The Impact of Stress on Your Pelvic Floor

Can’t beat that hypertonic pelvic floor? Doing all the stretches and strengthening to no avail?

Have you stopped to look at the impact of stress in your life?

I know, I think we all get tired of hearing how much stress impacts our physical health, mostly because we feel like as long as we are plugging along through life without too many negative effects, then we’re doing just fine. (Well, that’s how I used to look at it)

But the truth is, stress can sit at the intersection of affecting physical and emotional health with the role cortisol plays in various hormone cascades, inflammation, decreased immune response, and more.

Stress can manifest physically and lead to tension and tightness in the muscles of the pelvic floor. If you’re someone who is prone to headaches and the common neck pain associated with a stressful day, just imagine that same sort of tension but in your pelvic floor. And the whole concept around hypertonicity is that the muscles are constantly activated so they can become less responsive overall as required and eventually become weak from over activation.

But what about our breathing patterns- chronic stress can lead to shallow and rapid breathing, limiting our ability to breathe deeply.

1. This shallow breathing is often associated with the activation of our sympathetic nervous system, which is responsible for the body's "fight or flight" response. The constant activation of the sympathetic nervous system can contribute to increased muscle tension, including the pelvic floor muscles, exacerbating the issues mentioned earlier.
2. Shallow breathing is usually associated with chest breathing, which limits diaphragm movement and therefore minimizes pelvic floor movement. And you know those tension headaches– yep, too much chest breathing, which uses your shoulders, chest and neck to bring air in the body, are related to this.

Here are some ways I have grown to support myself to beat stress:

1. Deep breathing: literally the #1 thing you can do - the diaphragm has a direct connection to the vagus nerve which is activated with deep breathing, specifically exhaling. Box breathing is my go-to when I feel stress rising because it can be done anywhere, anytime.
   
   How to: inhale through the nose to the count of 4, hold the inhale for 4 counts, slowly exhale for 4 counts, hold 4 counts after the exhale. Continue. For those who aren’t new to breathing you can work up to 8 counts for all of the above.
2. Mind-Body practice: things like yoga, tai chi, guided meditation or visualization - help reduce physical tension matched with breathing to improve stress levels.
3. Straighten up: If you imagine a stressful posture, what comes to mind? Probably shoulders to ears, neck craned forward, slouched posture. Not only do they hold tension but these postures don’t allow the stacked alignment of the diaphragm and pelvic floor.
4. Take short movement breaks: don’t let yourself get caught in the idea that if you don’t have 30 minutes to do yoga that it doesn’t count. Set a timer every 50 minutes of a work day to take 5 rounds of box breathing, 5 cat/cows, and 5 seated rotations. You’ll be surprised at the difference.

Non-movement based interventions:

1. Magnesium Craving chocolate when you’re stressed? That’s a signal of magnesium deficiency. I know, I’m a magnesium freak :) my family rolls their eyes when I start talking about- but I swear to you, it’s because it's linked to everything! Magnesium isn’t made in the body, so we need to supplement with it. I did a deep dive on all things magnesium that you can read by clicking here
2. Drink water! Bonus to add electrolytes or a pinch of salt! - When we are stressed the heart rate increases, we are more likely to lose more fluid. If you’re dehydrated, there is data that shows the brain senses this and releases more stress hormones. Plus, sometimes when we get stressed we forget to eat and drink!

But things like stress and alcohol deplete our magnesium stores, which means we need to keep up with it.

On days I feel extra off kilter, I add Thorne magnesium bisglycinate (click here to view) to a drink with some electrolytes as an easy way to support my stress response and stay hydrated.

3. Minimize caffeine: As someone who loves coffee, this one hits hard. But I’ve def felt the ill effects of adding caffeine onto an already stressed system; you always think it will help, but it doesn’t 😣 and the data supports this.
4. Research the use of herbs: Take some time to look into other ways to support stress: Rhodiola and Ashwagandha have been game changers for me in times of stress, as well as tea blends with chamomile and lavender.

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Cheering you on ♥️
- Caroline Packard, DPT