OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — It’s a problem that’s more common than you might think. Pelvic muscle issues can cause a variety of problems including hip and back pain. That's why a growing number of patients are tackling that pain by turning to a therapy that builds up a part of that body that can lead to a variety of other issues.
What is the pelvic floor?
The pelvic floor is made up of muscles and tissues below the belly button, like the pubic bone, bladder, urethra, and anus. They assist in maintaining upright posture, support abdominal and pelvic organs, and help to control bladder, bowel, and sexual activity.
When these muscles become overactive or overused, people can see decreased function and the result can be painful.
What is pelvic floor therapy?
Pelvic floor therapy consists of strengthening the pelvic muscles through exercises and can reduce the symptoms of other conditions, such as urinary and fecal incontinence, painful intercourse and sexual dysfunction.
"The biggest issue we see is probably bowel and bladder dysfunction, whether that's incontinence, constipation, or overactive bladder, but we also see people for pelvic pain, tailbone pain, and sometimes hip and back pain," says Dr. Kayla Ives, a physical therapy at Makovicka Physical Therapy in Millard.
Much of the pain in women's pelvic floor muscles can be caused by pelvic floor trauma, like from childbirth and vaginal dryness from aging.
"A lot of the referrals that we see, probably the most, are women that have had pregnancies and have incontinence after pregnancy, which is what we call Diastasis Recti, meaning a separation of the muscles of the abdomen," said Dr. Gabriela Vogel, the Director of Occupational Health at Makovicka Physical Therapy.
According to research provided by Makovicka Physical Therapy:
-60% of postpartum women report Stress, Urinary Incontinence (SUIs)
-77% of postpartum women have low back pain
-29% of women who had a vaginal delivery experienced pubic bone fractures
All those symptoms can be treated with physical therapy.
"Everyone thinks they're coming in for Kegel exercises to strengthen the muscle, but what we actually do is get everything to relax. A tense muscle will cause incontinence, it will cause constipation, and it does cause pain with intercourse because those muscles are so tight, so 80-90% of the time we're working on getting that muscle to relax, instead of the actual strengthening part of it and that's a common misconception that we see," added Dr. Ives.
An important note, pelvic floor dysfunction is not a women's disorder.
"Men, women, children, it doesn't select a gender. It doesn't select an age. Public floor dysfunction can be found kind of across the board. We actually know now the latest statistics say about 50% of people have pelvic floor dysfunction which is pretty substantial," says Dr. Ives.
Male chronic pelvic pain is a condition that affects 2-20% of males. Their symptoms often go unrecognized as constant or intermittent pain in the low back, hips, or abdomen and often radiates to the testicles, anus, or penis.
Pelvic pain can also be tied to other injuries or poor surgeries, which is why physical therapists suggest a consultation to asses the pain.
It's also noted that for more intimate exercises related to pelvic floor muscles are done in a separate room away for privacy.
Dr. Ives says, "The biggest part of what we do, especially in the first visit is to educate people. Tell them why they're here, why their symptoms are happening, and then from there people are more open to fixing it because they truly understand the issue."
