Hypertonic Pelvic Floor Exercises: Why You Need Them
A hypertonic pelvic floor occurs in both women and men. What is a hypertonic pelvic floor, or do you need hypertonic pelvic floor exercises? Hypertonic dysfunction impacts about 1 in 10 women, and a hypertonic pelvic floor men can also have. The pelvic floor is a group of muscles and, when tight (hypertonic), can lead to a myriad of pelvic floor symptoms. The pelvic floor exercises below are valuable whether your pelvic floor is hypertonic or not.Regarding our muscles and fascia, tightness is not a good thing. Hypertonic pelvic muscles are simply tight. They are not strong and are weak. Our muscles throughout our body function best with an optimal length-tension relationship. Appropriate tone, strength, and elasticity are critical.Living with symptoms is difficult, and there are hypertonic pelvic floor treatment options. This means you can reduce and even eliminate your symptoms, and most won’t need hypertonic pelvic floor medication. I have helped countless people overcome this and train their pelvic floor to relax. So, it is possible. Let’s dive deeper and get you on a path to restoring pelvic hypertonia.
Hypertonic Pelvic Floor Symptoms
The tight pelvic floor symptoms males and females face are common. Some of the most common symptoms are:
Painful Intercourse – In a hypertonic pelvic floor, females often experience pain during penetration and non-penetrative sex. Even a pelvic exam can be painful for women.
Painful Ejaculation – With a hypertonic pelvic floor males, about 38-59% experience this.
Tailbone Pain/Lower Back Pain – The pelvic floor connects to the coccyx (tailbone) and pubic bone, and a tight pelvic floor can cause pain and pulling, especially when sitting.
Chronic Pelvic Pain – Both women and men experience this. Pain in the hips.
Constipation, Bloating, and Difficulty Passing Stool – With hypertonic pelvic floor disorder, the muscles of the pelvic floor have a difficult time relaxing, which can make it difficult and even painful to have a bowel movement.
Vulvar and Urethral Pain – When the pelvic muscles are too tight, it can lead to pain and burning. Some women get recurring UTI infections.
Difficulty Achieving Orgasm or Complete Inability to Orgasm – With hypertonic pelvic floor muscles female symptoms can often be sexual. When women climax, the pelvic floor is rhythmically contracting and relaxing. When the muscles are chronically spasmed, the pelvic floor may not be able to relax enough to orgasm.
What Causes A Hypertonic Pelvic Floor
Some hypertonic pelvic floor causes are:
Chronic or high levels of stress and anxiety
Shallow breathing
Obesity
IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome)
Inappropriate pelvic floor exercises (Kegels make the pelvic floor tight)
History of abuse or trauma
Excessive holding of bladder and bowel movements
Chronic coughing episodes
Heavy lifting
As you can see, there are many causes of tightness. With an overactive pelvic floor, males and females both suffer and often in silence. Some turn to medication for hypertonic pelvic floor muscle dysfunction. Muscle relaxers can provide temporary relief. Please avoid Kegel exercises since they will further tighten the pelvic floor.
Internal pelvic floor physical therapy can help some. Physical therapists can help with trigger points and release tissue. A breathing technique called diaphragmatic breathing (deep breathing, aka belly breathing) is also helpful. With hypertonic pelvic floor female symptoms, it can feel like they overtake your life. Menstrual cramps may be worse because of the spasms. The impact is not just physical but also emotional. It’s the same for men.
Now that we understand what a hypertonic pelvic floor feels like and the causes, let’s go over how to fix a hypertonic pelvic floor.
Relax Your Pelvic Floor: Importance of Hypertonic Pelvic Floor Exercises
Hypertonic pelvic floor muscles are not strong; they are weak. With pelvic floor hypertonia, you want to learn to relax, but you also need to build strength. Exercises for the hypertonic pelvic floor will train the muscles to contract and relax.
I have done countless pelvic floor exercises and always choose ones that utilize eccentric and concentric contractions. Since a woman’s pelvic floor has fourteen muscles, it is essential to do several different exercises to train the muscles in all planes of motion.
The exercises in the video below are incredible, whether you have high-tone pelvic floor dysfunction or low-tone. They are part of our series for restoring proper tone throughout the pelvic floor. Remember, if you have overactive pelvic floor muscles, stay away from exercises that tell you to contract and tighten excessively.
Get into a deep squat behind the stability ball. Stay on your toes and balls of your feet. Wrap around the ball, pressing your pubic bone into the ball to stretch and open up the pelvic floor, thighs, hips, and lower back. Roll forward and back, keeping your pubic bone pressed into the ball.
Exercise 2: Knee to Chest
Lie on your back on a mat. Bend one knee and place your foot on the ground. The other leg is resting on the stability ball. Tilt your pubic bone toward your spine to gently lift your glutes off the mat and go into a pelvic tilt.
The leg on the ball will bend, and you will roll the ball toward your shoulder. The knee will drop towards the floor, and you will roll to the outside of the foot on the ball. Return to the starting position and repeat. Then repeat on the other side.
Exercise 3: Ball Circles
Lie on a mat with your feet resting on an exercise ball. Tilt your pubic bone towards your spine to get into a slight pelvic tilt. Lift one foot straight up towards the ceiling.
Do small clockwise and counterclockwise circles. Then, switch legs and repeat.
