Pelvic floor health matters for men too, especially after prostate surgery or in older age: Here’s what you need to know

Women’s health lags men’s in many ways, but there is one area where the scales are tipped the other way: pelvic health.

“For a long time, we just applied what we knew about women … to men, and that did not work. There are similarities but there are differences,” says specialist pelvic health physiotherapist Dr Shan Morrison.

Women’s pelvic floors receive a lot of care and attention, particularly after childbirth, and rightfully so.

But it’s just as important that men pay attention to their pelvic health.

Why is pelvic health important for men?

The pelvic floor is a group of muscles that line the base of the pelvis, and for men, play an important role in bowel, bladder and sexual function.

Morrison says research into the pelvic floor for people with penises has only started to pick