june, 2019 | The Health
Alternative
29
What happens in
a pelvic floor assessment?
Wondering what actually happens during a
pelvic floor assessment? We’ve got the down-
low about what you can expect… right here!
At Vibrance Pelvic Care Centre, a full pelvic
assessment is done. It starts with a full pelvic
assessment, which is a personalised, in-depth
pelvic health screen for accurate and thorough
diagnosis of one’s pelvic health condition. After
the 60 minutes screen, the physiotherapist will
run through a detailed analysis of your pelvic
health with the patient. This assessment is done
once every 3 months to monitor the patient’s
pelvic health improvement.
Based on the outcome of the assessment,
the patient will be advised on the most suitable
treatment plan for them. This will involve Pelvic
Activation Therapy, which is a one-to-1one,
targeted pelvic floor therapy, personalized to their
pelvic needs. – The Health
Kegel exercises helps to strengthen women’s pelvic floor.
Incontinence:
A woman’s little
secret
Our pelvic floor muscles needs exercise too!
W
hen you think about your weekly workout
routine, do you consider when to schedule
in a work out for your pelvic floor? I’m
guessing that the answer is no, and that
pelvic floor muscle training does not take priority over
your weekly HIIT class or Yoga class. We met up with
women’s health physiotherapist, Hanee at Vibrance
Pelvic Care Centre in Bangsar.
So what exactly is the pelvic floor?
“The pelvic floor muscle is very important to women.
This muscle is also present in men however it is more
complex in women. We tend to have more complex
conditions due to things like multiple pregnancies
and aging. Pelvic floor is the muscle that is attached
to our pelvis – it supports all of our organs such as the
bladder, uterus and rectum. This thin muscles ranges
between 9mm to 12mm. Not many of us realise the
importance of the pelvic floor muscle. We usually go
to the gym to strengthen our biceps and hamstrings
but we don’t realise we also need to engage our pelvic
muscle!” explains Hanee.
According to Hanee, there are many causes to a
weaken pelvic floor muscle; pregnancy, aging, pro-
longed constipation, prolonged coughing and even
lifting heavy items can bring downward pressure to
our abdomen and bladder. Thus, causing stress towards
the pelvic floor.
But don’t come to the quick conclusion that aging
causes weakening of the pelvic floor just yet!
“Normally, we see the pelvic floor muscle weakening
from the age 40. For example, we had patients who
had really active lifestyles – they do weight lifting
too. However this can actually weaken the pelvic floor
muscle. It doesn’t just boil down to aging as the main
factor,” stresses Hanee.
Pelvic floor disorders
“It can be classified into 4 sections. One is urge incon-
tinence where you feel like you need to pee constantly.
Secondly is stress incontinence where actions like
coughing and laughing will lead to urine leaking –
certain activities will trigger the bladder and pelvic
floor. The third disorder is a mix of both urge and stress
incontinence - you will feel like peeing more often and
Women’s health physiotherapist, Hanee explaining
how the pelvic floor muscle works.
experience leaks during activities. The last disorder is
overflow incontinence, this one is more related to the
bladder – an overactive bladder which causes leaking.”
Hanee explains that the worst form of weakened
pelvic floor is a pelvic organ prolapse – a disorder in
which one or more of the pelvic organs drop from their
normal position. It is caused by injury to the muscles
or tissues that support the pelvic organs.
“There are four stages of prolapse. The first and
second stages can be assisted with a non-operative
treatment – we can help them strengthen back their
pelvic floor. Stages three and four requires surgery.
Some patients can have different kinds of prolapse at
the same time. The worrying part is that some women
– they don’t feel any of the symptoms, even when
there’s a bulge around the vagina, no preventive steps
are taken. If they don’t take any measures at stage three
and four, it will definitely disturb the quality of life,”
notes Hanee.
Awareness on the importance
of pelvic health
Vibrance Pelvic Care Centre organises monthly work-
shops to spread awareness on the importance of pelvic
health. “We hope the participants who attend our
workshops spread the importance of pelvic health so
that early symptoms can be picked up,” explains Hanee.
Hanee has dealt with her fair share of myths when
it comes to the pelvic floor muscle. The most common
one she says is the notion that ‘it is normal to suffer
urine leaking as we age’.
Kegel all day, everyday
“It’s true – it can be influenced by aging but it is actu-
ally preventable if you know about it earlier. For young
women – we need to do our kegel exercises at an early
age to strengthen our pelvic floor muscle. Noted the
correct way of doing kegel exercise is also very impor-
tant,” emphasis Hanee.
The kegel exercise is one of the best conservative
methods to prevent urinary incontinence. When
done correctly, regular pelvic muscle training can be
extremely effective in strengthening the pelvic floor
muscle thus improving our bladder control. — The
Health
Normally, we see the
pelvic floor muscle
weakening from the age
40. For example, we
had patients who had
really active lifestyles
– they do weight lifting
too. However this can
actually weaken the
pelvic floor muscle. It
doesn’t just boil down
to aging as the main
factor.”