In this blog when we refer to men/males we are referring to those presumed male at birth.
We have written in previous blogs about chronic pelvic pain in Men. There is gradually more understanding that pelvic floor muscle tension is often part of the problem when pelvic pain is present. When we refer to men/males in this blog post we are referring to those presumed male at birth.
Problems typically present as pain in the penis and/or testicles and/or bladder. There may be problems with bladder flow or the onset of an urgent desire to pass urine even though not much urine is present. There might be anal pain as well.
Bacterial infection of the prostate or urethra (tube leading out of the bladder) will be ruled out by your GP. If there are no findings on investigation you may be referred to Pelvic Floor Physio so that we can check whether muscles are tight and tense. You can come to a Pelvic Floor Physio first and if we feel an investigation is needed, we will suggest going to your GP.
Tight and tense muscles will be painful when gentle pressure is applied. The pelvic floor can be reached from the outside and from the inside. But don’t let this be a worry or barrier to coming in for help. We explain all the anatomy and how we can assess so that you can give informed consent for examination.
Muscle Tension Has Been Found, What Can We Do Now?
Manual Therapy
Physiotherapists can apply manual therapy techniques just like Physiotherapists do with muscles anywhere else in the body. But as we explain below, therapy will need to address all the factors contributing to tense muscles.
Understand the Anatomy
First of all, you do need to know where these muscles are and how they sit in the body. Pelvic floor muscles, like all other muscles, respond to posture, gravity and how we move. Once we understand their function and why things go wrong, simple stretches, releases and other therapies make sense.
“Stretches” For The Pelvic Floor
The website www.pelvicpain.org.au has instructions on simple stretches that allow you to focus the mind and release the tension around the pelvis. The pelvic floor is very different in that we can’t just ask you to do a certain movement that equals relax/release pelvic floor: the muscles sit within the pelvis which is a closed unit. It doesn’t contain joints that can simply be moved to cause muscles to relax. So understanding and using your mind to focus and facilitate the relax is vital.
Mange Emotional Stress
At another level, this time like other parts of the body, tension can build in muscles in response to emotional stress as well as physical stress. If emotional stress and anxiety are part of the problem then this will need to be addressed. Whole-body relaxation and stress
management will help the pelvic floor problem. There are numerous guided whole-body relaxation audios to help you relax the whole body. Yoga, for example, tends to include meditation and whole-body awareness. It has been shown to be very beneficial for chronic
pain.
Get Back To General Exercise
Research repeatedly finds that general exercise helps stress and anxiety management. Has your pelvic floor pain stopped you from doing general exercise? Has a vicious cycle started? Has the lack of exercise made the pain worse and now the pain is preventing you from exercising? A huge role for us is to help you find a way back into appropriate exercise little steps at a time.
Recognise Low Mood
If the pain has been present for a long time it can start to affect mood leading to low mood and depression. Although this is common it is not always the case. We can screen with simple questionnaires and help you to find out where you are at. The first step toward managing any problem is to recognise all the elements that are part of the problem.
Understand All Parts Of The Pain Jigsaw And Address Them All At The Same Time
It is well known now that many people fail to manage pain simply because they try one approach at a time. So they may understand that lots of things are contributing but they are only addressing one aspect at a time: this does not lead to the best outcomes. It is essential to manage all elements of the problem at the same time.
If you have pelvic pain – come in for an assessment and take the first steps toward finding solutions.
