What are your fitness goals?

We don’t have to tail you at the gym or bribe your trainer for inside info to know that you probably concentrate on muscles that will give you the most aesthetic bang for your buck — like your abs, your arms, your legs or your butt.

One thing we bet you haven’t thought twice (or even once) about during a workout? Your pelvic floor.

In fact, outside of the word “Kegels” or a vague recollection of a high school biology class, you might not be totally sure what the pelvic floor is. Why all the hype?

Let’s talk about this group of mysterious muscles and why it matters for both men and women to keep them fit for life.‍

What Is the Pelvic Floor?‍

First, an anatomy lesson. 

Your pelvic floor is a group of muscles found at the base (a.k.a. the floor) of your pelvis. The muscles stretch like a hammock from your pubic bone at the front, to your tailbone at the back and side to side from one sitting bone to the other.

Your pelvis is home to a variety of critical organs:

• Bladder
• Rectum
• Prostate (in men)
• Uterus and vagina (in women)
  

Your pelvic floor muscles are the foundation of that home. They provide structural support to ensure your organs stay in place and help certain functions, such as urinating, work correctly. Together with your abdominal muscles, back muscles and diaphragm, they make up your core.

Why Is a Healthy Pelvic Floor Important?

Your pelvic floor muscles are hard at work 24/7. In addition to holding your organs in position, this versatile set of muscles help your bladder and rectum contract and relax. They spend most of the day wrapped firmly around these passages to keep them shut, and ease off on-demand when it’s time to answer nature’s call. 

Your pelvic floor also assists with sexual function. In men, it plays a role in erectile function and ejaculation. In women, it contributes to sexual sensation and arousal. Women’s pelvic floor muscles also provide support for a growing baby during pregnancy.

Sounds important, right? 

Very right.

What Happens If the Pelvic Floor Doesn’t Work the Way It’s Supposed To?

Pelvic floor dysfunction is the inability to correctly coordinate the contraction and relaxation of your pelvic floor muscles. Just like Goldilocks needed everything to be “just right” when she helped herself to the home of the three bears, you don’t want your pelvic floor to be too tight or too loose. There’s a happy medium.

If your pelvic floor muscles are imbalanced, you may struggle with:

• Stress urinary incontinence
• Urge urinary incontinence
• Urinary retention
• Pain with urination
• Bowel control issues
• Sexual dysfunction
• Low back pain
• Pelvic pain
• Pelvic organ prolapse
  

Sounds bad, right?

Right again.

Let’s dive deeper.

How Do Pelvic Floor Muscles Get Weak?

To some extent, weakening pelvic floor muscles are simply part of aging. Growing older and the hormonal changes that accompany it naturally reduce pelvic floor strength over time. But age is not the only culprit.

Other contributing factors may include:

• Pregnancy and childbirth
• Muscle overuse (e.g., straining too hard when going to the bathroom)
• Being overweight
• Traumatic injury to the pelvic area
• Pelvic surgery (e.g., hysterectomy or prostate surgery)
• Repeated heavy lifting
• High impact exercise
• Chronic coughing
  

In short, anything that puts pressure on the pelvis can lead to a pelvic floor disorder. Women are often the subject of conversations around this topic due to the unique stresses of pregnancy and menopause, but do not discount the importance of a healthy pelvic floor for men. Pelvic health issues affect all genders.

What Is the Difference Between a Weak Pelvic Floor for Men vs Women?

Pelvic floor weakness presents differently in men and women.

Ladies, you may face accidental urine leakage (particularly when exercising, laughing, sneezing or coughing), frequent urge to urinate, sudden urges that require a rush to the toilet, reduced sensation during sex, pain during intercourse, difficulty reaching arousal or orgasm, difficulty wearing tampons, recurrent urinary tract infections or pelvic organ prolapse.

Gentleman, you too may face increased or sudden need to urinate, leaking urine with activity or dribbling after urination. You may also struggle with pain in your genitals or pelvic region, difficulty achieving or maintaining an erection, premature ejaculation or pain after orgasm.

Now let’s take a deep breath. While all that may sound scary (and not so sexy), don’t let it get you down. It’s time for the good news.

Can Pelvic Floor Dysfunction Be Cured?

You do not need to accept a weak pelvic floor as an inevitable part of aging. Your pelvic floor muscles are, well, muscles. And that means they can be strengthened just like any other muscle — with exercise.

Pelvic floor physical therapy and lifestyle changes have helped countless people free themselves of inconvenient and uncomfortable symptoms and improve their quality of life. A healthcare provider can teach you how to find the right muscles and perform pelvic floor exercises that will gradually increase your strength and control.

And that’s not the only good news. These days, you can strengthen your pelvic floor without Kegels, and work your abs at the same time for complete core health.

Introducing ‘Core to Floor’ With Emsculpt and Emsella

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We’re big fans of BTL here at Krch Aesthetic Medicine. The medical and aesthetics company has released two game-changing technologies we love: Emsculpt NEO for muscle building and fat reduction and Emsella for pelvic floor strengthening. These are effective devices on their own, but like the Avengers, they’re even more powerful as a team.

The ‘Core to Floor’ program is the world’s first comprehensive, noninvasive whole core treatment. Using both Emsculpt NEO and Emsella, we can strengthen your abdomen and pelvic floor for improved muscle strength, better balance, enhanced sexual performance and incontinence relief. The devices are FDA-approved for both women and men, and sessions take less than one hour with no downtime.

Still want more? Ask about our ‘Core and Coitus Performance’ package (one of several Emsculpt packages we offer) if you want total core strengthening plus a boost for your bum. We’re all about helping you meet and maintain your body goals, whatever they may be, so you can enjoy your healthiest and most active life. 

You deserve nothing less.

To learn more about Emsculpt NEO for body sculpting, Emsella for pelvic floor strengthening or the Core to Floor program, call Krch Aesthetic Medicine at 480-493-5833 or contact us online to arrange a complimentary in-person or virtual consultation.

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