Urinary leakage and pelvic floor dysfunction have often been thought of as “female issues”. However, many men are finding that rehab of the pelvic floor is beneficial to their urinary complaints as well.
Men frequently suffer from the same pelvic floor-related complaints as women; but unlike women, men aren’t as open with their pelvic floor issues, choosing to suffer in silence instead.
While not all that uncommon, men frequently experience pelvic floor pain post-prostate surgery. This also happens to be the point where males seek rehabilitation services after their prostate is removed.
Typically, this leakage is triggered by physical activity, such as sneezing, coughing lifting or exercise. The leakage may vary from something as minor as simply just a few drops to complete loss of control of functions. As the patient's pelvic floor recovers from the prostate surgery, leakage complaints will characteristically diminish. Pelvic floor rehabilitation and bladder re-training can hasten the process for many men. Patients must re-learn how to contract the pelvic floor and then progress to consciously re-training these muscles to function correctly during the activities that often provoke the leakage.
But what is it? Pelvic floor dysfunction is characterized by the decreased coordination of the pelvic floor muscles. These individuals tend to keep the pelvic floor muscles contracted at all times, regardless of performance. These same individuals have difficulty relaxing the pelvic floor and, over time, the muscles adapt to this state of constant contraction and become shortened or too tight.
In men, pelvic floor dysfunction may be diagnosed as prostatodynia or levator syndrome. These individuals may complain of pain with defecation or achieving orgasm, hesitancy with regard to urination, incomplete bladder emptying or constipation. While the prostate may be part of the problem, the pelvic floor muscles being unable to relax effectively may make these problems much more severe.
PRORehab has three locations that specialize in pelvic floor health for both men and women- O’Fallon, Chesterfield and South County. Call for an appointment, or if you’d like more information, please visit our website and click on Women’s Health.
