Pelvic Floor Problems in Women
Thu, March 13, 2008 at 02:39AM A new report in the journal Obstetrics and Gynecology describes the frequency of women’s pelvic floor disorders and the distressing symptoms they produce. Questionnaires were sent to over 4,000 women aged 25 to 84 enrolled with the Kaiser Permanente Health Care, Southern California . Specific questions covered four disorders associated with a weakened pelvic floor. The frequencies of these were:
Stress urinary incontinence 15%
Many of the women – 50% to 80% - had more than one disorder, so that the percentage of women with one or more disorders was 37%. While increasing age was a factor in the occurrence of such a disorder, obesity, the number of babies, menopause, hysterectomy, and smoking were all more important risk factors.
Women are often reluctant to report these problems to their doctor, although they affect their quality of life. This reticence may be due to embarrassment, or maybe the disorders are accepted as a normal part of aging.
The study investigators suggest that physicians seeing women seeking help with one condition should inquire about symptoms of the related disorders. Options for treatment include physical therapy to strengthen the pelvic floor muscles, devices that can be fitted to support the vaginal walls, and surgery, which can often be a non-invasive outpatient procedure.
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