Men and Strong Pelvic Floor Muscles.pdf - Bladder and Bowel Website

Men and strong
pelvic floor muscles
Let’s yarn about men’s business

The pelvic floor muscles
The pelvic floor muscles are between
your legs from your front bone to your
tailbone.
They stretch like a sling and hold up
the bladder (pee bag) and the bowel
(back passage).
If these muscles are not strong, there
can be leaking of pee and poo.
Your pelvic floor muscles get weak from:
• lifting heavy things
• coughing (such as asthma or smoker’s cough)
• prostate operations (the operation can hurt the
pelvic floor muscles)
• hard poo (constipation) with pushing to empty
your bowel, or
• being overweight (too heavy).
front bone
pee tube
bladder (pee bag)
pelvic floor
muscles
prostate
tailbone
bowel
(back passage)
soft poo
hard poo

Things you can do to help
• Eat healthy food, drink lots of good fluids and
exercise every day. This helps to stop the
pressure on your pelvic floor muscles because:
– you stay a healthy weight, and
– it keeps your poo soft.
• Get help if you are lifting heavy things.
• Get help to give up smoking.
• If you are coughing a lot, ask for help from
your health worker, nurse or doctor.
• Make your pelvic floor muscles stronger with exercises.
How to do your pelvic floor exercises
You can do these exercises standing, sitting or lying down.
Breathe normally all the time you are doing these exercises.
It is important that you work the right muscle.
Tighten the muscles around the back passage
(bum-hole) and lift them up inside.
This feels like holding in a fart or stopping a pee.
Try not to squeeze your buttocks together.
You will feel a slow squeeze and a lifting up in the
muscle around your back passage.
Don’t hold your breath.
Hold as long as you can, then slowly let go and relax.
Stretched muscles
Tight muscles

You will need to work hard at these exercises.
It takes time to build your strength.
Find 3 good times for you to do these exercises every day.
Good times to do them are while you are washing your
hands, watching TV or sitting down and yarning with
other people.
Get into a habit of doing these exercises
all your life.
Your health worker, nurse, physiotherapist
or doctor can help you.
Talk to your health worker, nurse, physiotherapist or doctor
Notes
Who can help?
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health service
• Health workers
• Nurses
• Physiotherapists
• Doctors
• National Continence Helpline Freecall
1800 33 00 66

This series of brochures has been developed by the Continence Foundation of Australia and
funded under the Australian Government’s National Continence Management Strategy.
Indigenous artwork created by Georgina Altona and Warwick Keen.
Other illustrations by JAT Illustrational and Fusebox Design.
© 2010