Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy For Men: A Comprehensive Guide

It’s a common belief that only females have pelvic floors, and men do not have it. But in reality, they do have.

Just it is not discussed more often, as in the case of females. 

You might have encountered females talking about pelvic exercises. But this is something which benefits men too if they bring it into their practice.

At the same time, pelvic disorders in men are becoming quite common these days. And therapies are the best solutions to approach these issues.

So let’s dive right into it.

Understanding Pelvic Floor Structure In Men

Before getting to know pelvic floor therapy, you must know, what is the pelvic floor? The pelvic floor is a layer of muscles and ligaments.

These muscles support your bladder (Where Your Body Stores Urine), prostate gland (in men), and rectum (Structure At The End of Large Intestine Holding Solid Waste).

If you are healthy, you can feel your pelvic floor muscles while you go to the bathroom—[It could be harmful to your bladder if you perform this action in excess].

Pelvic muscles are the ones responsible for the regulation of your urine as well as feces. 

These muscles stretch from your pubic bone to your tailbone and also present across space between your sitting bones.

What’s Pelvic Floor Therapy?

Before starting with pelvic floor physical therapy, you must know what it is? As per an article from Health Harvard, it says:

“Pelvic floor therapy is a kind of physical therapy which can help not only with pelvic pain but also reduce symptoms of other conditions caused by pelvic floor problems. The problems can be painful intercourse, urinary and fecal incontinence, and even sexual dysfunction.”

–Health Harvard

When Do Men Require A Pelvic Floor Therapy?

You need pelvic floor therapy if you are suffering from pelvic floor dysfunction.

You may not be knowing what pelvic floor dysfunction is? So, here’s brief coverage of it.

Do you know, “Every Year Millions Of Men Experience Pelvic Floor Dysfunction?”

Pelvic floor dysfunction is the inability of your pelvic muscles to contract and relax correctly, leading to issues such as incontinence bowel movement and loss of bladder control. 

Here are a few symptoms of pelvic floor dysfunction, which would help you identify them.

1. Leakage Of Urine Or Stool Unknowingly: A condition when you feel leakage of urine or stool after you pee and have gone for the bathroom, respectively.

A general term for this situation is incontinence. You may even feel to urinate much frequently.

2. Erectile Dysfunction (ED): A situation when you can’t maintain your erection during sex. But, ED is much more complicated than pelvic floor dysfunction. So, this symptom is rare. 

3. Pain In Pelvis During Sex: You may even encounter pain in your pelvis region while having sex with your partner. So, this, too, could be a possible symptom.

What could cause Pelvic Floor Dysfunction?

The causes of pelvic floor dysfunction could be many. Some possible reasons for it are :

1. Injury To Pelvic Region During Trauma (such as an accident involving the pelvis)
2. Obesity (Or Being overweight)
3. History of Bowel Disorder or Constipation
4. Running Frequently To Bathroom And Pushing Hard (this leads to your pelvic floor muscles getting overused)
5. Surgery Involving Pelvic Muscles (like prostatectomy)
6. Inheritance (sometimes pelvic floor dysfunction are inherited from your parent)

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Pelvic Floor Therapy: All You Need To Know 

And finally, here’s the most awaited topic, precisely for the purpose you are here. Let’s dive into it.

When it comes to pelvic floor physical therapy (PFPT) for men, and even women, the most common term we get to listen to is Biofeedback.

It is a process for enhancing your senses and making you aware of your body’s physiological functions.

Along with Biofeedback, there are some more therapies that you will come across moving further. Let’s zoom into it.

Biofeedback for Pelvic Floor

Biofeedback is a type of training (done under the care of your therapist), which helps you learn and understand how to control pelvis muscles correctly.

It helps you learn how you can strengthen or relax your pelvic muscles. 

By the end of this training, patients generally observe an improvement in their bowel and bladder functioning.

Though there is some electrical equipment involved while taking your feedback, still it’s a painless process. Let’s look upon how it works?

How Does Biofeedback Work?

Biofeedback is always done under the care of a registered nurse. These nurses get specialized training to deliver this therapy. 

The sessions are usually organized at therapy clinics or hospitals.

Biofeedback Setup

For biofeedback sessions, you are advised to dress up in a cloth more comfortable than what you usually wear. Then you are made to sit in a chair.

The main setup comprises two sensors ( which detect electrical impulses of your pelvic muscles) and a monitor (for measuring the strength of electrical activity.)

The first sensor is attached to your abdominal area. In contrast, the second one (relatively smaller) is placed in the anal canal.

These locations are best for detecting electrical impulses of your pelvic muscles.

