Could sitting be making your incontinence worse?

When we look at the causes of incontinence, we often look at the big reasons. The first child who got stuck on their way out into the world, the resulting episiotomy and the extra 5lbs you have put on since the birth but did you know there is one small change you could make to improve your incontinence……….Sit less, move more!

These days, it’s safe to say we’re all doing a lot more sitting than we should. Sitting in front of a laptop for 8 hours is considered a normal day for most. And, while you might not know it at the time, it is probably creating havoc on your pelvic floor muscles.

The truth is, sitting for long periods of time is not good for you. In fact, some experts have even called sitting the new smoking. Studies have linked sitting for long periods of time each day to an increased risk of diabetes, poor heart health, obesity, depression and more.

We NEED to get up and move around more. Our bodies and health need it.

Sitting and The Pelvic Floor 

But there’s more. Sitting can also weaken your pelvic floor muscles, leading to incontinence and pelvic pain. Let me explain. 

Like everything in life, we adapt to the activities and postures we use most frequently. Unfortunately sitting has become a substantial part of most people’s life!

Think of the shape your body makes when you sit for long periods (it’s not pretty is it??). Most of us will fall into a rounded, slumped posture. This creates two issues.

“Sitting bones” not “sit behind me bones”

Our pelvis has two important parts at the bottom known as the ischial tuberosities or in plain language the “sitting bones”. The reason we call them sitting bones is that we are meant to sit on them…….. yet most of us when sitting for long periods will sit behind them. Instead of sitting with the most pressure on these “sitting bones” we often tilt our pelvis and put the pressure onto our sacrum/coccyx and glut/hip muscles instead.

While this may not sound like a major problem, putting our pelvis into this position causes the pelvic floor muscles to be put in a shortened position.

Our pelvic floor is less responsive when we need it then, like on a cough or a sneeze. It gets used of being in this sitting position and cannot function properly when we are in standing.

Breathing 

The National Association of Continence also says that sitting affects how deeply you breathe. We know that the pelvic floor and diaphragm are intrinsically linked. When the diaphragm moves down the pelvic floor moves too.

If your diaphragm isn’t able to move up and down as it normally would due to your sitting position, the pelvic floor misses out on this beautiful, natural movement.

In turn, this can cause those muscles to become stiff and, in turn, weak. That’s why experts recommend that you get up for at least a minute or two after every thirty minutes of sitting. 

When I say this to working people in my clinic they are horrified! Sitting has become normal but our bodies are not designed to do the amount of sitting we do! 

Move More

Practice makes permanent. This means, the more we sit, the less frequently we use our pelvic floor muscles. Like all muscles in the body, we need to “use them” so that we don’t “lose them”. Hence pelvic floor weaknesses can be directly associated with how long and how often we spend sitting. There are a couple of simple things that you can do to try and minimize these effects.

Firstly, the easiest change to implement is to make a conscious choice where possible to choose standing over sitting. While there are many situations (such as driving) where we are unable to stand, there are also many situations in which sitting is not necessary.

Secondly, when we do sit, try to make sure that we sit more on our sitting bones. A narrow sitting wedge can really assist this. It is normal to feel that this requires more conscious effort, and you may not be able to sustain this posture for a long period of time, however, over time the body will adapt, and it will become easier.

It is important to remember though even if you do sit well, you still need to get up regularly. Our bodies are designed to move.

But what if sitting for 8 hours is my job, I hear you whisper?? 

Thankfully, there are ways you can strengthen your pelvic floor and undo the negative effects of sitting on the pelvic floor.

That is where Anú Women’s Health comes in.

Pelvic floor exercises are important, but these muscles sit inside our pelvis and are surrounded by your hip, tummy, and back muscles. Treating your body to nutritious movement that supports pelvic health is what we are all about.

Why not check out our Ultimate Pelvic Floor Revival starting in February 2023.