Stress and the pelvic floor

Did you know that stress plays a huge role in the health of your pelvic floor?

How? Well, first let’s talk about what is the pelvic floor and what is stress.

What is the pelvic floor?

The pelvic floor is made up of muscles at the bottom of the pelvis. There are 19 voluntary muscles that make up the pelvic floor. There are additional muscles that are voluntary hip muscles and other involuntary muscles that help the pelvic floor. 

When the pelvic floor is healthy, it can close, open, hold up organs, and allow for sexual function including arousal. 

What is stress?

Stress is when there is a response to a pressure or demand on your body or your mind. Stress causes increased worry and/or tension. Stress causes the nervous system to go into a “fight or flight” response. This is a protective mechanism to help keep you “safe”. I put safe in quotation marks because stress helped keep our ancestors safe way back in the day when they had to make sure they didn’t get eaten by a lion. Now, stress acts to remind us that we need to slow down, or change what we are doing to keep our bodies healthy.

What does stress do to the pelvic floor?

During stressful situations, our body goes into protection mode. This means that muscles in our body involuntarily (without you knowing or controlling them) contract to help protect us against pain or injury. 

Since the pelvic floor muscles are small, they like to contract a lot to “protect” us during stress. They also make sure that if we are in a life or death situation we will not be peeing or pooping our pants. This is appropriate if the stressful situation is short lived. However, if the situation is long term or we never get out of the “stressful state” then the muscles can never relax.

Over contraction of the pelvic floor muscles can lead to:

• Leaking urine, fecal matter

• Passing gas when you do not mean to

• Strong urinary or bowel movement urge

• Frequent UTIs

• Bloating and/or constipation

• Pain with sex

• Back pain

• Hip pain

• Leg pain

It is hard to tell if the pelvic floor muscles are contracted without having awareness of them. The first step to ask yourself during stressful times is, “Am I squeezing my butt?”. If the answer is yes, then your pelvic floor muscles are very likely also squeezing and are in a state of prolonged contraction.

How do you get your pelvic floor to relax?

• Take a deep belly (diaphragmatic) breath

• As you breathe in try to expand your belly. As your abdomen rises, your pelvic floor should drop down. You should feel a gentle relaxation and opening in the pelvic floor.

• As you breathe out your abdomen should go down (going closer to your spine). As your abdomen gets smaller your pelvic floor should gently rise up.

• It is okay if you do not feel movement in your pelvic floor. Focus on your stomach rising with your inhalation and dropping with your exhalation. 

• Try to do it for 5 minutes 2 times a day.

How do you keep your pelvic floor healthy during times of stress?

• Connecting your pelvic floor with your breath

  • You can do the above exercise in any position and anytime of day.

• Not straining to have a bowel movement

  • Making sure your bowel movements are easy and you don’t stain to have them will help protect your pelvic floor.

• Peeing every 2-4 hours

  • This keeps the bladder in optimal health which is important during times of stress. If it has been longer than 4 hours, go pee. Your bladder will thank you.

• Drinking half of your body weight in ounces of water

  • Staying hydrated will keep your pelvic floor and body in a healthy state.

• Eating a well balanced diet

  • This will help your body function properly as well as help with those bowel movements.

• Exercising without putting added pressure on your pelvic floor

  • Exercising is a great way to relieve stress. Exercising is also beneficial to keep your pelvic floor healthy.

• Stretching

  • Stretching is beneficial to help promote relaxation throughout the body and this is especially true for the pelvic floor.

• Maintaining a healthy sexual practice

  • This can be stress relieving. If it is not, DO NOT put pressure on yourself to do this. Maintaining a healthy sexual practice keeps your pelvic floor muscles healthy by using them and bringing blood flow to them.

• Healthy stress coping strategies

  • A mental health therapist can help you build healthy coping strategies for stress

Curious about your pelvic floor health? Have any of the symptoms I mentioned earlier?

Click the button below to learn more about pelvic floor physical therapy and how it can help.