Improve Your Pelvic Floor With Simple Exercise Routine And See A Noticeable Improvement
You may have heard of the pelvic floor in women’s healthcare, but did you know that men also have one and it can be severely affected after surgery for the removal of the prostate?
The pelvic floor muscles could be described as a ‘sling-like’ structure stretching from the tailbone at the back to the pubic bone at the front. They support the bladder and bowel and have a role in erectile function during intercourse. They also contract when you cough, sneeze or laugh, preventing urine leakage.
Surgery to remove the prostate gland can lead to temporary incontinence, loss of control of your urine flow. For most men, this gradually improves over time. But unfortunately, some men suffer long term incontinence and this can be disruptive to daily life and cause a great deal of distress and embarrassment.
Symptoms of weakness could be a leak of urine when you cough, laugh or sneeze, needing to go to the toilet more often, an urgent need to go to the toilet (or not making it in time) or an inability to control the passing of wind from your back passage. One way to improve urinary control is by exercising the pelvic floor muscles. These can be strengthened, just like any other weak or damaged muscles.
A short exercise routine:
1. Sit, stand or lie comfortably with your knees slightly apart.
2. Imagine you are trying to stop yourself from passing wind at the same time you are trying to stop passing urine. Slowly squeeze and lift the muscles. You may feel the base of your penis move slightly up towards your abdomen.
3. Try and avoid pulling in your stomach, squeezing your legs together, tightening your buttocks or holding your breath.
4. Try and hold contraction up to 10 seconds and then repeat up to five times.
5. After a two-minute break, try a quick two-second hold, two-second rest and repeat these five to 10 times.
Do these exercises as often as you can. The more regular you exercise the stronger your pelvic floor muscles will become. It is recommended you do these exercises for three months for best results.
For those who are diagnosed with prostate cancer, there has been research done by renowned male pelvic floor physiotherapists, Dr. Jo Milios who in 2019 undertook a study where a group of men were given a specific pelvic floor exercise programme before and after surgery. After 12 weeks post-surgery, there were more men reporting no leakage in the group who used the exercise programme compared to the group using the usual post-surgical exercise programme. Research link below:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=milios+j+prostate
If you would like any more advice or have any questions speak to one of our physiotherapists 0114 235 2727.