Symptoms, Causes and Diagnosis

"You're having a baby, it's too late for your pelvic floor!"

"Expect to leak when you laugh, its inevitable!"

Don't believe what you hear! It is common to develop a Pelvic Floor Disorder (PFD) after having children, but the damage caused to your pelvic floor by pregnancy and childbirth can be minimised and often reversed. You don't have to accept urinary incontinence and other pelvic floor disorders as part of becoming a mother.

Even if you had your last child many years ago, there are steps you can take to reverse the pelvic issues you may have developed. They may indeed only become present several weeks or even months, after your child is born.

What Happens to Your Pelvic Floor During Pregnancy?

As your baby grows, its weight is added to your pelvic floor, along with any extra weight you gain. Add that to the effects of the hormonal changes that you will experience, and you will likely become aware that your...

A total hysterectomy is the irreversible removal of the uterus (womb) and cervix through surgery. It is carried out to treat a variety of female reproductive issues, such as:

• Unbearable pelvic pain
• Otherwise untreatable heavy periods (menorrhagia)
• Fibroids - benign (non-cancerous) tumours
• Gynecologic cancer - of the female reproductive organs including the ovaries, uterus and cervix
• Endometriosis - a painful condition where...

Obesity levels have risen over 20% in men and over 25% in women during the past 40 years. It is no secret that carrying excess body weight is detrimental to your health. But did you know the impact it has on your pelvic floor? Studies show the likelihood of developing urinary incontinence increases by 7-12% for each 1kg/m² unit increase in BMI.

"The skeleton is perfectly designed to cope with a healthy weight. But if you're excessively heavy or obese, hips, knees and ankles may all suffer. Excess weight can be particularly damaging to your pelvic floor, which supports all of your crucial internal organs." Tam Fry, chairman of the National Obesity Forum.

As our pelvic floor is out of sight, it is difficult to self-diagnose its condition. However being aware of the symptoms that suggest you have a weak pelvic floor can allow you to begin treatment early. Forget your misconceptions; it is not just older women that experience problems associated with a weak pelvic floor. You may be in your teens or early twenties and experience some of the tell tale signs that your pelvic floor has weakened.

The three most common issues that occur as a result of a weak pelvic floor are:

• Urinary incontinence - Inability to control urine flow.
• Faecal incontinence - Inability to control bowel movements.
• Pelvic organ prolapses - The movement of a pelvic organ out of its natural place, it droops (prolapses) into the vagina or rectum...