You may have stumbled upon this blog looking for a male pelvic floor therapist, female pelvic floor therapist, what exercises are best for the pelvic floor, or who to go to for treatment and wondering if pelvic floor dysfunction is curable. If pelvic floor dysfunction was a book, pelvic floor weakness, pelvic floor spasm, painful intercourse, pelvic pain, lower back pain, sacro-iliac pain, mid-back pain, poor posture, constipation, prolapse, tailbone pain, hip pain, testicular pain, and erectile dysfunction are some of the chapters of this book. So to answer the question if pelvic floor dysfunction is curable, the short answer is, it depends!
What is Pelvic Floor Dysfunction?
In my blog, ‘What is Pelvic Floor Dysfunction’, I explain the details of pelvic floor dysfunction and strongly suggest you look into it.
Are Pelvic Floor and Pelvic Floor Dysfunction the Same?
No. The pelvic floor is a part of pelvic floor dysfunction; unfortunately, pelvic floor dysfunction ‘chapters’ are looked at separately as if they are different issues and in doing that, subtle signs are missed, get bigger, ‘louder’, and then looked at as pelvic floor issues. The therapists that work on the actual pelvic floor are primarily physical therapists trained in pelvic floor therapy but chiropractors, occupational therapists, nurses, and even physicians trained in pelvic floor therapy make up the category of ‘therapists’ that treat pelvic floor issues.
I want you to note that as it is not wise to work on the ‘floor’ of a house when the house itself is unstable, working on the pelvic floor when the pelvis and whatever is attached to it is unstable is not the proper route to address pelvic floor issues.
What Does Pelvic Floor Dysfunction Treatment Look Like?
In my blog, ‘What is missing in pelvic floor dysfunction treatment’, I remind you that while there are other conditions such as Parkinson’s, and multiple sclerosis that may be the root cause of your pelvic floor dysfunction and may be treated separately, the importance of addressing the impact of them on the pelvis and the associated joints is a different entity that still needs to be addressed- they feed and accentuate each other. Sometimes medications lead to issues that the pelvic floor dysfunction stems from and then there is a downward spiral that creates havoc.
- “Movement is like a concert and the body parts like the musicians; that the musicians not only need to know their part but to know when to chime in and phase out. That means the pelvis and pelvic floor need to know how to ‘play’ with the rest of the body if they are to sustain their strength and integrity. This is what Postural Neurology is all about (which has to be a part of the treatment for pelvic floor dysfunction).
- Common sense says that the most authentic way to move is the way babies move. After all, all babies from all over the world go through the same developmental stages of movement (Developmental Kinesiology) which means that we are hard-wired to move that way. So if the issue is movement-related or supported, then we should see how we compare to the way we moved as babies. All discrepancies are then highlighted and can be corrected through Dynamic Neuromuscular Stabilization (DNS) exercises which are baby movements (this is another needed component to the treatment of pelvic floor dysfunction that is commonly missed).
- There are machines like the Emsella Chair that do 400 Kegels per minute involving all of the muscles of your pelvic floor and not the ones that you hope to be engaging. Note that Kegel exercises are not for all types of incontinence and pelvic floor muscle issues.
- Do know that no matter what we learn on the internet and social media, authentic breathing is what babies do automatically and that is what we need to do in order to sustain the bottom of the breathing apparatus, the pelvic floor!”
- Treatment of the pelvic floor muscles directly may or may not be necessary for the treatment of all pelvic floor dysfunction presentations.
If you have a history of lower back pain, sacroiliac pain, hip pain, and/or have a poor posture and have the ‘traditional’ understanding of pelvic floor issues, then you do have a pelvic floor dysfunction. Do not waste your time only addressing the floor of your pelvis thinking you are following the ‘standard’ of care. This issue is much more complex and needs proper attention.
Contact me if you have any questions or wish to be examined for pelvic floor dysfunction. Check out my blogs and youtube channel on the subject of the pelvic floor and pelvic floor dysfunction
Dr. Shakib