It's a guy thing, too, ladies

PELVIC FLOOR: CAN MEAN CHALLENGES IN BEDROOM, UNWANTED LEAKING WITH A SNEEZE

- Hein Kaiser

Pelvic floor dysfunction is not just a women's health issue. It's a guy thing too and for many men it is the cause of pain, embarrassment, and an unwanted segue from normal life.

It can mean challenges in the bedroom, a surprise and unwanted bit of leakage with a sneeze and a cough or a slow, exhausting recovery after prostate surgery.

Pelvic floor physiotherapy has traditionally been an environment for or at least a treatment for women.

Dr Lisa Kaestner, a urologist at Netcare Christiaan Barnard Memorial Hospital, said it is useful for post-prostatectomy incontinence, sexual dysfunction, and pelvic pain in men.

But it's not really at the top of any men's health-awareness chart. "There's a lack of awareness and not enough pelvic floor physiotherapists comfortable treating men," she said.

"And rehab like this is not well funded in most South African health care settings, which makes it a personal expense many cannot afford."

This is probably why many guys say nothing, do nothing, and just suffer in silence.

John de Klerk, a physiotherapist with a special interest in pelvic rehabilitation, said the entire concept has roots in women's medicine.

"Pelvic floor exercises, commonly known as Kegels, were initially developed for women by Dr Arnold Kegel," he said. "The research focused on women's reproductive health, especially for incontinence during and after pregnancy."