2023-07-14 09:48:15
The pelvic floor is an area sometimes forgotten. It is located in the lower part of the pelvis and has very important functions that influence people’s quality of life. Therefore, it is important to strengthen it, take care of it and keep it healthy.
The pelvic floor is located in an intimate area and is made up of various structures and tissues. It is the lower part of a kind of capsule that surrounds and covers the organs of our trunk. Due to its importance in the proper functioning of the body, experts recommend train him and keep him healthy.
It has very important functions that directly influence the quality of life of all people, regardless of gender.
However, experts from the Open University of Catalonia (UOC) agree that each case must be studied specifically in order to establish a optimal health plan for the pelvic floor.
What is the pelvic floor like and what is it for?
Cristina Rotllan Serra, associate professor on the UOC’s master’s degree in Nutrition in Physical Activity and Sport and an expert in women’s physiology, sports and injuries, explains that 30 % of the pelvic floor is muscle tissue and a 70 % es conjunctive tissuethat is, the one that serves as a network or connection between other types of tissue in the body.
“The connective tissue supports the urinary and genital organs located in the pelvis and maintains the structure and function of this area”, explains the expert.
The professional explains that there is a class of muscles that also participates when it comes to keeping the organs of the lower pelvis in place, such as the uterus, vagina and clitoris in the women.
“Others have more capacity to exert force or rapid contractions, such as the sphincter muscles that relax when we urinate or defecate, or those that allow men to have erections and women to have a more toned and healthy vaginal entrance,” explains Cristina Rotllan.
the pelvic floor serves to protect the uterus, the urinary bladder and other internal organs from any external factor such as a blow.
Alba Solera Sánchez, doctor in healthy habits, physical condition and quality of life and personal trainer, affirms that “the pelvic floor contributes to maintaining the stability of the pelvic and lumbar area, which in turn is very important for the stability of the body” .
“A pelvic floor that is not healthy can even cause pain during sexual intercourse in women and erectile dysfunction in men”, clarifies the doctor.
Furthermore, Solera states: “Men’s pelvic floor muscles are normally thicker and harder, and women’s are more elastic and flexible. But maintaining the pelvic floor is important for everyone.”
Keeping the pelvic floor healthy has many benefits for the body.
Elvie/Chiaro UK
Keep the pelvic floor healthy
“It is difficult, even risky, to generalize the recommendations, because personal situations can vary greatly,” says Alba Solera.
According to experts:
The first thing to do is make a good diagnosis that necessarily goes through a detailed physical examination and in some cases, through specific tests carried out by a professional. Second, once the state of the pelvic floor and the causes of its dysfunction have been established, Different therapeutic options will be offered. The treatments go through specific pelvic floor exercises, physiotherapy sessions, directed physical activity or even surgical treatment. Thirdly, professionals agree that it is necessary to be aware of what the pelvic floor is and its associated sensations. “Training with awareness is what will help us to have a healthier pelvic floor,” summarizes Solera. The expert insists that “if we first become aware of the muscles and then learn to train them, we will progress.”
How does the health of the pelvic floor deteriorate?
According to Cristian deGuirior Martinez, specialist in gynecology at the Hospital Clínic de Barcelona and associate professor in the specialization of Nutrition and Healthy Lifestyles for Women at the UOC, the age, number and type of deliveries, type of physical activity, lack of specific work on the pelvic floor, overweight or other factors increase the pressure in the abdominal cavity, negatively influencing health.
Other actions and situations in which the pressure in the abdominal cavity increases are pregnancy, playing wind instruments or impact sports such as running.
“We have to pay attention to the pelvic floor to avoid urinary or fecal incontinence, prolapse of the organs of the pelvis, hernias or abdominal diastasesnarrowing, vaginal opening, pelvic pain or sexual dysfunctions”, underlines the expert in women’s physiology Cristina Rotllan.
Some exercises to strengthen the abdomen are also recommended to maintain a healthy pelvic floor.
EFE/DIEGO AZUBEL
Exercises to strengthen and achieve a healthier pelvic floor
Alba Solera Sánchez as a personal trainer advises Kegel exercises to train the pelvic floor. He recommends combining them with hypopressives and later with transverse abdominis muscle exercises and proprioception.
“The combination of all the training techniques will help us maintain a healthy pelvic floor. Always, putting awareness in breathing and in the muscles that we work ”, he explains.
However, the teacher UOC Cristina Rotllan remembers that not only strengthening will allow us to have a healthy pelvic floor.
“Pelvic floor hypertonus is also considered a dysfunction that can cause difficulty urinating or pain during vaginal penetration.he warns.
In cases like this, Cristina Rotllan recommends going to physiotherapy sessions to relax the muscles and make a conscience work about our own care of the pelvic floor. In addition, the expert insists on the importance of maintain correct body posture to improve the health of this area of the body.
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