Is my sex life over? Why pelvic floor health matters more than you think

It’s not a connection that gets made easily, because no-one really talks about it. But once you understand it, a lot of things start to make sense.

What actually changes, and why

Sexual sensation and satisfaction are closely connected to the health and strength of the pelvic floor. These muscles play a direct role in arousal, sensation and orgasm. When they’re functioning well, everything works as it should.

You may notice:

• Reduced sensation during sex
• Difficulty reaching orgasm, or orgasms that feel less intense than they used to
• Discomfort or pain during penetration
• A feeling of looseness or lack of connection
• A confusing sense that something has changed

These changes can happen after childbirth, or during the hormonal shifts in the transition journey to menopause or andropause (change of sex hormone levels in men). Most people feel embarrassed and are unaware that a multi-faceted approach to treatment is available, such as Functional Medicine and the BetterPelvi rehab chair.

No panic

These changes are not a sign that you’ve lost interest in your partner or in sex. They are a sign that the muscles and tissues involved in sexual function need attention – and that’s something that can be addressed at Signature Health through lifestyle medicine, hormonal rebalancing and pelvic floor rehab like you’ve never experienced before, regardless of your gender.

The pelvic floor is involuntary in many of its functions, which means you can’t simply decide to improve it through effort or willpower alone. Kegel exercises can help to some extent, but they primarily reach the outer and middle layers of the pelvic floor. The deep layer – the one that acts like a supportive trampoline inside the pelvis, stabilising the body and managing internal pressure – is almost impossible to activate through conscious exercise. And it’s the layer that matters most for sexual health.

What BetterPelvi can do

BetterPelvi uses rPMS technology to generate targeted muscle contractions that reach all three layers of the pelvic floor simultaneously. The result is stronger, better-coordinated pelvic floor muscles that function more effectively in every context, including this one.

Some of our patients tell us that they notice improvements in sensation and sexual satisfaction as their programme progresses. It’s one of the outcomes patients are least likely to mention when they book their first appointment – and most likely to mention quietly, and with some surprise, once they start to experience it.

One question we’re asked more than you might think

“Will I have an orgasm on the chair?”

It’s a question people often think but rarely say out loud – and the answer is reassuring. It hasn’t happened with any BetterPelvi patient.

The contractions produced by the chair are quite different from anything associated with sexual stimulation. The sensation feels clinical rather than intimate – a gentle pulsing, a sense of the muscles working. Most people describe it as unusual at first, and comfortable once they’re used to it. Patients who were worried about this before their first session were consistently relieved to find it was nothing like they’d imagined.

We mention it here because if it’s a question in your mind, it’s worth answering honestly so that it doesn’t become a reason not to come.

You don’t have to keep pretending everything is fine

If your sex life has changed and you’ve been quietly accepting it as the new normal, you don’t have to. There are things that can genuinely help, and a conversation is the place to start.

At your BetterPelvi consultation, you can talk through whatever you’re experiencing in complete confidence. Nothing you say will be surprising to us, or handled with anything other than care and discretion.

Your pelvic floor is part of your overall health, and your sexual wellbeing is part of your overall quality of life. Both are worth doing something about.