Men’s Health

Written By Caitlin Daley

What can Pelvic Floor Physio’s do to help men?

Written by Caitlin Daley (Bachelor Physiotherapy (hons), Post Grad Cert. Pelvic Floor Physiotherapy

You might be surprised to learn that men can experience issues with their pelvic health just like women.

We see these issues crop up a lot more commonly in men recovering from Prostate Cancer Surgery due to the nerves commonly injured during the procedure.

Symptoms of poor pelvic health in men can include:

- leakage of bladder or bowel,

- urgency to use the toilet (where you are unable to defer)

- day and night-time urinary frequency

- pelvic pain  

- (unique to men) Erectile Dysfunction.


These issues can feel really embarressing, and quickly become extremely bothersome.


The good news? Pelvic Floor Physio can help

Men receiving Pelvic Floor Physio pre-operatively (for prostate cancer) have better continence and quality of life (Milios et al., 2020).


What does a Pelvic Floor assessment involve?

We can now view the pelvic floor muscles using Ultrasound on the stomach or perineum. This is less invasive and a really helpful tool to ensure men are using the correct muscles when doing a pelvic floor contraction.

Why are Pelvic Floor Muscles important?

The Pelvic Floor Muscles begin at the pubic bone, and end at the tail bone - much like a ‘hammock’ these muscles support the males bladder and bowel.
Pelvic floor muscles also help us control when we want to go to the toilet, and have a role in sexual function.

Like any muscle in the body “if you don’t use it you lose it”- the pelvic floor muscles are the same!

Factors that can weaken the pelvic floor muscles in men are:

  • Obesity

  • Constipation and long term straining

  • Ageing

  • Repetitive heavy lifting

  • Chronic coughing

  • Surgery on the bladder or bowel

In Men who have pelvic floor muscles that are too tight, they may experience: urinary urgency, painful sex, pelvic pain and constipation.

As you can see the symptoms of a weak and tight pelvic floor can sometimes be very similar - so it’s important to be assessed by a Pelvic Floor Physio.
Steph Guy is now accepting patients for pre and post prostate surgery pelvic floor physio. Book here

Caitlin Daley
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