Men’s Health Physio – what does this mean?

Well…the short answer is that I specialise in male pelvic floor dysfunction. (Yes men do have a pelvic floor…they are often just blissfully unaware that we use or need it!)

It has long been known that pelvic floor muscle (PFM) activation is integral in the maintenance of effective ‘core muscle’ activation. It forms the base of the cylinder of the ‘core’ muscles and can often be inhibited in the presence of lower back pain. I often found myself teaching PFM exercises to guys with chronic lower back pain, along with other exercises to improve their deep stabiliser muscle motor control.

I found that a proportion of my male patients reported to me that not only had their back pain improved but that they had noticed that they were not going to the toilet as regularly. Upon closer questioning it became clear that they had been suffering (silently) from urgency and frequency urinary problems (their symptoms were typically an eye-watering need to urinate immediately – urgency, and going to wee every hour or so during the day – frequency). Some even complained that they were getting up multiple times during the night to urinate (nocturia).

By improving PFM strength and endurance we were able to affect a significant change in their daily lives.

I then started to use real time ultrasound (a scanner that we use in the clinic here) to teach guys who had just had their prostate gland removed (prostatectomy) to retrain the PFM to improve their incontinence and impotence (the unfortunate side effects of a prostatectomy operation). The data I’m now collecting from these guys I am hoping to utilise in an ongoing clinical research project.

And finally there is a group of men who suffer from pain in their perineal region (anywhere from the tip of their penis to their anus). This is a condition called Chronic Pelvic Pain Syndrome (CPPS). They often get pain during and after sex, and after defacating. As is often the case with men, the only external sign that anything is wrong is anxiety and depression, both of which tend to make the condition worse.

Treatment for these guys includes myofascial trigger point massage to tight muscles, both around their hips, legs and lower back and also internally within their pelvic floor. Combined with relaxation and anxiety management strategies this approach can significantly improve the quality of life of CPPS sufferers.

Although mens health physio is not glamourous, I have found it potentially the most rewarding work I have been involved in. If you have issues, and would like to discuss them in greater detail to see if mens health physio can help, just e-mail me (stuartbaptist@ssop.com.au) and see if we cant get the ball rolling. Don’t suffer in silence any more.