on Pexels.com