How to relax your pelvic floor muscles
The pelvic floor is a group of muscles and nerves that form a "supportive hammock" from the back, through the tailbone, lower abdominal area and hips, gynecologist and urologist Sonia Bahlani, M.D., tells USA TODAY. Together, this dictates urinary and fecal patterns, sexual function and even how you sit.
"People never think of the pelvic floor as this powerhouse of the body, but it truly is," Dr. Bahlani says.
A common misconception about the pelvic floor, Dr. Bahlani highlights, is thinking that the opposite of a tight pelvic floor is a weak pelvic floor.
"People think of a tight pelvic floor as a strong pelvic floor. But a tight pelvic floor, in fact, is a weak pelvic floor," she says. They're two sides of the same coin: Both cause similar issues, but the way they're treated usually differs.
Another misconception: that pelvic floor issues are only a concern for people who have vaginas. They actually impact everyone, regardless of their anatomy, Dr. Bahlani notes.
Here's what health experts want you to know about identifying a tight pelvic floor, and how best to fix one.
'Take care of your pelvic floor' Brittany Mahomes speaks out after injury
Roughly a third of women and 16% of men will experience some kind of pelvic floor disorder in their lifetime, statistics have shown.
A tight pelvic floor is what happens when the muscles are in a constant state of contraction, according to the Cleveland Clinic. This leads to issues including urinary or fecal incontinence, painful sex or pelvic organ prolapse, which is when "you can actually feel the uterus come through the vagina," Dr. Bahlani says.
If you're struggling with those issues, a doctor may test your pelvic floor strength with a biofeedback machine, Dr. Bahlani says. "They'll say, 'contract your pelvic floor muscles, so act like you're pushing stool out or act like you're peeing,'" she says. "And they can measure how strong the pelvic floor is."
You've likely heard of Kegels: the exercise where you contract muscles as if you're trying to avoid passing gas, pretending to tighten the vagina around a tampon or stopping your urine stream, according to Harvard Health.
It's the best-known way to strengthen the pelvic floor, but it may not actually be the best one for you.
Many women experience pain with sex. Is pelvic floor therapy the answer not enough people are talking about?
"Kegels only work for a subset of patients whose weak pelvic floor is due to laxity of the muscles, as opposed to tightness of the muscles," Dr. Bahlani says. She only advises about 20% of her patients to use Kegels alone; others are better suited with physical therapy, yoga poses, bird dog and core strengthening exercises.
In other words, kegels could be helpful if your pelvic floor is weak, but tight pelvic floors are better treated through tactics such as yoga, meditation and other relaxing techniques.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: How to relax your pelvic floor muscles
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