Strengthen your pelvic muscles

As we all know, everything in the human body is connected—from tissues to hormones to nerves.

The pelvic floor is the main muscle holding up the uterus, urinary bladder and rectum in females. (Representational Image | Pexels.com)

As we all know, everything in the human body is connected—from tissues to hormones to nerves. We always talk about gut health, nerves, lungs, liver, etc., but have hardly seen anyone discussing urinary bladder or tract health. But most of us have been affected by issues related to the same.

The urinary bladder is a balloon-like organ that holds urine that contains all the toxins, waste material, and unwanted minerals to be excreted from the body. As a kid or an adult, our bladder and urinary tract hold strength and flexibility.

However, as we grow old, the tissues and muscles in this area become less stretchy and flexible, and start losing its strength. If things like this happen, people start facing issues such as weak pelvic muscles and urine leakage. 

Here’s a look at causes of weak pelvic muscles:

• Holding urine for too long may lead to infections, particularly UTI (Urinary Tract Infection). Urine has bacteria which need to be excreted out of the system; if not, bad bacteria increases, leading to infections. 
• If anyone feels constipated, they put more pressure to pass stools. Every time this pressure is exerted in the pelvic area, it leads to pressure on the bladder as well, which may weaken the muscles.
• Certain medication, excess alcohol and excess caffeine keeps the body acidic and acts as diuretics, which can lead to frequent emptying of bladder and cause bladder problems. 
• Pregnancy and childbirth puts more pressure on the pelvic muscles and leads to weakening of the same, which is why pregnant women need to pee so often.
  Now let’s look at a few lifestyle tips that one can follow to strengthen pelvic muscles:
• Don’t hold your urine for long. The longer you hold it, the higher the chances of infection. This can also weaken the voluntary signal mechanism of the urinary tract. Pee whenever required and take your time, so that the muscles feel relaxed.
• Keep your body well hydrated with water (not with caffeine or other drinks) because water helps naturally flush out toxins from our body.
• Kegels or pelvic floor exercises are a must in your routine to improve strength and flexibility in the bladder muscles. Kegel exercise means  contraction and relaxation of pelvic muscles to improve flexibility.
• Sitting is the new smoking. The more we sit, the more we put pressure and weight on our pelvic muscles and that is why we need to do pelvic exercises often. Also, make sure you move around every hour without putting too much pressure on the pelvic floor.
• Limit coffee, tea, and alcoholic drinks as they keep the body acidic.

It is important for women to do douching to keep the vaginal area clean and wipe the area from front to back to avoid gut bacteria from entering the urethra and causing UTI. Similarly, it is very important for both men and women to urinate before and after sex because sexual activity may move the bacteria from the bowel to the urethra.

Deepika Rathod
Chief Nutrition Officer, Luke Coutinho Holistic Healing Systems. 
The writer is a clinical nutritionist with a focus on healthy lifestyle choices.