The Ultimate Support: Your Pelvic Floor

This month we are going to play an Uno reverse card and switch up our topic focus. If you’ve been following along our blog posts, you’ll know we talk a lot about all of the ways we can support our pelvic floor. From gut health and fiber, to pooping and hormones, we are connecting the dots between lifestyle and nutritional choices, and the impact that they have on the pelvic floor. In this blog we are going to flip the script and focus on the impact that pelvic floor functioning has on the rest of our body!  

The pelvic floor acts as the “floor” support of the internal organs held in the pelvic area; bladder, bowels/intestines, and reproductive organs. With the support of the pelvic floor, combined with other core muscles, all the internal organs and spine are protected. The pelvic floor is the base support for a lot of important functions in the body; urinary and bowel movements, sexual functions and intimate pleasure, and supporting the uterus for childbearing and delivery. As we move through our day-to-day life laughing, sneezing, jumping, sitting, standing, your pelvic floor is supporting you through every move.  

Our pelvic floor supports us, as we support it. But sometimes it can interfere with our lives by not being the support that we need. Sometimes the pelvic floor is not enough support, causing incontinence, incomplete bowel movements, pain and discomfort with intimacy. It is possible that the pelvic floor becomes too tight, causing back and hip pain, pain and discomfort with intimacy, and restrictions in bowel movements. This type of dysfunction can influence your quality of life.  

With 24-45% of women reporting urinary incontinence, this is a common but not normal issue. There are many effects that having incontinence has on your life. For individuals who have bladder issues, they may try to hide, deny, or not walk to talk about it due to embarrassment. There may also be an increase in anxiety around pee leaks, worrying about where the bathroom is when they leave the house, or if they’ll need a change of clothes. Some may be processing feelings of grief or depression, or understandably feelings of frustration or anger. These feelings may interfere with the way the individual lives their life. Someone with incontinence may not want to leave the house as much, have feelings of social isolation, dependency, lack of control, or even develop body image issues.  

The thoughts and feelings that we have play a huge role in how we participate in life. The support that our pelvic floor provides for us influences how we live. The function of our pelvic floor can help us engage in social events, spend more time with loved ones, outside in nature, and even enjoy intimate activities more. As we continue to learn more about supporting our pelvic floor through movement, nutritional choices, and daily habits, its important that we also keep in mind that our pelvic floor is supporting us in living a full life.  

References: 
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/body/22729-pelvic-floor-muscles 
https://www.vlounge.ca/info 
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK559095/ 
https://www.continence.org.au/life-incontinence/caring-someone/psychological-impact#:~:text=If%20incontinence%20is%20not%20managed,problems%20with%20their%20body%20image.