New research suggests that pelvic floor muscle exercises (PFME) could alleviate sexual problems for women with urinary incontinence.
Many women with urinary incontinence have problems reaching orgasm, painful intercourse, diminished sexual desire, and urinary leakage during sex. While PFME is used to treat urinary incontinence, the effects of PFME on sexual function have not been widely studied. Questions remain on why women with urinary continence might experience sexual benefits from PFME.
For this study, researchers from Santa Catarina State University in Brazil focused on predictors of sexual function improvement in women who underwent pelvic floor physiotherapy along with a home exercise program.
Fifty-four women with urinary incontinence participated in the study, which was a secondary analysis of a randomized control trial conducted from April 2012 to August 2013. The women’s mean age was 47 years.
The treatment protocol included three physiotherapy sessions, each spaced 15
days apart. Each session lasted for an hour. The women learned PFME techniques from a trained physiotherapist. They also learned breathing and body awareness exercises along with strategies for managing urinary incontinence.
After the final session, the women followed a PFME routine at home for two months, completing each exercise for 20 repetitions.
Assessments were made at baseline and after the two-month home exercise segment using the Female Sexual Quotient and the International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire – Short Form. An experienced physiotherapist evaluated each woman’s pelvic floor muscle function. An additional questionnaire was used to check the women’s adherence to PFME.
Generally, the women’s sexual function improved after treatment. Their mean sexual quotient score increased from 64.7 at baseline to 73.5 three months later. (A score of 60 or below indicated sexual dysfunction.)
Women with sexual dysfunction at baseline saw the greatest gains, with a mean sexual quotient score increase of 22.4 points between the two assessments, compared to a mean of 1.9 points for women who did not have sexual dysfunction at baseline.
The most significant improvements occurred with the domains of sexual desire, arousal/excitement, and orgasm. This result might have been the result of the women’s increased awareness of their pelvic floor, the researchers noted.
The women who had the best results tended to have higher levels of program adherence, greater gains in pelvic floor strength, and a lower frequency of urine leakage. They also tended to have had more children.
The study was first published online last month in The Journal of Sexual Medicine.
Resources
The Journal of Sexual Medicine
Sacomori, Cinara, PhD and Fernando Luiz Cardoso, PhD
“Predictors of Improvement in Sexual Function of Women with Urinary Incontinence After Treatment with Pelvic Floor Exercises: A Secondary Analysis”
(Full-text. First published online: January 13, 2015)
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jsm.12814/full