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Analyzing the readings taken on your monitor, your therapist will design the sessions for you and schedule them accordingly.

A general biofeedback session ends in less than an hour, but sometimes it depends on the situation’s vitality.

Your diet routine, your exercises, and a bunch of several other things will be recommended to you by your physician. 

That was all you needed to know before proceeding further. Do not forget to watch this educational video on Biofeedback, if you are the one in need of it. 

Let’s jump to our other quite popular therapy, i.e., manual therapy.

Manual Pelvic Floor Therapy

Manual therapy is the second most widely known solution for pelvic floor disorders. Skilled hands deliver this therapy.

The therapist mobilizes several techniques after finding your soft tissues and treating them for better functioning.

It helps you learn to contract and release pelvis muscles in turn, also improving its timing.

This treatment is not that complicated, so we would directly jump upon what purpose it serves and what benefit it provides. 

Purpose Of Manual Therapy:

Let’s have a brief look upon the purposes served by it. Not interested!! You are free to move to the next section, i.e., it’s benefits for you.

The use of manual therapy help are:

• Preventing Inflammation Of Soft Tissues
• Repairing Pelvic Tissues
• Healing Pelvic Pain
• Improving extensibility of tissue and its functioning

Known The Benefits Of Manual Therapy

The benefits of manual therapy are almost similar to that of biofeedback therapy. Let’s have a look at some of them. 

Manual therapy is best for helping with the following situations:

• Bowel and Bladder Disorders
• Urinary and Stool Incontinence
• Sexual Disorders (like Erectile Dysfunction In Men)
• Pelvic Pain Issues

Other Therapy Options 

The two therapies discussed above were more widespread and commonly used. But along with it, there are a few more.

The other two treatments to address pelvic floor disorders are therapeutic exercises and neuromodulation.

Therapeutic exercises are the ones which you can do by yourself without the need of any trained therapist.

The best among all the therapeutic activities known to date is Kegel. This exercise is too simple.

But, it’s the effect on your pelvic muscles. You are excellent. Moving forward, you will learn how to do Kegel and some of its great life-changing benefits.

The other therapy which isn’t discussed more often still has a growing market demand is neuromodulation.

This therapy is not limited to your pelvic muscles. It even helps with a wide range of issues (such as Epilepsy, Spinal Cord Injuries, and Parkinson’s disease).

Neuromodulation also has a vast treatment population. [About 13 million in the U.S. only for urinary incontinence).] 

Wanna know more about Neuromodulation? Feel free to visit this website: Neuromodulation.Com.

Kegel Exercise: An Alternative Approach To Therapies

If you don’t want a therapist for yourself and are not financially well enough to invest in it, then it’s time for you. 

First described by Arnold Kegel, it is an exercise that is most effective among all exercises meant for the pelvic floor.

You can do it anywhere (whether you are driving, sitting, or bathing) and any time of the day. 

Enough bragging, let’s directly move to how could you do it. 

To do the Kegel exercise, firstly, you need to identify your pelvic muscles. You can feel it by running your fingers through your hip bone.

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It feels like a wire-like muscle running between your thigh region. That is the pelvic floor muscle you need to exercise.

To do it, relax and try contracting those muscles. It exactly feels like you are stopping the urine flow or tightening your rectum.

You may also imagine it as when you are trying to control yourself from going to the toilet even when your bladder is full.

If you see yourself in a mirror doing this exercise, you can notice an elevation of your scrotum.

At first, it takes time. But, there’s nothing to worry about, as with only one week of practice, you can master this technique.

Studies also prove that kegel exercise is best for pelvic floors as you can implement it on a daily routine.

A good rule of thumb could be doing this exercise for 5 minutes twice a day. 

Benefits of Kegel Exercise

Below are some known benefits Kegel provides.

1. Tightening of Pelvic Floor Muscles may be weakened due to any surgery (like prostatectomy) or bladder and diabetic issues.
2. It helps correct urinary or fecal incontinence.
3. Helps with dribbling urine for some time even after you have left the toilet.
4. Improves your timing for erection, providing you happier sex life.
5. It also helps correct issues such as premature ejaculation, which makes you feel low sometimes.

That’s all you need to know about kegel. It is best for men who wanna avoid pelvic floor therapy.

Even if you are not suffering from pelvic floor dysfunction, it’s undoubtedly going to benefit you. 

The Bottom Line

Pelvic floor therapy is something necessary for both men and women suffering from pelvic floor dysfunction.

Still stuck with the question “Should you go for pelvic floor therapy?”. Do let us know by commenting below.

We will assist you with expert guidance.