Pelvic Floor Weakness: Don’t Suffer In Silence
Do you struggle with incontinence?
How often do you find yourself changing your incontinence pads?
Does the issue of leaking urine interfere with your daily life—perhaps causing you to map out the nearest toilets before setting out on a journey?
Ladies, if these questions resonate with you, you're not alone. Pelvic floor weakness is a common concern that affects many women, often impacting their quality of life in significant ways. Understanding the causes and effects of pelvic floor weakness is the first step toward finding effective solutions and regaining control. Let's delve into this topic and explore how you can address and manage pelvic floor weakness to improve your daily life.
The pelvic floor muscles play a crucial role in supporting the bladder, vagina, and bowels within the pelvis. When these muscles become weak, they can no longer provide the necessary support, leading to difficulties with urinary control. Here’s a closer look at what causes pelvic floor weakness and its effects:
Causes of Pelvic Floor Weakness
Childbirth: The process of giving birth can stretch and strain the pelvic floor muscles, potentially leading to long-term weakening.
Aging: As we age, the muscles and tissues in the pelvic floor naturally weaken, affecting their ability to support the pelvic organs.
Hormonal Changes: Hormonal fluctuations, especially during menopause, can decrease estrogen levels. This reduction can thin and weaken the tissues in the urethra and bladder.
Surgical Interventions: Certain surgeries, particularly those involving the pelvic organs, can compromise the strength and function of the pelvic floor muscles.
Specific Factors Affecting Urinary Control
Urethral Sphincter Weakness: The urethral sphincter is a muscle responsible for controlling the release of urine. Weakness in this muscle can prevent it from closing tightly enough, leading to urine leakage.
Changes in Urethral and Bladder Position: Conditions such as pelvic organ prolapse, where the bladder or urethra shifts from its normal position, can disrupt the mechanics of urine control.
Urinary Tract Infections (UTIs): UTIs can temporarily irritate the bladder and cause incontinence until the infection is treated.
Neurological Disorders: Conditions like multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, and spinal cord injuries can interfere with nerve signals that control the bladder, leading to urinary control issues.
Medications: Some medications, such as diuretics, certain antidepressants, and sedatives, can affect bladder function and contribute to incontinence.
Obesity: Excess weight increases abdominal pressure, which can place additional stress on the bladder and contribute to weakened pelvic floor muscles.
Lifestyle Factors: Conditions like asthma or smoking can lead to chronic coughing, which places stress on the pelvic floor and can result in stress incontinence.
Pelvic Organ Prolapse: When organs like the bladder, uterus, or rectum drop from their normal position. There are several types of prolapse:
Cystocele (Bladder Prolapse): The bladder bulges into the front vaginal wall.
Rectocele (Rectal Prolapse): The rectum bulges into the back vagina.
Uterine Prolapse: The uterus descends into the vaginal canal.
Urethrocele: Prolapse of the urethra into the vagina.
Why sneezing triggers urine leakage?
When you sneeze, your diaphragm contracts and the abdominal muscles tighten, causing a sudden and strong increase in pressure inside the abdomen. This pressure is transmitted to the bladder. If the pelvic floor muscles and urinary sphincter are not strong enough to counteract this pressure, urine leakage can occur.
Whether it is sneezing, jumping, coughing or even laughing, many women experience this unpleasant symptom, which is often labelled as ‘normal’ or part of being a woman. It is very important to underline that this isn’t normal and you should ignore the signs of your body!
To manage stress urinary incontinence, several approaches can be helpful such as pessaries or pelvic floor exercises, although we are tired of constantly hearing about kegel exercises, aren’t we?
Maintaining a healthy weight, avoiding bladder irritants (like caffeine and alcohol), and not smoking can reduce symptoms. Dealing with this issue could be challenging, especially when we either don’t know where to start or have tried everything which Google could suggest.
In some cases, we recommend prescribed medication, such as topical estrogens, which can help improve urinary tract health during menopause or anticholinergics, managing overactive bladder symptoms.
What can you do next?
Some cases of urinary incontinence can be cured, especially if the underlying cause is treatable (e.g., UTIs or medications). For others, especially due to structural changes like prolapse, it might be manageable rather than fully curable.
However, many women experience significant improvement with treatment.
Don’t forget that you can tone your pelvic floor muscles with easy exercises:
Kegel exercises - Contract and hold the pelvic floor muscles for 3-5 seconds, then relax. Repeat 10-15 times, multiple times a day.
Pelvic Tilts - Lie on your back with knees bent. Tighten abdominal muscles and tilt the pelvis slightly upward. Hold for a few seconds and release.
Bridge - Lie on your back with knees bent, and feet flat on the floor. Lift your hips to form a straight line from shoulders to knees. Hold and then lower.
Squats - Strengthen lower body and pelvic floor muscles. Keep feet shoulder-width apart, lower hips, and return to standing.
If keeping up with the Pelvic Floor exercises is difficult or the weakness is too severe, you might benefit from a course of treatment with EMSELLA (https://www.lanternclinic.com/emsella)
This article was prepared and written in collaboration with Mihaela Shehova-Simitchiyski
https://www.iphm.co.uk/directory/find-a-professional-practitioner/mihaela-shehova-simitchiyski/
