Constipation Weak Pelvic Floor Muscles

Constipation appears to be as important as childbirth in the development of pelvic floor damage.

Constipation weak pelvic floor muscles.

Pelvic floor dysfunction is the inability to control the muscles of your pelvic floor. Chronic constipation can cause stretching of the pudendal nerve due to prolonged and repetitive straining leading to pelvic floor weakness secondary to nerve damage. Symptoms include constipation straining to defecate having urine or stool leakage and experiencing a frequent need to pee. With constipation this weakness may be with the muscles of the bowel wall whereas with fecal incontinence the weakness lies in the pelvic floor muscles.

Once patients with pelvic floor constipation have these basic tools they can begin retraining the pelvic floor muscles with biofeedback. Bowel muscles and movements the vast majority of movement within the bowels is a result of muscles contracting and relaxing. Your pelvic floor is the group of muscles and ligaments in your pelvic region the pelvic floor acts like a. In constipation the pelvic floor muscles are tight and overactive and do not know how to relax.

A long history of constipation can also weaken the pelvic floor muscles in both men and women. Constipation also creates more pressure on the bladder and urethra which may cause. In women weak pelvic floor muscles may lead to prolapse of one or more of the pelvic floor organs. Weak pelvic floor muscles may also lead to prolapse of one or more of the pelvic floor organs.

Normally the pelvic floor muscles tighten to hold your urine and bowel motions in. The bladder womb or bowel. Biofeedback training is the treatment of choice. In fact constipation is seen in 70 of patients who suffer with rectal prolapse.

Pelvic floor dysfunction is the inability to correctly relax and coordinate your pelvic floor muscles to have a bowel movement. The pelvic floor muscles are then subjected to increased pressure exerted upon them and can weaken over a period of time. Slow transit constipation can result in increased bloating and abdominal distension which can adversely affect the pelvic floor muscles. Chronic constipation is frequently a cause of damage to the pelvic floor muscles and fascial support ligaments.

As a pelvic floor physical therapist the first thing i offer my patients is education. Research has shown that upwards of 50 of people with constipation have concurrent pelvic floor dysfunction. When you sit on the toilet the pelvic floor muscles should relax so that you are able to empty your bladder or bowel. In some men the lower bowel can prolapse through the anal canal and bowel control can be affected.