JN Fit
If you are pregnant or are a mumma-to-be, chances are you’ve heard of the pelvic floor and how it commonly becomes dysfunctional after childbirth or pregnancy.
Fun fact: males actually have a pelvic floor too, and, though it’s less common, theirs can also become dysfunctional!
Dysfunction of the pelvic floor usually shows itself as incontinence, which can be urinal or fecal, and basically means you can’t control your toilet habits. It can also show itself as a prolapse- where one of your organs protrudes through the opening of the pelvic floor.
Common signs you have a dysfunctional pelvic floor include:
- You pee when you cough, sneeze or jump
- You get sudden, intense urges to use the bathroom
- You leak urine frequently throughout the day (you might wear undie liners for this)
- A heavy, full or dragging sensation in the vagina
- Persistent constipation
- Lower back pain
- Sacroiliac pain
- Pubic symphysis pain
- Pain during coitus
- Loss of feeling in the vagina
You might be thinking “cool, I get all that, but what exactly is the pelvic floor?”
Simply put, the pelvic floor is a large muscle group that sits at the bottom of the pelvis. It’s positioned like a sling, or hammock, that attaches to the front of the pelvis at the pubic bone, and the back of the pelvis at the tailbone (similar to how a sanitary pad sits inside your underwear), and also out to the lateral edges of the pelvis
The function of the pelvic floor is to support the organs in the lower abdomen, especially:
- Bladder
- Uterus (in females)
- Rectum
The “sling” of pelvic floor muscles contains openings which either restrict or allow passage of urine, menstruation/ fetus and faeces through the pelvic floor. In women, there is a urethral opening, a cervical opening, and an anal opening. Men only have two; urethral and anal openings.
The job of these openings, for the most part, is to remain contracted, so we don’t urinate, defecate or suffer from organ prolapse, and to relax during coitus, urination, defecation and childbirth.
So, you know what the pelvic floor is, but how does it become dysfunctional?
Like any muscle, overuse and underuse can both play a part. During pregnancy, there is a tremendous amount of pressure placed on the pelvic floor to support a growing uterus and fetus, along with the bladder and rectum. Then during vaginal delivery, the pelvic floor is strained against and stretched hugely. While both of these things are expected, if the pelvic floor isn’t exercised properly to prepare and recover from this then it will not return to normal.
High intensity exercise while holding your breath, not breathing correctly through the diaphragm or poor coordination of the pelvic floor, diaphragm and transverse abdominis muscles can also cause some dysfunction.
Think of it like any other muscle. If you walked into the gym and picked up a 20kg dumbbell and tried to push it over your head, you would likely strain your shoulder muscle. Picture then you do nothing to recover from the strain except “rest” for a few weeks, and try to go right back to what you were doing before. The muscle wouldn’t heal properly, and your shoulder joint in the meantime would start relying on the wrong muscles (ones in your neck) for support and a whole chain of reactions would start. In short, that shoulder muscle would become dysfunctional- unable to do it’s job properly.
To summarise, pregnancy, labour and childbirth can place enormous strain on the pelvic floor muscles, and cause them to stop functioning properly. It’s important to take your time easing back into your usual activity after childbirth, include learning how to breathe correctly using your diaphragm, and learning how to coordinate your breath, core muscles and pelvic floor for optimal recovery and support before building back up to your prior activities.
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