Pelvic floor dysfunction is the inability to correctly relax and coordinate your pelvic floor muscles to have a bowel movement. Your pelvic floor muscles add support to several of your organs by wrapping around your pelvic bone.

Pelvic floor dysfunction causes weak bladder or urinary inconsistency which is another common problem among women that remains untreated and is often not taken seriously. This health problem occurs due to the overstretching or weakness of muscles responsible for controlling the flow of urine.

Common signs of pelvic floor dysfunction

Here are 5 symptoms that indicate that you have a pelvic floor dysfunction:

  • Accidentally leaking urine while exercising, laughing, coughing or sneezing
  • Constantly feeling the need to go to the toilet.
  • Needing to go to the toilet in a hurry or not able to reach in time.
  • A prolapse: in women, this may be felt as a bulge in the vagina or a feeling of heaviness, discomfort, pulling, dragging or dropping.

Causes

Here are few causes of pelvic floor dysfunction:

  • Pregnancy and child birth
  • Ongoing constipation and staining to empty the bowels.
  • Overweight or obesity
  • Heavy weight lifting like exercising in the gym.
  • Chronic cough or sneeze due to asthma or COVID
  • Injury to the pelvic region due to surgey or fall
  • Ageing

Measures

Here are few measures that help to decrease the risk of developing pelvic floor dysfunction:

  • Maintain a healthy body weight and try to eat less junk food.
  • Exercise regularly.
  • Quit smoking
  • Limit caffeine and alcohol consumption.
  • It is advisable to consult a doctor if you are suffering from urinary tract or bladder infections and constipation