Say goodbye to leaks: optimizing your pelvic floor through pressure

Dr. Claire Spring PT,DPT on the blog today talking all things pelvic floor and pressure management!

Are you having urinary leakage with coughing and sneezing? Lifting, jumping or running? Feelings of pressure in the lower abdomen or pelvic region, especially after a long day? You may have an issue with pressure management. Whoa — what does that mean?

Your trunk has several moving parts to optimize pressure. These include the core, the diaphragm, the multifidi (a back muscle) and your pelvic floor. See image below for some clarification.

These muscle groups must work together in a coordinated way to control this pressure. What is this pressure I keep talking about? The pressure in your trunk (intraabdominal pressure) changes with movement and with stress placed on the body. Ideally, your body would be able to automatically control this pressure, but sometimes, our bodies have gotten into poor habits and are not able to do so. Often, there has been an event that has led to this — think pregnancy and delivery, prostatectomy, or an abdominal or back injury. Sometimes, it happens on its own over time. As time continues to pass, this poor pressure management may lead to leakage, prolapse, hernias, diastasis recti (ab separation), and even back or pelvic pain.

When we inhale, our diaphragms contract and lower and the pelvic floor should, too. When we exhale, the core should gently contract as the pelvic floor and diaphragm rise back to their resting position. If you struggle from any of the aforementioned symptoms, trying to get this coordination down on your own can be tricky. That’s where we come in! 

As performance pelvic floor therapists at The METHOD in Boston, we can check the coordination of your pelvic floor, core, and diaphragm to ensure they are working together. We can even look at this while you’re doing things that you love doing. Running? Sure. Picking up your child? Absolutely. Lifting heavy weights? 100%. 

You may be familiar with kegels. The symptoms above ≠ kegels. Kegels, or pelvic floor contractions, may be a part of the puzzle, but it is never all of it! The pelvic floor needs to be able to lengthen properly as well. And oftentimes, the surrounding muscles need a little help, too. 

Easy things you can start doing at home to assist with pressure management include: 

• Exhale with exertion! Thinking about breathing out while you’re doing the hard part of an exercise or movement. For example, say you’re picking up something heavy — you would want to exhale when lifting 

• Don’t hold your breath!

• A strange one, but avoid blowing your nose on the toilet :) 

Need some help getting back to your best? Book a FREE CALL to learn how we can help you. We want you to keep [MOVING WELL] & moving often, with optimal ~intraabdominal pressure management~.