This article covers hypertonic pelvic floor dysfunction – what it is, its symptoms in women and men, causes including Kegels and chronic stress, why tight does not mean strong, and three stability ball exercises to relax and restore proper pelvic floor tone. Topics include why Kegel exercises worsen hypertonic pelvic floor, the role of diaphragmatic breathing, when to seek pelvic floor physical therapy, and three exercises – roll-overs, knee to chest, and ball circles. Authored by Courtney Virden, founder of iCORE Method. Keywords: hypertonic pelvic floor exercises, hypertonic pelvic floor, tight pelvic floor symptoms, how to relax hypertonic pelvic floor, hypertonic pelvic floor treatment, overactive pelvic floor, high tone pelvic floor dysfunction, pelvic floor too tight causes.
A hypertonic pelvic floor is a state of chronic excess tension in the pelvic floor muscles in which the muscles cannot relax properly. It affects approximately 1 in 10 women and can also occur in men. Despite the common belief that tightness indicates strength, a hypertonic pelvic floor is actually weak. Muscles and fascia throughout the body function best within an optimal length-tension relationship that allows them to both contract forcefully and relax fully. When this balance is disrupted by chronic tightness, the pelvic floor cannot respond appropriately to sneezing, coughing, intercourse, bowel movements, or any other demand. Hypertonic pelvic floor dysfunction is not a condition that requires lifelong medication – most people can significantly reduce or eliminate symptoms through targeted relaxation and strengthening exercises and diaphragmatic breathing. Keywords: what is hypertonic pelvic floor, hypertonic pelvic floor definition, overactive pelvic floor dysfunction, tight pelvic floor weak not strong, pelvic hypertonia, high tone pelvic floor.
Hypertonic pelvic floor symptoms affect both women and men and span multiple body systems. Bladder symptoms include urinary incontinence, painful urination, frequent urination, and difficulty urinating. Sexual symptoms in women include painful intercourse, pain during pelvic exams, and difficulty achieving or inability to achieve orgasm – because the pelvic floor muscles in chronic spasm cannot complete the rhythmic contraction-relaxation cycle required for orgasm. In men, 38 to 59 percent with hypertonic pelvic floor dysfunction experience painful ejaculation. Musculoskeletal symptoms include tailbone pain, lower back pain, hip pain, and chronic pelvic pain from the pelvic floor’s connections to the coccyx and pubic bone. Gastrointestinal symptoms include constipation, bloating, and difficulty passing stool from the pelvic floor’s inability to relax during bowel movements. Vulvar and urethral pain, burning, and recurring UTI-like symptoms are also common in women. Keywords: hypertonic pelvic floor symptoms women, tight pelvic floor symptoms list, overactive pelvic floor symptoms, hypertonic pelvic floor men symptoms, pelvic floor dysfunction symptoms high tone.
Hypertonic pelvic floor dysfunction has multiple contributing causes. Chronic stress and anxiety are among the most significant – the nervous system’s fight-or-flight response creates systemic muscle tension including in the pelvic floor. Shallow chest breathing that prevents diaphragmatic movement keeps the pelvic floor in a state of chronic tension. Inappropriate pelvic floor exercises including Kegel exercises are a major cause because they add concentric tightening to an already hypertonic system. Additional causes include obesity, IBS, history of abuse or trauma, habitual holding of bladder and bowel movements, chronic coughing, and heavy lifting. Many women develop hypertonic pelvic floor dysfunction gradually without realizing it and attribute their symptoms to unrelated causes. Addressing the underlying causes alongside targeted exercises and fascial work is essential for lasting resolution. Keywords: hypertonic pelvic floor causes, what causes tight pelvic floor, kegels causing hypertonic pelvic floor, stress hypertonic pelvic floor, shallow breathing pelvic floor tension, trauma hypertonic pelvic floor.
Effective hypertonic pelvic floor exercises train the pelvic floor to both contract and relax using eccentric and concentric contractions across all planes of motion. Exercises that only tighten or only focus on contraction are inappropriate for hypertonic dysfunction. The three exercises in this article are ball roll-overs, knee to chest on the ball, and ball circles. Roll-overs use a deep squat with the pubic bone pressed into the stability ball to stretch and open the pelvic floor, hips, and lower back through a forward-backward rolling motion. Knee to chest uses a pelvic tilt from a supine position with one leg on the ball to train the pelvic floor through eccentric movement as the knee drops toward the floor. Ball circles use a supine position with feet on the ball and single-leg circles to train the pelvic floor through rotational movement. Diaphragmatic breathing is essential alongside all three exercises to coordinate the diaphragm and pelvic floor and maximize relaxation. The iCORE Method restorative programs are sequenced specifically to address hypertonic pelvic floor dysfunction. Keywords: stability ball exercises hypertonic pelvic floor, pelvic floor relaxation exercises, hypertonic pelvic floor exercise program, eccentric pelvic floor exercises, iCORE Method hypertonic pelvic floor, roll-over knee to chest ball circles pelvic floor.
Frequently asked questions about hypertonic pelvic floor exercises. What is a hypertonic pelvic floor – a chronically tight overactive pelvic floor that cannot relax properly, affecting about 1 in 10 women and also occurring in men, where tightness indicates weakness not strength. What are the symptoms of a hypertonic pelvic floor – urinary incontinence, painful intercourse, orgasm difficulties, tailbone and lower back pain, chronic pelvic pain, constipation, vulvar burning, and recurring UTI symptoms. What causes a hypertonic pelvic floor – chronic stress, shallow breathing, Kegel exercises, trauma, obesity, IBS, habitual holding, and heavy lifting. Should you do Kegel exercises for a hypertonic pelvic floor – no, Kegels add more tightness and must be completely avoided. How do you fix a hypertonic pelvic floor – through eccentric and concentric pelvic floor exercises across all planes of motion, diaphragmatic breathing, fascial work, and stress reduction, with most people achieving significant improvement without medication or surgery.
