Research finds one in three women suffer from pelvic floor disorders

A third of women have one or more pelvic floor disorders in the US according to a recent study by the Kaiser Permanente Medical Centre.

The pelvic floor, the set of muscles which stretches from side to side across the floor of the pelvis can become weakened through ageing, pregnancy and childbirth. Many women experience symptoms including the frequent urge to urinate, incontinence and dropped pelvic floor organs.

Four thousand women aged between 25 and 84 were surveyed to find surprising results; 25 percent suffered from anal incontinence, 15 percent from stress urinary incontinence, 13 percent from overactive bladder and six percent from dropped pelvic floor organs. The study, published in the March issue of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, is said to be the most extensive research on incontinence across such a wide age range.

Jean M. Lawrence, a research scientist from the Kaiser Permanente Medical Centre in southern California, said: “These conditions really affect a woman’s quality of life. Many women think this is just something they have to deal with as they age and there isn’t anything they can do about it, but that’s not true”.

Many women often feel isolated and reluctant to seek support and so they suffer in silence. There are a number of pelvic floor muscle exercise systems available to help the strengthening of the pelvic floor muscles. Aquaflex is the most widely used piece of pelvic floor equipment in the UK. It is clinically proven to help with stress urinary incontinence where women can accidentally leak urine when they exercise, laugh, cough or sneeze. Aquaflex uses weighted cones to strengthen the pelvic floor without the need for exercise.

Dr Luber, a study co-author from the Kaiser Permanente Medical Centre has this further advice on the subject. He said: “Get educated through internet research or books on the subject and then find a physician who is trained in female pelvic floor medicine”.

As the statistics show, the issue of pelvic floor disorders is extremely prevalent. Women should seek guidance on maintaining and improving their quality of life by ensuring pelvic floor disorders do not control their lifestyles.

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