According to the National Institutes of Health, roughly 25 percent of women and 16 percent of men experience pelvic floor pain at some point in their lifetimes. Men and women suffering from incontinence, constipation, persistent pelvic pain, difficulty with urination or bowel movements, or those who experience painful intercourse are just a few of the people who might be referred to a pelvic floor therapist. While many people can benefit from pelvic floor therapy, those same people have likely never even heard of such a thing.
Like any kind of physical therapy, pelvic floor therapy involves various exercises to help strengthen a certain muscle group. The pelvic floor is made up of muscles and tissues that form a sort of sling from the pubic bone to the tail bone. Your pelvic floor is what helps you stand upright, helps control your bladder and bowel activity, supports pretty much all the abdominal and pelvic organs, and makes for comfortable (or uncomfortable) sexual activity.
Various Types of Exercises
Some types of pelvic floor therapy can include stretching and strengthening exercises that target the pelvic floor muscles. Pelvic floor muscles, like other muscles in your body, can get tight, short, or go into spasm. This can cause a variety of problems in this region of the body. Diaphragmatic breathing and yoga poses are common practices, as are manual therapies. Manual therapies consist of a variety of massage techniques, including the use of vaginal dilators, to relax isolated sections of muscle and help desensitize scar tissue. Such techniques are commonly used to help address sexual problems associated with chronic vaginal or pelvic pain well as pain from childbirth or episiotomy.
What are Vaginal Dilators?
Dilators are hard plastic or silicone tube-shaped instruments that are often used in the office, and sometimes they’re recommended for at-home use. Pelvic pain often directly affects a person’s sexual experiences, which in turn creates emotional and psychological responses, which manifests into a cycle of fear and pain. BioMoi Vaginal Dilators help with this by slowly lengthening the vagina, as well as increasing its capacity. When done properly, the body psychically changes, but the brain also learns that penetration doesn’t always equal pain. Dilators vary in size, so that the person can start small and gradually increase in size. It’s an effective way to restore vaginal capacity and elasticity to alleviate sexual discomfort without surgery. Numerous studies show such a therapy to have statistical significance, and therapists and clients alike have repeatedly vouched for the positive impact dilator therapy has had on their lives.
Pelvic floor therapists are trained to treat the whole body, and they have an intricate knowledge of how each part works together. Many people aren’t comfortable talking to friends or family—or even their doctors—about pain or problems with urinary, bowel, or sexual functions. Pelvic floor therapy is an option worth considering. While this branch of physical therapy is growing, not every physical therapist specializes in the pelvic region. Do a little research, and ask your health care professional for recommendations. If there are several in your area, talk to more than one about your symptoms. You deserve to live pain-free.