Pelvic floor health is a vital but often overlooked aspect of overall wellbeing for women.
Unfortunately, misconceptions surrounding pelvic floor exercises and associated issues persist, leading to inadequate awareness and care.
The pelvic floor, a network of muscles, ligaments, and tissues, plays a crucial role in supporting the pelvic organs and maintaining bladder and bowel control. Just like any other muscles, they will weaken with inactivity.
We tend to think of pelvic floor problems as affecting older and postpartum women. It is true that these women are more vulnerable because after giving birth, the extra weight placed on the pelvic floor especially if it was delivered vaginally will weaken it. But I do not believe you have to limit your consideration to women who have given birth.
It is an area of your body that requires constant attention. Therefore, I believe that all women should consider making it a habit to perform pelvic floor exercises on a regular basis since, without use, the muscles weaken and lose their ability to function.
While age can be a factor, pelvic floor issues can arise from various causes, including childbirth, obesity, chronic constipation, and heavy lifting. Whether you’re in your twenties, thirties, or beyond, prioritising pelvic floor health is crucial. So, to maintain muscle strength and health, you must exercise them.
You will avoid issues later in life if you develop the practice of doing that on a regular basis at a young age. Pelvic floor disorders can lead to pelvic organ prolapse, urinary incontinence and pelvic pain.
These problems can affect anyone, but postmenopausal women are particularly vulnerable since they have lost their oestrogen, a hormone that helps to preserve the tissues around the vagina and the muscles of the pelvic floor.
Conclusively, pelvic floor exercises should be integrated into every woman’s daily exercise, as they could give tremendous benefits.
When it comes to our health, there are so many small things we can do to avoid problems and trips to the doctor, from adjusting our food to modifying our exercise regimen and taking extra vitamins.
Dr Bheena Vyshali is a consultant gynaecologist at Beacon Hospital.
- This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Ova.
