On January 21, 2020, I posted here about ways to mitigate painful sex. I had just been on Jenny McCarthy’s show and that was a key topic she wanted to address.
In that post, I focused on ways to counter vaginal dryness that can result from treatments for an illness and aging, among other things. But I didn’t cover something important: the health of your pelvic floor.
Tight or weak pelvic floor muscles can cause mild to severe pain during intercourse, so a related outcome is you might have difficulty achieving orgasm. And if you know sex is going to hurt, your libido will plummet. Another sex-drive killer is realizing that your weak pelvic floor muscles can lead to incontinence during sex. How can you enjoy something that could cause a lot of embarrassment?
Even though I’ve written about this both in Sex and Cancer, co-authored with my gynecologic oncologist, Saketh Guntupalli, and Mature Sexual Intimacy, I’m not an expert on how to restore pelvic health. I turned to one of the main contributors to Sex and Cancer, Julia Barten, PT, DPT, PRPC. Julia is a certified pelvic rehabilitation provider with a doctorate in physical therapy.
First, she gave a little background on the pelvic floor:
“The pelvic floor is a group of muscles located inside the pelvis that supports the bladder, bowel, and sexual organs. It is important to keep your pelvic floor muscles strong to optimize their function. But sometimes muscles are too tight and flexibility needs to be prioritized over strengthening initially. We cannot see these muscles so it can be difficult to know how to engage them properly for exercise.
“Pelvic floor exercises are best confirmed with a specialist such as a pelvic health physical therapist. If you keep up with the exercises they recommend you do at home, these muscles can be strong at any age, helping improve bladder, bowel, and sexual function.”
Julia wants to clarify something for all of us: “Anyone with a pelvic floor can do exercises—they are not just for women!”
And now, with the strong message of “consult an expert,” here are a few notes from Julia on improving bladder, bowel, and sexual functioning with exercise:
“When strengthening the pelvic floor, it is important to keep in mind that after a contraction you have to equally relax the muscles. An isolated pelvic floor muscle contraction and relaxation is a good first exercise to try at home.”
“Start by taking a gentle, deep breath to relax fully. Squeeze your muscles like stopping pee or holding in gas and hold the contraction for a few seconds. Make sure you continue breathing during this exercise and try to avoid using other muscles like the glutes, thighs, or abdominal muscles.
“Release the muscle contraction fully and take a breath in and out. This counts as 1 repetition. Aim for 10 repetitions, two to three times a day for a strong pelvic floor.
“Sometimes visualization can help! Imagine picking up a blueberry with the vagina or anus. Don't squish the blueberry! You should be able to continue breathing and not feel tension anywhere else. Place the blueberry back down and let it go.
"Finally, stop any exercise that increases pain or symptoms.”
Here’s a bonus. In her spare time, Julia creates musical content to normalize pelvic health issues. In short, she has fun ways of addressing serious issues. Begin your trip back to pelvic health with a minute of explanation—in song—of how to do Kegel exercises, “The Kegel Routine—a Hamilton (Schyler Sisters) Parody" (found here).
To reiterate a key point, we can’t see pelvic muscles so it can be difficult to know if you are doing the right thing. Research shows that verbal cues alone are not enough in trying to confirm proper control and coordination with pelvic floor exercises. You can learn a lot from watching (and dancing along with) Julia’s instructional videos but beginning your trip to pelvic health with an expert is the best way to ensure you are doing the right thing for your muscles.
References
Guntupalli, S. & Karinch M. (2017). Sex and Cancer. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield
Karinch. M (2019). Mature Sexual Intimacy. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield
Barten, Julia, PT, DPT, PRPC. YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZ4yEZdWQ1w9LrzH6Cbc-RQ
How Pelvic Floor Health Affects Intimacy
54
0
06.05.2024
On January 21, 2020, I posted here about ways to mitigate painful sex. I had just been on Jenny McCarthy’s show and that was a key topic she wanted to address.
In that post, I focused on ways to counter vaginal dryness that can result from treatments for an illness and aging, among other things. But I didn’t cover something important: the health of your pelvic floor.
Tight or weak pelvic floor muscles can cause mild to severe pain during intercourse, so a related outcome is you might have difficulty achieving orgasm. And if you know sex is going to hurt, your libido will plummet. Another sex-drive killer is realizing that your weak pelvic floor muscles can lead to incontinence during sex. How can you enjoy something that could cause a lot of embarrassment?
Even though I’ve written about this both in Sex and Cancer, co-authored with my gynecologic oncologist, Saketh Guntupalli, and Mature Sexual Intimacy, I’m not an expert on how to restore pelvic health. I turned to one of the main contributors to Sex and Cancer,........
© Psychology Today
visit website
login
who are we?
contact us
qosheapp
Toi Staff
Gideon Levy
Belen Fernandez
Rami G Khouri
Mort Laitner
Donald Low
Ali Fathollah-Nejad
Nikkei Editorial
Michael Kwet
