Running Postpartum Pelvic Floor

Conversely the impact of running can result in pelvic floor dysfunction and injury to the pelvic floor muscles.

Running postpartum pelvic floor. You are exhausted you are heavier and your breasts hurt. Gravitational load on the pelvic floor e g. After you have your baby you have more options for strengthening the pelvic floor to alleviate vaginal pain and to treat incontinence and prolapse. The pelvic floor is the floor of your core by keeping this muscle strong and functioning well it will help you stay injury free.

Returning to running after a baby is hard. Runners have unique physical nutritional and psychological needs that require special attention from pelvic floor physical therapists. Running too soon in the postpartum period can lead to pain muscular joint injuries and worsening of pelvic floor dysfunction. Rather than jumping right into running after your delivery i recommend that you begin by strengthening your core and your pelvic floor first.

Weak pelvic floor muscles after pregnancy and childbirth can take 5 6 months to strengthen. The same concept applies here first you need to focus on your pelvic floor and ab re education with postnatal exercise then you can progressively make your way to postpartum. Gráinne and emma are pelvic health physiotherapists with a passion for women s health and i specialise in running injury as you may have spotted. Your core involves all of the muscles in your midsection.

Here s the 411 on pelvic floor. We ve teamed up to pool our knowledge and produce a holistic guide which we believe is the first of its kind. Running postpartum start progressively. Treat yourself as if you ve been injured.

It supports your bladder womb uterus and bowel colon. If you were to strain your calf muscle you d wait for repair and strengthen it before returning to running. Your pelvic floor is one of the muscles that forms your deep or inner core. Pregnancy and childbirth stretch strain and weaken the pelvic floor tissues.

Running is a complex biomechanical process which can be derailed by pelvic floor dysfunction. If you tore knee ligaments you wouldn t start running right after a surgery. If it is not working then it will set you up for issues later on. There may also be an imbalance in the muscles that support the organs tighten and relax the sphincter muscles or move the hips and do the shock absorption for the entire body weight says.

Pelvic pain during running and pelvic pain after running may indicate a weakness of the pelvic floor or hip rotators that attach to the pelvic bone. The postpartum body is a crazy crazy thing and i m suddenly realizing that it s still not mine again this is especially true with breastfeeding. Running aerobics all of the above guidelines refer to consideration of the mode of delivery with c s requiring more time to recover. Exercises for the pelvic floor.