Pelvic Health Facts

FACTS about Pelvic Health

· Kegels, when done properly, are good to strengthen the muscles of your pelvic floor. However, in some cases you can be strengthening areas that are already too tight and/or activating the wrong muscles.

· Pads should not be the only option! Adult incontinence, whether urinary or bowel, can be treated to eliminate or reduce the symptoms.

· Urinary incontinence is common but not unavoidable. While medical issues can be a factor, life events such as childbirth, aging, changing anatomy and hormones can cause restrictions and weakness which are treatable.

· Pain, especially chronic pain can be effectively treated! In many cases, this pain has been exacerbated over time by fascial restrictions. Myofascial release therapy can help ease these body-wide symptoms.

· A normal bowel movement should come out easily with a deep breath. There are therapeutic interventions, strategies and devices to help with elimination.

· Sometimes we retrain our bladder to signal us that we have to urinate, even when it is not full. We can also let our bladder get too full. Both interfere with the neuronal connection to the brain. We can train our bladder to go when it is appropriately full, or once every 2-4 hours.

• Many causes of painful sex can be identified and helped. Issues such as scar tissue, tightness, and fascial restrictions can be identified and addressed to make this a pleasurable activity again.

• Pelvic floor disorders (urinary incontinence, fecal incontinence, and pelvic organ prolapse) affect one in five women in the United States. (source: Womenshealth.gov)

• “According to the National Association for Continence, as many as 50 percent of women who have ever given birth have some degree of POP” (pelvic organ prolapse) (source:healthywomen.org)

• In a large postpartum study for prevalence for urinary incontinence 45% of women experienced urinary incontinence at 7 years postpartum (source: dianelee.ca/article-diastasis-rectus-abdominis.php

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