Untreated Pelvic Floor Dysfunction could cause urine leakage, organ collapse, expert warns 

3

Like

A Pelvic Floor Specialist, Tolani Balogun, has urged women having pelvic floor dysfunction to seek help from experts early.

The expert warned that untreated pelvic floor dysfunction could lead to urine leakage and organ collapse.

According to her, the major function of the pelvic floor is the coordination of the pelvic itself, bowel, bladder, and sexual activities.

She noted that if anything goes wrong with the pelvic floor, there could be a collapse of different organs around it. 

Balogun who is a Senior Consultant with Hepai Consulting said if left untreated, pelvic floor dysfunction could also lead to constipation, erectile dysfunction in men, and urine leakage in women especially when they cough.

She explained, “The major function of the pelvic floor is the coordination of the pelvic itself, the coordination of the bowel, bladder, and sexual activities. It is not only women that have bowel and bladder. So, both men and women need to be aware daily of the importance of the function of the pelvic floor.”

According to Cleveland Clinic, a nonprofit multispecialty academic medical centre, pelvic floor dysfunction is the inability to correctly relax and coordinate your pelvic floor muscles to have a bowel movement.

“Symptoms include constipation, straining to defecate, having urine or stool leakage, and experiencing a frequent need to pee.

“If you are a woman, you may also feel pain during sex, and if you are a man you may have problems having or keeping an erection (erectile dysfunction). Your pelvic floor is a group of muscles found in the floor (the base) of your pelvic,” the clinic said.

Read Also: Get appropriate treatment for vaginal infections, gynaecologist tells women

Balogun stressed that if pelvic floor dysfunction is left untreated, it can start with urinary leakage for women, and constipation, and then the organs can start collapsing.

“No woman or man is immune to pelvic floor dysfunction. There is a myth out there about when the pelvic floor is mentioned. Most people think about pregnant women or women that just had babies once it is mentioned. If you are a mother and you have had your babies many years ago, you still have to take care of your pelvic. 

“The major function of the pelvic floor is the coordination of the pelvic itself, the coordination of the bowel, bladder, and sexual activities. It is not only women that have bowel and bladder. So, both men and women need to be aware daily of the importance of the function of the pelvic floor.

“Also, men need to be aware that pelvic issues are not a woman’s thing, though women have more problems because women have extra organs for reproduction. However, a lot of men have pelvic problems and they suffer in silence,” she said.

She urged the Federal and state governments to urgently begin massive awareness of pelvic floor dysfunction in the country so that those battling the condition could seek appropriate care.

In a 2018 Ethiopian study published in BMC, a United Kingdom open-access journal which centered on pelvic floor disorders in women, the authors said women in developing countries do not disclose their problems due to associated social stigma or lack of access to services.

Hence, the extent of the problem remains largely unknown.

BMC is a United Kingdom open-access journal.

According to the researchers, 20.5 per cent of a total of 3432 women who participated in the study, reported one type of pelvic floor disorder.

The study calls for urgent action to improve prevention, diagnosis, and treatment services to mitigate the suffering of women from pelvic floor disorders.