If you have pain in your abdomen, hips, or lower back, pelvic floor therapy may help you strengthen your muscles and live a pain-free life.
What is Pelvic Floor Therapy?
Your uterus snuggles at the top of the pelvic floor, held by muscles, tendons, and connective tissue. The pelvic floor muscles support your urinary and reproductive tracts and keep your hips in place. Unfortunately, childbirth strains and can even damage these muscles and tendons.
If these muscles get weak, this is called pelvic floor dysfunction. To remedy this, you would need Pelvic Floor Therapy (PFT). This therapy is a group of exercises designed to tone the muscles and take the stress off your connective tissues so they can repair properly.
It’s not hard, but it does take some work.
What Pelvic Floor Therapy Can Help With
- Incontinence
- Painful sex
- Constipation
- Pain
- Sciatica
- Endometriosis
- Vaginismus
- Menopause symptoms
- Pregnancy and postpartum wellness
- Lower back pain
How to Get Started
Find a Pelvic Floor Therapy Professional
If you’re in a lot of discomfort, finding a professional physical therapist can help. Some physical therapists specialize in pelvic floor therapy, knowing what will help you. But, every physical therapist has some experience working with this condition. Often, a referral from your doctor is required, and insurance will pay for the therapy.
Pelvic Floor Therapy to Try at Home
In the meantime, there are things you can do yourself to help reduce the pain and strengthen your pelvic floor muscles and tissues.
Get Up and Move
The worst thing you can do when you have pelvic floor pain is to sit all day. Getting up and moving around may be uncomfortable; however, it will strengthen your muscles and improve your overall health.
Squats:
Another great exercise for your hips, legs, and knees is squats. This exercise works your core, pelvic, gluteus, thigh, and hamstring muscles. You don’t have to go down all the way. Starting with just a few inches, dip for each squat. Then, as your leg strength builds up, you can increase the depth and repetition.
Hip curls:
Rotating your pelvis forward helps relieve strain on your lower back and strengthens your core muscles. This helps take pressure off of your pelvic floor muscles and tendons. You can actively do hip curls by tightening your abdomen muscles and reminding yourself as you stand and walk to curl your hips.
Kegels:
Tightening and releasing the muscles that direct the flow of urine help strengthen all of the pelvic floor muscles and connective tissue. It may also help with some incontinence issues. Start with doing a couple of Kegels a few times a day and work your way up.
You don’t have to have pain in your hips and pelvis. Doing a few exercises and getting the advice of a proper physical therapist can go a long way to helping you live an active and pain-free life.
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