With the baby boomers aging no doubt your dad or grandpa is worried about his old football injury or achy knee. But with 60,000 baby boomers turning 65 every day, dad may have more urgent issues to tend to.
Yes, Men Have A Pelvic Floor
The term “pelvic health” is usually associated with women, but as it turns out, pelvic health is equally important for men. In fact, the strength of the pelvic floor muscles is directly linked to the three biggest pelvic health complaints faced by men as they age: sexual dysfunction, pelvic pain, and incontinence. Yes, middle-aged men have more to worry about than just an erection lasting four hours.

The pelvic floor – in both men and women – refers to the band of muscles in the pelvis that support the back, abdomen, bladder, and bowel. When those muscles weaken in men, all kinds of embarrassing issues can arise, such as  “postvoid dribbling” (unlike basketball this won’t score you any points.) Other issues include erectile dysfunction, premature ejaculation, lower back pain, prostatitis, and incontinence.

Strengthening for Men Only
The good news is, there’s something you can do to prevent and even correct these issues without resorting to diapers and little blue pills: Kegels (pelvic floor exercises). You may be thinking they’re just for women, but Kegels are highly effective for men too. In fact, clinical studies have shown these exercises can be effective for erectile dysfunction, and produce a dramatic improvement in urinary incontinence caused by prostate surgery. When you consider the side effects of Viagra or Cialis (including vision impairment, chest pain and shortness of breath) compared to zero side effects for Kegels, the latter is definitely worth a try.
With the prevalence of conditions caused by weakened pelvic muscles in men, treatment is developing beyond Kegels to include manual therapy and even biofeedback and muscle stimulation to re-educate the muscles. One enterprising urologist has even gone so far as to invent small silicone bands that fit around the penis for extra resistance during Kegels. The jury is still out on the effectiveness of this invention, but I think it’s a great nod to the virility of “pumping iron”.
All told, I do believe this is evolving into the new sports medicine for the greying population. And even if dad doesn’t feel like throwing a football around anymore, he can still get a few sets of Kegels in that he learned from his physical therapist while watching the afternoon game.
References
Dorey G, et al. Pelvic floor exercises for erectile dysfunction. BJU Int. 2005 Sep;96(4):595-7.
Bridgeman B. The 4-3-2 method for Kegel exercises. Am J Mens Health. 2010 Mar;4(1):75-6
Dorey G, et al. Pelvic floor exercises for treating post-micturition dribble in men with erectile dysfunction: a randomized controlled trial. Urol Nurs. 2004 Dec;24(6):490-7, 512.
Centemero A, et al. Preoperative pelvic floor muscle exercise for early continence after radical prostatectomy: a randomised controlled study. Eur Urol. 2010 Jun;57(6):1039-43
Siegel AL. Pelvic floor muscle training in males: practical applications. Urology. 2014 Jul;84(1):1-7.