In a new survey of women ages 18-59 conducted by Origin, the country’s leading provider of women’s pelvic floor and whole-body physical therapy, reveals that the generational divide also hits below the belt. “There’s this myth that pelvic floor issues are only impacting women later in life, but the rates among millennials were either higher or as high as Gen X,” says Carine Carmy, Origin’s co-founder and CEO, of the study’s results.
Released yesterday, the company’s study conducted in partnership with market research giant Ipsos, found that 8 in 10 women, many of them millennials, are dealing with pelvic health problems. The study fills a gaping research gap. “The data around women’s health, and especially pelvic health, is really lacking,” adds Carmy. There have also been issues with how that research has been done historically: often the scope of what’s studied has been quite limited and it’s looked at pelvic health over a lifetime, versus a moment in time, which makes our understanding of how it affects women at different stages insufficient. What Origin’s new survey found was that millennials experience higher rates than their Gen X counterparts in bladder areas (like feeling as if they gave to pee again right away and inability to fully empty their bladder); that more than half leak when they cough, laugh or exercise; and that more millennials than Gen Xers are contending with pain during intercourse and an inability to reach orgasm.
The most common cause for repetitive leakage (or stress urinary incontinence) among millennial women is childbirth (both vaginal and C-section deliveries), says Michele McGurk, PT, a Brooklyn-based certified pelvic rehabilitation practitioner and clinical specialist in women’s health. “Scar tissue from muscle and fascia tearing or cutting will change the integrity of the abdominal pelvic canister resulting in abnormal pressure distribution, and an inability to contract the deeper core and pelvic floor muscles to prevent leaking,” says McGurk. Because of that muscle laxity, when you exercise, jump, cough, or sneeze, you’ll also leak. A prior fall onto the pelvis can lead to the same leakage issue and, though research is, unsurprisingly, limited, says New York-based board-certified OB/GYN Heather Irobunda, MD, there may also be a genetic predisposition. “If your mother, sister, or auntie had issues with leakage, you are more likely to have it too,” she says. While strengthening exercises like kegels can be helpful, McGurk says manual treatment conducted by a pelvic floor PT is necessary to restore muscle tone, function, and symmetry first.
The bladder urgency and frequency that millennial women are experiencing can be caused, in part, by irritants like caffeine, alcohol, seltzer water, and chocolate, says McGurk, and also poor water intake and prolonged sitting. “Removing the irritants along with bladder retraining techniques such as diaphragmatic breathing in the moment of an abnormal urge can make a big difference,” says McGurk, adding that the goal is to retrain the bladder to tolerate longer stretches of storing urine. One reason more millennial women are having problems fully emptying their bladder could be a history of UTIs, says McGurk, which can cause scarring. A temporary fix to help fully empty the bladder, she says, is to move the pelvis forward and back 5-10 times while sitting on the toilet.