PORTIFISIO

What is pelvic floor?

 

The pelvic floor consists of a thin layer of muscle fibers and connective tissue that close the pelvic cavity in its lower part, between the pubic bone and the sacrum afterwards.

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What are your duties?

 

Pelvic floor muscles contract when coughing, sneezing or pushing, helping to prevent involuntary urine loss. These muscles help to:
- Support the organs in your abdomen, especially when you stand;
- Protect the pelvic organs from external injuries;
- Hold the pelvic organs, such as the bladder, in the correct position;
- Control the output of urine, gases and feces;
- Play an important role during sexual intercourse

For the pelvic floor muscles to perform their functions correctly, they need to be conditioned and have adequate strength, like any other muscle in the body.

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What can happen if the muscles are weak?

Weak pelvic floor muscles can cause or aggravate a number of problems such as
1. stress urinary incontinence: involuntary loss of urine on effort, during exercise and when blowing or coughing;
2. Emergency urinary incontinence: involuntary loss of urine associated with an urgent need to urinate;
3. Mixed incontinence (urgency and exertion): involuntary loss of urine associated with urgency and also with exertion;
4. Pelvic organ prolapse or genital prolapse: lowering of the bladder, rectum or uterus, pressing on the vaginal wall, which in the most severe forms may go beyond the entrance of the vagina;
5. The loss of sexual desire or perception that the vagina is enlarged.

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What can cause this weakness?

1. Not using these muscles. Pelvic floor muscles, like all other muscles, have to be exercised to function. It is very important to exercise them throughout a woman's life (not just after having children);
2. Injury to the muscles during pregnancy and childbirth;
3. Hormonal changes associated with menopause (although not yet scientifically proven);
4. The decrease in muscle tone associated with aging;
5. Muscular damage caused by prolonged effort when there is intestinal constipation, or even associated with patients with a history of chronic cough or obesity.

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The role of strengthening exercises

 

Regular, intense pelvic floor exercises help strengthen and tone these muscles. Many women will notice an improvement or even a disappearance of the symptoms of Stress Urinary Incontinence after learning how to do the exercises correctly, so they can avoid or postpone the need for surgery.