Gentleman, as Blue September draws to a close, it’s worth shining the spotlight on a topic that often shies away from the limelight yet deserves center stage in our lives – how our health impacts our ‘pelvic health’. You know, ‘down there’, the region of our body that is so important, we are taught from a young age, we should leave it alone. The region that is intricately linked to our perceptions of masculinity and yet it is often neglected until problems arise.
I have spent a large chunk of my physio career helping men sort out their pelvic health. It’s incredibly rewarding work because dealing with these issues has a huge impact on quality of life.
Seeing guys experience relief when they realise their concerns are valid is great, and it’s also taught me that there are a whole lot of reasons why men can take a long time to seek help.
We are wired to avoid admitting what could be seen as a sign of weakness, even though addressing these issues ultimately strengthens and empowers us. We fear the unknown, how others might react, what treatment involves and the fear of finding out we have a serious issue. We hope that by ignoring the issue for a while, it might go away, which, unfortunately, rarely happens.
The sad reality is that men suffer in silence, not realising that what they are dealing with is astoundingly common.
Get this:
- Around 40% of men in their 40’s experience erectile dysfunction and the incidence increases 10% every decade. By age 70, the incidence is 70%.
- Studies estimate that between 20% and 30% of men experience premature ejaculation at some point in their lives and sometimes it gets persistent.
- Incidence of prostate cancer has overtaken female breast cancer as the most common cancer in New Zealand.
They say the toughest barrier to overcome is talking about it. So, buckle up guys.
There can be no room for misunderstanding. I’m about to get frank. Welcome to a day in the life of a Pelvic Health Physio who thinks there are some things you might like to know. Things pertaining to performance, pleasure, pain and ultimately, survival.
You have a pelvic floor
If you didn’t know that don’t worry, you are in the majority. When it comes to performance, a small but vital group of intimate muscles between your legs plays a big part. I often think that if men realised the role that these muscles play in their sexual and sports performance, they would give them a bit more attention.
I continue to be amazed at the pelvic floors design. The muscles have multiple functions, so getting them stronger and more coordinated has multiple benefits. The pelvic floor muscles that are involved with having a strong and resilient core also stop you leaking. The same muscles that help you gain and maintain an erection, happen to be the muscles that also help you control when you want to orgasm. The muscles that pump your pee tube dry after a pee are the same muscles that pump out ejaculate and make orgasms more pleasurable.
It’s not just about turning the pelvic floor on
Man, my job would be monotonous if all I did was instruct guys how to turn on their pelvic floor.
To give these muscles credit, they are pretty automatic and turn on proportionally to exertions in life like lifting, squatting and coughing. They are designed to turn on and off many times through the day as needed but they do not appreciate constant tension.
While weakness and poor tone can cause leaking, urgency to pee, erectile dysfunction, and premature ejaculation, so can pelvic floor muscles that are too tense and can’t fully relax. On top of that, sometimes this tension can cause pain.
The pelvic floor is like a stress barometer
When you are stressed out and tense, your pelvic floor mirrors that tension. Just like stress can lead to tension and pain in your neck, stress can also lead to tension and pain in your pelvic region, shaft and testicles.
We assess the pelvic floor muscles to determine whether they’re too ‘tense’ or too ‘lazy’. Then we practice what they need to be better at. Sometimes they need to be better at being on and sometimes they need to be better at being off.
I have some very cool Swiss tools like the ‘PelviPower bio-feedback trainer’ which helps us assess the pelvic floor accurately, and the ‘PelviPower magnetic stimulation trainer’ that gives you a powerful workout while also enhancing the pelvic floor’s ability to relax.
You might be pleased to know that you don’t need to get your gear off to use either of these tools.
Your penis is like a canary in a coal mine
By that I mean, it’s a good indicator of how the rest of your body is performing, both mentally and physically.
Just like the body and heart rely on healthy blood vessels for good blood pressure and a reduced risk of heart disease, your penis also thrives when its blood vessels are in good shape. If the blood vessels of your penis are healthy, getting turned on means more blood flowing into the penis than can get out, making it easy to get hard and stay hard. So, it is fair to say, ‘heart health equals hard health’. The healthier you are, the healthier your penis is.
If you want to keep it that way, it’s worth getting proactive. Get to the doctor to make sure your systems are tuned up and running nicely. Balance work with fun. Get out and make your heart work and maybe push some weights around. Move more and sit less. Eat healthily. Ditch the vape and smokes, if living longer is not incentive enough, do it for your penis!
Your body thinks blood flow to the penis is such a good idea that it pushes it there 3 to 5 times a night while you are sleeping. If you are getting enough good quality sleep, your penis is looking after itself with two to three hours of ‘housekeeping’ erections a night, whether you are getting any or not.
For men facing the challenges of poor blood vessel behaviour, we can apply high energy shockwaves to the shaft of the penis. This causes the body’s healing and rejuvenation process to kick in which enhances natural erection ability. I know, I mentioned shock and shaft in the same sentence but don’t worry there is no risk, and you barely feel it. Its sound, not electricity and considering the benefits it can give you, it’s worth looking into. Click here to learn more about focused shockwaves enhance erection
Don’t Die
Whilst prostate cancer has become the most common cancer in New Zealand, if detected early enough, it is also one of the most curable. I have talked to many men on their prostate cancer journey and there is a very common theme to their stories. Unless they were motivated about their prostate health and being checked by their doctor, they would not have had a clue anything was wrong.
The surgeons that I collaborate with do amazing work and they love guys to know that if the cancer is found early enough, it makes their job a lot easier to give you a great outcome. You also have more options, so proactivity is well worth it, and peace of mind is priceless.
