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Pelvic floor issues are more common in women than men, however, there are still quite a lot of men that develop a form of pelvic floor dysfunction. About 16% men of are reported to have pelvic floor dysfunction (PFD). Which is why we're going to cover this topic today.
More specifically we want to talk about prostate massage for your pelvic floor and find out if it's something that works or is worth doing. We'll take a look at what professionals are saying, studies are showing, and give you some guidance on what to consider when talking about your pelvic floor and prostate health this prostate cancer awareness month!
Before we dive into prostate massage, let's first make sure that we have a full understanding of the pelvic floor and prostate. As having a full understanding is important when talking about this topic.
Your Pelvic Floor
The pelvic floor is the group of muscles that are around the floor of the pelvis. They create almost like a swing or hammock form. The pelvic floor muscles are located between the pubic bone and tailbone. The base of the penis sits in front of these muscles, and the scrotum sits behind them.
The pelvic muscles, along with other tissues, hold the organs in place so they function properly. The organs located in the pelvis area are the bladder, urethra, intestines, and rectum.
For men, the pelvic floor muscles support the bladder and rectum. These muscles also help to control urine flow and help make sex enjoyable by providing sensation and allowing for ejaculation.
Your pelvic floor muscles are essentially responsible for:
Supporting your bladder, prostate, anus, bowel, and rectum
It allows you to squeeze or relax when you pee, poop, or relieve gas
It helps you get an erection through blood flow and ejaculate during sex
As you can see, your pelvic floor plays a crucial part in your body's day functions.
Within your pelvic floor, you have two main layers of muscle, the levator ani, and the coccygeus.
Out of the two muscles, levator ani is more prominent and important. It consists of three different muscle parts: pubococcygeus, puborectalis, and iliococcygeus. This muscle wraps around your entire pelvis and it is responsible for supporting your pelvic organs.
The coccygeus is the smaller muscle component in your pelvic floor muscles and is located toward the back of your pelvis. It plays a minor role in supporting your pelvic organs and maintaining continence.
Now that we have a better understanding of your pelvic floor, where it is, and what it's responsible for, let's talk about the prostate.
Your Prostate (For Men)
The prostate is a small gland located in front of the rectum and below the bladder. It covers the urethra, which takes urine from the bladder to the outside of the body. It's fairly small, around the size of a walnut. The prostate's main job is to produce fluid that helps carry sperm out of the body during ejaculation.
The easiest way to access the prostate is to insert a lubed finger into the rectum and feel for the gland. It is located about two inches in and feels like a bulbous, smooth, and fleshy structure compared to the rest of the rectal tissue.
It's important to know that your rectal tissue is very thin and so carefully doing this is critical as you don't want to tear anything.
There are many issues that men can develop due to issues with the prostate, including prostatitis. Prostatitis is a condition that results when the prostate becomes inflamed and leads to approximately 2 million doctor's visits each year in the United States.
This can cause a wide range of symptoms, such as pain in the pelvis, difficulty urinating, and even erectile dysfunction. In some cases, prostatitis can be quite serious and may require treatment with antibiotics or surgery.
Now that we have a full understanding of your pelvic floor and your prostate, let's talk about prostate massage and your pelvic floor.
Prostate Massage for Your Pelvic Floor
Prostate massage isn't anything new. If fact, doctors were using prostate massage to help with pelvic floor issues as a medical therapy up until the 20th century.
Prostate massage had thought to commonly help treat prostatitis or inflammation of the prostate in several ways:
It can allow the expression of the prostatic secretions
It can relax your pelvic floor. Since you can have high stress or elevated tone in your pelvic floor, relaxing it can help relieve that pain.
If biofilm was created by bacteria, antibiotics may not be able to treat it. Pelvic floor massage can help to break it up and improve circulation so that antibiotics can work.
However, more research needs to be done to actually prove any of those. In a study done on 81 men, they found that prostate massage did not improve chronic pelvic pain syndrome through antibiotics in the patients.
At this point, prostate massage has commonly been abandoned as a way to help chronic pelvic pain syndrome.
