How Diabetes Can Affect Your Pelvic Health
Did you know that medical conditions like diabetes can affect your pelvic floor? There are a few different ways that this can happen! Since this month is American Diabetes Awareness Month, I thought this would be the perfect time to talk about this!
Diabetes is defined by the CDC as a chronic and long lasting condition that affects how your body turns food into energy. When you have diabetes, your body does not make enough insulin which means too much sugar is in the bloodstream. This can cause serious long term health complications like kidney disease, heart disease, vision loss and poor healing.
There are three main types of Diabetes.
| Type 1 Diabetes | Type 2 Diabetes | Gestational Diabetes |
| Thought to be autoimmune Stops body from making insulin 5 – 10% of cases Usually diagnosed in children, teens and young adults Individuals require insulin | Body doesn’t use insulin well and person has difficulty managing sugar levels 90-95% of cases Usually diagnosed in adults Can be prevented or delayed with lifestyle changes | Issues with blood sugar that develop during pregnancy Can pose a risk to baby during and after pregnancy Leads to larger babies Can put mom at risk for Type 2 diabetes later on in life |
Pelvic Health and Diabetes
- Autonomic Neuropathy is nerve damage that can happen with prolonged elevation of blood sugar levels. This can affect urinary, bowel and sexual function leading to things like incontinence or erectile dysfunction.
- Bladder Irritation from the extra sugar the body excretes in the urine. This sugar can irritate the bladder or be a breeding ground for infection in the urinary tract.
- Kidney Function decreases which means the body can’t clean waste from the system as easily. This means the urine filtering down to the bladder may be full of more toxins which may irritate the bladder to make you void urine more frequently or urgently.
- Medications taken to help manage diabetes can cause diarrhea, which can be problematic by itself. In combination with a possibly weak or uncoordinated pelvic floor due to neuropathy, this can lead to fecal incontinence.
- Increased risk of infection which in regards to the pelvic floor can include yeast infection of the vulva or vagina, UTIs and/or bacterial vaginosis.
- Blood Vessel issues can affect sexual arousal which can lead to erectile dysfunction in individuals with a penis and issues with desire and orgasm in females.
- Excessive Thirst and Increased Urination also come along with diabetes because the body continues to try to flush the extra sugar from the bloodstream. This can become hard to manage for a person with poor pelvic floor muscle control.
I know it sounds like I’m being a real downer here. But it’s important to know that diabetes can affect your health in all the ways and is something worth being screened for regularly. Your doctor can do blood tests like a Fasting Blood Sugar Test, A1C and if necessary a Glucose Tolerance test. If you are in the pre-diabetic range, it is important to take the recommendations of your healthcare practitioner seriously to avoid further complications!
Know that if you are experiencing any of these symptoms, your pelvic floor PT can help you to manage them!
Practically Yours,
Dr. Mo
