Pelvic floor muscle training for pelvic organ prolapse
Pelvic floor muscle training is an established treatment for some pelvic floor disorders, including urinary and faecal incontinence. Such training is often combined with other behavioural approaches, such as urge suppression strategies, and can improve urinary urgency, frequency, and nocturia. In fact, the International Consultation on Incontinence recommends pelvic floor muscle training as the first-line treatment for stress, urge, or mixed incontinence in women of all ages.
Pelvic organ prolapse affects between 5% and 10% of women, and is strongly associated with increasing age, as shown by its prevalence of 40% in women older than 50 years. The disorder is one of the most common indications for gynaecological surgery in older women.
There is potential for prevention of prolapse symptoms through lifelong attention to pelvic floor muscle exercise, and possibly intentional use of muscles to protect the pelvic floor during physical strain, such as that inflicted by heavy lifting. > From: Burgio, Lancet 383 (2014) 760-762. All rights reserved to The Lancet and the author(s). Click here for the Pubmed summary.
Watch an informative video on the anatomy of the pelvis below:
