How you run can affect your pelvic floor
Where your foot lands can make a big impact on your pelvic floor when you run. If your foot lands horizontally further away from the centre of gravity which typically is under your hips, then there is more ground reaction force going up to your pelvic floor which can cause you to leak or increase your prolapse symptoms. Sounding too scientific?? What this means is that the further your foot is reaching out in front of you, the more stress is passed up your body to the pelvic floor.
What can you do about this you ask? Well there are a few strategies that you can adopt to change this. First of all, you can try increasing your step rate so you are running at the same speed but are taking smaller steps. This is the easiest alteration you can make.
The other option is to change your running style. If you can imagine the road is moving rather than you are moving while you are running. Instead of pulling the road towards you, you are leaning slightly forward from the ankles so you are landing more under yourself so you can propel yourself by pushing the ground behind you. This could potentially change the pressures to your pelvic floor by half. Hence, causing less leakage or prolapse symptoms.
It is advisable, that if you are running and have any symptoms of leakage or prolapse (heavy or bulging sensation in the genitals) you should seek a pelvic floor physiotherapist appointment. This is not normal and can be treated. At Inspired Physio we can do a running assessment on our treadmill to show you whether you have a heel strike or mid foot strike run, where you body leans when you run and adjust the cadence to make your running style more efficient.
