Reason why your pelvic floor rehab isn’t working

Have you ever followed a pelvic floor rehabilitation program and found it’s just not working? There could be many reasons as to why your pelvic floor symptoms aren’t resolving, let’s chat further about a few common ones.

• Lack of consistency: the pelvic floor & muscles supporting the pelvis need to be trained often to make adaptations. If you pick & choose the exercises you ‘like’ in your program, you could be missing out on an important piece of the puzzle. Consistency over time is what helps build bulk, endurance, and strength if you have low-tone pelvic floor symptoms. If you have high-tone pelvic floor symptoms, maybe you need to improve the consistency of regular mobility and trigger ball exercises, followed by a structured strength training program. 

• If you treat the pelvic floor alone without looking at what’s happening at the hips, knees, ankles, thoracic rotation, or breathing patterns there could be a lack of strength or a structure working too much. This is why I ask so many questions in your initial consultation! Taking a full-body approach when it comes to pelvic floor rehab is key for long-term results. Pelvic floor muscle exercises alone just won’t cut it.

• You haven’t identified your trigger and worked on improving that too. Do you clench your bum all the time? Are you always stressed? Is there a lack of strength around the pelvis Do you hover over the toilet when you pee or do you suffer from a chronic health condition (COPD?), or continuously constipated?

• You’re forgetting to fully relax your pelvic floor as much as you might be contracting it. The pelvic floor needs to be able to fully relax & contract. If your PF is always ‘on’ and you try to go for a run or sneeze, it’s already ‘on’ and rigid so it won’t be able to absorb impact or respond to the change in intra-abdominal pressure accordingly.

Need help with navigating your pelvic floor rehab? Contact us today!