It was rough having to suffer from pelvic floor dysfunction. Urinating was a pain; I had to deal with constant aches in my pelvis, abdomen and hip and even engaging in more promiscuous activities felt terrible.

I don’t know why it took me so long to get pelvic floor therapy but I knew I had to if I didn’t want to deal with the constant discomfort that made doing my daily tasks a constant burden or suffer from long-term colon damage or infection.

Benefits of Pelvic Floor Therapy

What Is Pelvic Floor Therapy?

Pelvic floor therapy is a treatment approach that provides a structured, safe, and effective reconditioning of the pelvic muscles using the principles of physical therapy.

The objective of the treatment is to improve the function and strength of your pelvic floor muscles, as well as get rid of any weakness, pain and dysfunction.

The treatment involves a skilled physical therapist accessing your pelvic muscles through the vagina or rectum.

The therapist then improves their strength and functioning by either stretching the muscles if they are short and contracted or applying resistance to improve strength if they are dysfunctional and weak.

Importance Of Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy

You might be wondering why pelvic floor therapy is so important. Surely, the pain will go away on its own if you rest your muscles enough. While it’s true that rest is extremely important, it’s not exactly enough.

With pelvic floor dysfunction, your muscles are either contracting too strongly or too weakly, which contributes to incontinence, pain during intercourse, constipation, or pain in the lower back, genitals, pelvic region or rectum.

What your muscles need is to be stretched or applied resistance to in order to get rid of the unnatural contractions. This is something that pelvic floor physical therapy, in particular, can help you with.

Our pelvic floor consists of a layer of muscles stretching from the pubic bone to the tailbone.

These muscles and connective tissue are what support the bladder, bowel and prostate for those with male genitalia and the bladder, bowel, uterus and vagina for those with female genitalia.

The pelvic floor muscles help control bowel and bladder functions, as well as sexual function and pleasure. In pregnancy, these muscles are what offer support for the fetus and relax during the birthing process.

This is why it’s extremely important to take the treatment of these muscles seriously at the sign of dysfunction.

As someone who has had to suffer pelvic floor muscle dysfunction and waited too long to get therapy, I am emphasizing this part especially. Don’t underestimate your disorder.

Who Needs Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy?

Pelvic floor physical therapy is recommended as a first-line remedy for several disorders in the pelvic region.

Anyone with weak pelvic floor muscles can perform exercises for strengthening those muscles and improving bowel and bladder control.

If your pelvic floor dysfunction is suspected to have a neuromuscular cause, then you’re especially in need of pelvic floor physical therapy.

This dysfunction can be because of aging, childbirth, illness, surgery, or other conditions. Sometimes, it can coexist with other genitourinary problems such as lack of urinary or bowel control, pain in the bladder area and constipation.

You can also see a pelvic floor therapist to treat your endometriosis or vaginismus for females and premature or painful ejaculation for males.

If you’re a woman with a low risk of vaginal prolapse, bladder or bowel issues or are recovering from childbirth, then pelvic floor exercises are especially beneficial for you.

This treatment is also helpful for men recovering from prostrate surgery, making sure they don’t suffer from rectal prolapse, as well as improving their bowel and bladder control.

Symptoms Of Pelvic Floor Dysfunction

If you’re still unsure whether what you’re feeling is pelvic floor dysfunction, here are the symptoms of the disorder:

If you ever have any of these symptoms, don’t hesitate to contact your doctor.

• Frequent need to use the bathroom.
• Constipation.
• Having to strain or push really hard to pass a bowel movement
• Leaking urine or stool
• Feeling lower back pain with no other cause
• Feeling ongoing pain in your genitals, rectum or pelvic region

There are some symptoms and conditions related to pelvic floor dysfunction that can differ between males and females.

Male Pelvic Floors

For males, pelvic floor dysfunction can often contribute to pain in the groin, problems with ejaculation or erectile dysfunction.

It’s also common for prostatitis to be confused with pelvic floor dysfunction since they can also present similar symptoms. However, prostatitis usually resolves on its own or can be treated with antibiotics.

For females, pelvic floor dysfunction can greatly compromise reproductive health. It affects the uterus, and vagina and causes pain during sexual intercourse.

Both men and women suffering from pelvic floor dysfunction may experience stress urinary incontinence (SUI) or the leakage of urine every time they laugh, cough or sneeze.

However, you’ll find that this is more common in women than in men. In fact, one in three women experiences a pelvic floor disorder in her lifetime.

What To Expect At A Pelvic Floor Therapy Session

I understand more than anyone that pelvic floor dysfunction issues can be extremely personal. In fact, it’s completely natural to be nervous or fearful about what to expect for your first pelvic floor therapy session.

That is why I’m here to walk you through what goes on in a typical session to hopefully ease some of your nerves.

Your First Appointment

At your first appointment, you will be going through a comprehensive assessment. This is so your physical therapist will be able to understand your situation and analyze the most suitable treatment plan.

