How Does Stress Impact Pelvic Floor Pain
We all know that stress can impact us in big ways. We juggle a lot in life, from careers, raising families, household responsibilities, relationships, finances...well, the list can go on and on.
Many are surprised to learn that stress can also impact areas you might not realize. If you are experiencing pain in your pelvic floor, stress could be a contributing factor to this.
What Is the Pelvic Floor?
Right in between your tailbone and pubic bone sits the pelvic floor. This collection of tissue supports bowel and bladder movements and core, hip, and lower back muscles. (You know, all the muscles you use in the bedroom.)
While stress is a part of life, experiencing long periods of it with no relief can throw our nervous system all out of whack. If you tend to “push through” stress without recuperating, you might find yourself with unexplained muscle cramps, digestive pain, poor bowel movements, or uncomfortable sex.
How the Pelvic Floor Responds to Stress
Studies show that women can respond to stress in the short term by tensing their pelvic floor. One study had a group of women watch a scene from the movie Jaws while another group watched low-stress videos. The women watching scenes of sharks terrorizing beach-goers reported more pelvic floor tension than the ones watching calmer scenes.
When you are stressed, different body parts can hold on to tension strongly. Stress may start small, but it can affect our hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis if built up over time.
Keeping Your HPA Axis Happy
The HPA axis leans on the central nervous and endocrine systems to determine when and which stress hormones get released.
Epinephrine (adrenaline) and norepinephrine, for example, trigger muscles to tense at the sight of danger, so the fight-flight-freeze response is activated. Cortisol, another stress hormone, regulates our metabolism to use energy wisely in times of trouble, but it sticks around in our system longer than epinephrine and norepinephrine do.
When we skip out on our stress-relieving responsibility, we give cortisol the chance to get comfy. This can lead to mental and physical exhaustion, a more vulnerable immune system, and chronic pain.
How To Deal With Pelvic Floor Pain
First, we'll start with a disclaimer. Stress most certainly contributes to pelvic floor pain, but it isn't the only cause. Women who experience chronic pain or conditions such as endometriosis may experience pelvic floor pain, especially when they are sexually intimate with a partner.
If you are experiencing pelvic floor pain regularly, it's crucial to get checked out by a licensed doctor to ensure you don't have other conditions happening.
There are exercises that you can do basically anywhere that help you strengthen your pelvic floor. Even if you do have a condition that contributes to pain down there, you should still find ways to release the tension and destress. Some ideas to help you with pelvic pain are:
Kegel exercises
Stretching it out slowly with yoga.
Deep breathing and meditation.
Drinking plenty of water throughout the day.
Cutting back on alcohol, coffee, carbonated beverages, and spicy or acidic foods.
Going to the bathroom only when you absolutely can't wait. This helps to strengthen your muscles by holding it in.
Increasing your fiber and magnesium intake.
Using water-soluble lubricants or natural oils (like coconut) in the bedroom.
Intentionally creating a stress-free life is the difference between patching leaks in the open ocean and pulling your boat back to shore to rest and rebuild.
Stress isn’t easy for everyone to track and respond to. If you’re looking for more help, consider reaching out to learn more about pelvic floor dysfunction or sexual health.
