Sep 13

Sep 13 Did you know ... the way you poo affects your pelvic floor and vice versa?

pelvic floor muscles, positive habits, prolapse, toilet habits

I know it’s not the most exciting of topics is it? But here’s the thing - the way you poo can massively affect the way your pelvic floor heals so in order to get dry and confident for the long term, we’re going to have to talk about it.

Here are some of the most essential things to think about when going to the toilet:

1) Timing - unlike when we need a wee, the signals we get when we need a poo will go away after a while. So it’s important to respond to signals to poo when they are felt. Often this may mean going at the same time of the day every day to get into a good habit, and making sure that you go at least once a day consistently. This can really help get things moving well and make it easier when you do go. Our digestive system likes some consistency and so apart from some good things going in - plenty of water, fibre and limiting processed foods and sugar - we need to have great habits for waste going out. Timing is your first good habit to set up.

2) Position - our digestive system is positioned in such a way that perching or sitting bolt upright on the toilet actually hinders the way waste travels down and out of our system. It’s important to set up in the right way to get your poo to travel easily as that’ll mean you can put in less effort as well (and it’ll take less time, which is a bonus when your kids are beating down the door!). You need to get your feet up so your knees are above your hips and then rest your elbows on your knees so that your back is relaxed. Then, just breathe!

3) Effort - learning to use your pelvic floor effectively is a good way of helping yourself to be able poo more easily and then in the reverse, going to the toilet more easily will help you to be able to have better pelvic floor control. When you learn to have a good PF contraction and relaxation including using your breath, you’ll be able to poo alot more easily, this then helps your pelvic floor by stopping you putting lots of pressure down into it which can weaken it over time or exacerbate current PF issues.

So just remember - respond to the signal to go, get your knees up and elbows forward, and learn to use your pelvic floor and breath together to go more easily without bearing down.

Happy pooping!