With that being said, although it may not help antibiotics treat issues dealing with your pelvic floor, prostate massage can help in other areas. Which we will talk about here in just a moment.
First let's quickly touch on the connection between your prostate, pelvic floor, sexual function, and ED.
Your Pelvic Floor, Sexual Function, & Erectile Dysfunction
There is a clear connection between the pelvic floor and erectile dysfunction. There are two main ways that your pelvic floor affects your sexual function and can lead to ED.
The first is if the pelvic floor muscles are weak. If the muscles in that area are too weak, it can lead to problems with getting and maintaining an erection. This is because these muscles are responsible for supporting the penis. Without their help, getting an erection may not be possible.
The second reason has to due with blood flow. As you know, erections need strong blood flow, and without it... well, you're not going to get hard at all. Your pelvic floor helps to keep blood flowing to the area. When they are weak, it can lead to difficulty achieving and maintaining an erection.
Talking about your pelvic floor can be a great way to start opening up the conversation about erectile dysfunction. It's a topic that a lot of people don't feel comfortable discussing, but it's important to do so if you're trying to find a solution.
If your partner is struggling with erectile dysfunction, there's a good chance that the pelvic floor is involved. Which leads us to treating issues with your pelvic floor through prostate massage.
Ok, now let's talk about what prostate massage is good for and show some studies backing those claims up.
Prostate Massage May Help with Erectile Dysfunction
Some doctors and practitioners will recommend prostate massage so that you produce prostate fluid. This process, also known as prostate milking, can be used sometimes for sexual arousal.
On top of sexual arousal, prostate massage also helps with ED by increasing blood flow to the penis. This increased blood flow can help to improve erectile function and help men to achieve and maintain an erection.
In a study, men underwent a massage treatment for three to four times per week for at least 4 weeks. During the study, they found that prostate massage was shown to be effective as a treatment for prostatitis, which as we mentioned earlier is one of the many causes of ED.
Although there is much more research that is needed, a study published by The Open Urology & Nephrology Journal found that 46% of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) patients involved discovered relief after performing at-home prostate massage therapy.
Published by Online Library, a trusted Source found that a man who used prostate massage to recover from a prostate infection was able to quickly regain his sexual function.
Lastly, a study from 2006 found that routine prostate massage integrated with medications can also help alleviate symptoms of an enlarged prostate.
So, although there isn't much data or studies we have yet that directly show that prostate massage helps treat issues with your pelvic floor, we do have evidence and studies showing that it can help in other ways.
Again, more research needs to be done, but there are benefits to regular prostate massage for some areas of sexual function. As well as sexual pleasure, which we didn't touch on today.
Prostate massage can be extremely pleasurable for some men during sex. With proper massage, it can increase blood flow to the penis as well as increase pleasure during ejaculation.
One last note on this subject. Although this article mainly focused on men's health directly correlated to the pelvic floor and prostate, it's important to note that prostate massage can be helpful and enjoyable for anyone. Whether you're a man or woman.
Is Prostate Massage Effective in Treating ED
Not only is a healthy prostate crucial for sexual intercourse, but it is also key for men’s overall health. If your prostate isn't functioning properly, you may experience a form of erectile dysfunction.
Some people are using prostate massage therapy to help treat ED, however, there is more research data needed before we can claim that it's effective. Although we do know that prostate massage can help with sexual pleasure, increased blood flow, and treatment for prostatitis, which all have close correlations with ED.
Treating Sexual Decline Issues With The Phoenix
Whether prostate massage is a method or additional option in helping you with sexual decline, The Phoenix is something anyone experiencing performance issues should consider using to help sexual health.
The Phoenix is a ground-breaking device that offers men a new and exciting way to improve their sex life.
It is the world's first at-home acoustic wave therapy device that emits low-intensity acoustic waves into your penis. This alternative treatment is a great option for men who are looking for an alternative to clinical wave treatment.
If you guys are interested in learning more about it and seeing a full review of the Phoniex after using it for 1-year, we've created an in-depth blog on it. You can also check out more about it directly on The Phoenix website.
As always, if you guys have something to add, have further questions, or clarification on this subject, send us a message or leave a comment down below.