The aim of pelvic floor therapy is to have mobility and movement restored to your pelvic region, as well as reduce any pain.

During the actual exam, the physical therapist will be assessing your posture, strength, breathing pattern and flexibility of your spine, abdominal area and hip.

Doing this helps them determine what factors could have contributed to the dysfunction.

Keep in mind that one of the goals of the session is to figure out the cause or causes of your pelvic floor dysfunction.

If you can provide the therapist with more information about your symptoms, then the quicker they can figure out the issue.

If you can, try listing down your symptoms in detail, including anything that relieves or worsens the pain. Then, bring your notes to the session. This will make things move a lot quicker.

Your therapist will also be asking you to move around a lot during your visit to assess certain functions. One thing I do encourage you to do during every session is to constantly ask questions and provide feedback.

What to Expect

An initial assessment will include the following:

• In-depth review of your medical history
• Evaluation of tight, painful or dysfunctional areas
• Thorough evaluation of symptoms that you are experiencing
• Complete physical examination

The Exam

During the exam, the therapist will be asking you to sit, stand and walk so they can easily spot any posture or joint issues that could be affecting your pelvic floor muscles.

They will also be assessing whether any bone or muscle problems in your lower back, sacroiliac joint, thighs, hips, or buttocks may be placing stress on your pelvic floor muscles, which causes pain or dysfunction.

In some cases, a physical examination can include an internal exam. I know, I know. This is the part where it can get uncomfortable.

However, therapists are professionals and have been trained to perform these types of exams so you can trust them to poke around your insides.

This upfront approach can be extremely helpful since it offers valuable information that can help identify muscle or strength-related issues that could be causing your dysfunction or discomfort.

Don’t worry, you don’t have to rush the exam. You can ask your therapist to pause at any time and ask your questions or simply to take a breather and rest.

Think of these sessions as a marathon instead of a sprint. One session won’t bring you to a full recovery immediately. It can take months of progress but then it will be worth it.

Techniques Used

Although most pelvic floor therapy techniques include both internal and external treatment, not all people find the internal approach appealing, and understandably so.

Therapists are sensitive to the needs of their patients, which is why they won’t start with internal therapy until you give them the go signal.

The common techniques used in therapy sessions are:

Education

Therapists usually end up teaching you about pelvic anatomy and how the different parts work alone and together. You’ll also be taught about how hygiene and habits can affect your symptoms.

Manual Therapy

Your physical therapist will use hands-on massage and stretching in order to enhance blood circulation, posture and mobility.

Electrical Stimulation

A low-voltage electric current is often used to teach you how to coordinate your muscle contractions, reducing pain and muscle spasms.

This treatment can either be performed in your therapist’s office or you will be provided with an electrical stimulation unit that you can use at home.

Pelvic Floor Exercises

Your therapist will be teaching you exercises that can help you learn to relax and contract your pelvic floor muscles relative to your other muscles.

You’re also taught breathing and timing techniques that increase the effectiveness of the exercises. With this, you’ll be able to stretch your tight muscles, boost flexibility and strengthen any weak muscles.

Pelvic Floor Biofeedback

Observing how your pelvic floor muscles work is easier with the biofeedback technique. This involves inserting a probe into the rectum of a man or the vagina of a woman and having the results displayed on a computer screen.

Vaginal Dilators

Vaginal dilators are tube-shaped plastic devices that help women relax their pelvic muscles for easier penetration. These tools are progressively sized and are inserted to help stretch tight tissues.

It does sound uncomfortable however several women who have gone through gynecological cancer treatment have found dilators helpful during their vaginal rehabilitation.

How To Prepare For Your Session

Now comes one of the most stressful parts when it comes to attending any appointments: the preparation. One thing you should know is that you need to be dressed comfortably for your pelvic floor therapy session.

After all, you need to be able to move your legs freely and not have your movements restricted. Your exam can include an internal approach, so you should always make sure to clean your groin and genital area before your session.

Another thing I’ve also found really helpful during my sessions is having a list of questions or concerns prepared, so you can have all the bases covered during your visit and not accidentally forget any concerns you might have.

If this is your first session, you should also give yourself extra time to arrive at the facility so you can properly fill out any initial paperwork.

Speaking of paperwork, these are the important documents that you should be bringing:

• Any form of identification such as a passport or driver’s license
• List of medications that you are currently taking, if any
• Health insurance card
• Prescription from the physician that referred you, if needed

Final Thoughts

Back pains are bad enough but when you couple that with the inability to control your bladder and bowel movements and constant pain in your genital area preventing you from feeling sexual pleasure, now that’s a different league on its own.

Pelvic floor dysfunction is never something to underestimate since it could lead to something a lot more serious and fatal.

By attending pelvic floor therapy sessions as I did, you’ll have a much better chance of eventually recovering and bringing back the normalcy in your life, with unrestricted movements and better bladder and bowel control.