Pelvic Floor Health

Megan Pickup
Oct 27, 2023
3 min read

A weak pelvic floor can cause a lot of physical and emotional stress by limiting activities you can participate in or even by worrying about sneezing and laughing, but there’s something you can do about it!

The pelvic floor is a collection of muscles that support the pelvis in a hammock-like structure. The bladder, uterus, and rectum are just a few of the pelvic organs that these muscles responsible for sustaining. Pelvic floor muscles are essential for proper sexual function, continence of the bladder and bowel, and core stability.

The main side effect of a weak pelvic floor is Stress Urinary Incontinence (SUI). SUI is involuntary urine leakage caused when intra-abdominal pressure suddenly increases; such as sneezing, laughing, jumping running, lifting, or coughing. Although UI leads to embarrassment, many believe it’s a normal part of life, therefore many cases go undiagnosed. This is very unfortunate, as UI is associated with a lower quality of life, social withdrawal, depression, and high medical care costs.

Who Suffers from Pelvic Floor Dysfunction?

1 in 3 women will experience a pelvic floor disorder in her lifetime. 25% of women over the age of 20 and 50% of women over the age of 55 are affected by at least pelvic floor disorder.

Despite these statistics, it’s not just women that suffer, men can also be affected.

Other causes of pelvic floor weakness can be caused by:

· genetic factors

· family history of pelvic floor weakness and prolapse

· receiving treatments for prostate cancer

· heavy lifting (occupations risks or weightlifting exercises)

· smoking

· hysterectomy

· menopause

· nerve damage

· advanced age

· diabetes

· increased pressure during pregnancy

· natural tears and episiotomies during childbirth

· urinary tract infections

· obesity (higher body-mass-index, BMI)

· straining due to chronic constipation

Left untreated, a weak pelvic floor can lead to urinary incontinence, fecal incontinence, pelvic organ prolapse, dyspareunia, and sexual dysfunction (in both men and women).

How Pilates Can Help

Just like other areas of our bodies, the pelvic floor muscles and tissues lose strength and elasticity with age or due to the other causes discussed above. To lessen the chance of needing surgery later in life, you can implement lifestyle changes, physical therapy, and exercises such as Pilates to strengthen this area and improve your quality of life. Certain Pilates moves can develop the musculature of the transverse abdominis and pelvis, which decreases intra-abdominal pressure.

Pilates primarily strengthens and extends the pelvic floor muscles; this leads to better pelvic organ support and enhanced continence. Additionally, it promotes mind-body awareness of appropriate posture, enabling you to properly contract pelvic floor muscles throughout a variety of daily tasks.Pilates can also help you reach the ideal weight for your body type. This is beneficial to our pelvic floor as excess weight puts more pressure on the pelvic area and surrounding organs.

The National Center for Biotechnology Information states, “In clinical settings it has been observed that a normal cognitive contraction of the transversus abdominis is accompanied by a contraction of the lumbar multifidus and, conversely, a normal cognitive contraction of the lumbar multifidus accompanied by a contraction of the transversus abdominis (9). Along with the transversus abdominis and multifidus, the pelvic floor muscles and the diaphragm also contract, which likely maintains the intra-abdominal pressure at a critical level, allowing the greatest spinal support.”

The breathwork during Pilates also improves pelvic floor strength! During exhalation, the transversus abdominis and pelvic floor contract. During inhalation, the diaphragm contracts and the pelvic floor lengthens.

Pregnancy & Childbirth

There is evidence to suggest that Pilates could be a tool for consideration as part of physical preparation programs for childbirth as it focuses muscular work on the abdomen and PF.

A PubMed study found, “the Pilates method is used by pregnant women to improve the physical and psychological outcomes of pregnancy. … After participating in the Pilates program, the women in the experimental group were significantly less likely to suffer perineal trauma in spontaneous deliveries compared to the women in the control group.”

More Than Just Physical Benefits

Several studies show that Pilates improves urinary incontinence severity and quality of life in females with urinary incontinence. Data revealed a range of benefits for women who participated in the studies, they had:

· lower symptom severity at baseline

· improved self-esteem

· decreased social embarrassment

· lower impact on normal daily activities

These improvements from Pilates were also found to positively influence attitudes to exercise, diet, and wellbeing.

In as little as two Pilates sessions per week, you can be well on your way to a strong, supportive pelvic floor that will allow you to carry on a full life full of laughter and being able to jump for joy without fear. And as another benefit, adding Pilates to your routine has been found to lower financial strain from healthcare costs.

If you’re in Northwest Arkansas and would like to meet for more information or a free, private Pilates lesson, send an email to SageSonder.MP@gmail.com