Men Have Pelvic Floors Too!
You may have heard of pelvic floor therapy, but did you know that it’s not just for women after having a baby? Men can benefit too!
Many think pelvic floor therapy is only for postpartum women. It’s true that after having a baby women may experience issues with bowel, bladder, sexual function and pelvic pain.
Guess what guys… Men have a pelvic floor too! And because the pelvic floor muscles, which sit like a hammock at the bottom of the pelvis, are involved in bowel, bladder and sexual function, pelvic floor therapy could help you too if you experience any issues with these symptoms.
Have you ever experienced urinary frequency and urgency that disrupts your ability to sit through an entire work meeting or watch a movie at the theatre? Have you ever had to pee so badly, only to get to the restroom and empty no more than a few drops? What about pelvic pain? Have you experienced a sharp pain or cramping sensation that travels to the rectum, scrotum or tip of your penis? If so, you may have pelvic floor dysfunction. While pelvic floor therapy could significantly help, we encourage you to seek evaluation first by your primary care physician or Urologist.
Some of the more common issues among men include:
Urinary Incontinence: Men may experience urinary leakage due to factors such as prostate surgery, aging, or a weak pelvic floor.
Erectile Dysfunction (ED): The prevalence of erectile dysfunction in healthy men ages 50-75 years old is between 20-68% and 41-85% in those with diabetes, hypertension, and obesity (Pellegrino, 2023). Unfortunately, younger men do not escape this disease as the prevalence in men younger than 40 is 30% (Nguyen, 2017). Erectile dysfunction is complex and may occur due to hormonal, vascular, neural, psychological, and anatomical factors.
Chronic Pelvic Pain: Men can develop chronic pelvic pain due to conditions like prostatitis, pudendal neuralgia, or musculoskeletal dysfunction in the pelvic region.
Post-Surgical Rehabilitation: After surgeries like prostatectomy or hernia repair, men may experience pelvic floor dysfunction, which can lead to urinary incontinence, bowel issues, pelvic pain and erectile dysfunction. It’s important to note that pelvic floor training before these surgeries can significantly improve outcomes and post-operative recovery. A study by Milios, Ackland and Green published in BMC Urology concluded that pelvic floor muscle training before prostatectomy resulted in more rapid recovery, less incontinence following surgery, and higher quality of life scores on outcome measures post-surgery.
What is pelvic floor dysfunction and how can pelvic floor therapy help?
Pelvic floor dysfunction can occur when you either have too much tension or tightness in the pelvic floor muscles, or on the flip side, significant weakness. It can also occur if you have poor posture, an injury elsewhere in your body, or even poor bowel and bladder voiding habits. Any of these factors can impact your urinary, bowel, or sexual function and can even sometimes lead to significant pain.
When addressing these factors, pelvic floor therapy may look a little different for every patient.
Sometimes biofeedback (the ability to see your pelvic floor muscle activity in real time) is used to enhance proprioception and visual cues so you can gain more control over your muscles.
Electrical stimulation can be used to improve the urgency of urination or to help you activate your pelvic floor muscles if you’re struggling to do so on your own.
Myofascial release and soft tissue mobilization may be used to help with muscular and soft tissue restrictions that can affect blood flow and nerve signaling.
Therapeutic exercises are also often used for a variety of different reasons, such as to improve muscle balance and posture or strengthen important muscle groups of and surrounding your pelvic floor.
Education and bowel or bladder training may be used to develop better voiding habits and retrain your systems to work optimally.
We want you to feel encouraged to get the help you deserve. We understand that pelvic floor dysfunction can often lead to embarrassing issues, but at Evolve Pelvic Health & Wellness, we strive to create a welcoming and judgment-free environment.
Give us a call and see how pelvic floor therapy could be the answer you’re looking for to get your life back.
Resources:
Francesco Pellegrino, Daniel D. Sjoberg, Amy L. Tin, Nicole E. Benfante, Alberto Briganti, Francesco Montorsi, James A. Eastham, John P. Mulhall, Andrew J. Vickers, Relationship Between Age, Comorbidity, and the Prevalence of Erectile Dysfunction, European Urology Focus, Volume 9, Issue 1, 2023, Pages 162-167, ISSN 2405-4569, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.euf.2022.08.006.
Hoang Minh Tue Nguyen, Andrew T. Gabrielson, Wayne J.G. Hellstrom, Erectile Dysfunction in Young Men—A Review of the Prevalence and Risk Factors, Sexual Medicine Reviews, Volume 5, Issue 4, October 2017, Pages 508–520, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sxmr.2017.05.004
Milios JE, Ackland TR, Green DJ. Pelvic floor muscle training in radical prostatectomy: a randomized controlled trial of the impacts on pelvic floor muscle function and urinary incontinence. BMC Urol. 2019 Nov 15;19(1):116. doi: 10.1186/s12894-019-0546-5. PMID: 31729959; PMCID: PMC6858748.
