Your pelvic health matters: insights from NHS clinicians

Pelvic health is about keeping the area around your hips healthy. It includes the bladder, bowel, and parts that help with having babies. Good pelvic health is important because it helps your body go to the bathroom, have a healthy sex life, and stay dry.

Here are some signs to look out for: Trouble holding in pee, pain in your lower tummy, feeling like something is heavy or sticking out down there, and pain when you have sex. If you feel any of these, talk to a doctor.

Doing special exercises can make your muscles stronger. These exercises are called "Kegel exercises" or "pelvic floor exercises." They help the muscles that stop pee from coming out. To make these muscles strong, you need to do the exercises a lot.

Many people have problems with their pelvic muscles when they are pregnant or after the baby comes. This happens because the body changes a lot and puts pressure on the pelvic area. Doing exercises and getting help from a special therapist can make things better.

Yes, men can have problems with their pelvic floor too, even though people don't talk about it much. Signs of this can be trouble holding pee, problems with erections, and pain in the pelvic area.

There are different ways to help you feel better. You might do special exercises for your tummy and bottom muscles, see a doctor who helps with movements, take medicine, or sometimes have an operation. It's important to talk to a doctor or a health helper to find the best way for you.

If you have problems like wetting yourself, tummy pain, or feeling uncomfortable every day, you should talk to your doctor or someone who knows about pelvic health.

Surgery can help when pelvic organs slip down. This is called prolapse. Doctors think about surgery if the problem is bad. But they usually try other things first, like special exercises.

When women go through menopause, it can make the muscles in the bottom of the body weaker. This happens because of changes in hormones. This can sometimes lead to problems with these muscles. But doing exercises for the bottom muscles can make them stronger and help stop these problems.

There are things you can do to keep your pelvic area healthy:

• Stay at a healthy weight.
• Stop smoking.
• Don't lift heavy things.
• Take care of a cough if you have one.
• Do regular exercises for your pelvis.

If you need help, you can:

• Use pictures to understand better.
• Ask someone to read the information with you.
• Use apps or tools that read text aloud.

As people get older, they might have trouble controlling when they pee. But this is not something that happens to everyone, and it is not just because they are getting older. There are ways to help or make it better.

Yes, there are tools that can help you with pelvic floor exercises. These tools can give you feedback or make the exercises harder. It’s a good idea to talk to a doctor about these tools.

Eating foods with lots of fiber can help keep your tummy healthy. It can stop you from getting constipated, which can hurt your tummy muscles. Drinking enough water and keeping a healthy weight are important too.

If you practice regularly, you might see changes in a few weeks or a few months. Everyone is different, so some people may see changes sooner or later. It can depend on how serious the problem is and how well you stick to the exercises.

A pelvic health physiotherapist is a special kind of therapist. They help people with problems in the pelvic floor area. This part of the body has muscles that can sometimes get weak or not work well.

The physiotherapist uses exercises to make the muscles strong. They also use their hands to help the muscles work better. They teach people how to improve their muscle health.

If you need help understanding this, you can use some tools like pictures, simple videos, or apps that read the text out loud. Ask someone you trust if you need more support.