How To Support Your Sexual Wellness After Age 40
Men need a strong pelvic floor; it’s not just a thing women need to pay attention to. These muscles your support bladder and bowel, and also affect sexual function, according to the Mayo Clinic. If your pelvic floor isn’t strong, you may experience erectile dysfunction (ED) and chronic back pain. However, several scientific studies highlighted in the journal Nature show that physical therapy is one very successful option to improve sexual function.
Denise Moon, is a pelvic floor specialist at Pivot Physical Therapy and sees both men and women for chronic issues like urinary leakage or sexual dysfunction. She prescribes them both the same thing; Kegel exercises.
“When it comes to strengthening the pelvic floor, we aim for 10 to 15 Kegels at a minimum three times a day,” Moon said.
How To Do Kegels
To get started, you need to find the right muscles. It’s pretty simple. You don’t need any equipment.
- Tighten the muscles you would use to keep from passing gas or stopping urine midstream.
- Hold for three seconds, but don’t hold your breath.
- Relax for three seconds.
Try this a few times in a row. You can do these anytime, while making breakfast or driving to work. Make it part of your daily routine. Eventually, you’ll notice a difference depending on which issue you are trying to improve, including premature ejaculation.
“General hip strengthening exercises and also core exercises can also be great,” Moon adds.
If you think you might have ED, it’s important to get a full workup from your doctor or a urologist to rule out other issues including cardiovascular or psychological issues and to ensure your overall wellness, according to Moon. ED has many causes including underlying issues like high blood pressure, diabetes, or depression.
Once you know what your dealing with, you might benefit from physical therapy, which is a lot like going to a gym and working with a trainer. A physical therapist can help your form to make sure you’re doing your exercises correctly so that you get the most bang for your buck from the exercises and improve your symptoms.