Tobacco consumption is a scourge for health, and its impacts on the perineum are too often unknown. Muscle weakening, risks of incontinence, fertility problems… Find out why it is essential to stop smoking to preserve your perineum.
Tobacco, an enemy of the perineum
The pelvic floor muscles, also called perineum muscles, play a crucial role in urinary continence and intimate health.
However, tobacco consumption weakens them considerably:
- There nicotine causes the blood vessels supplying these muscles to narrow, depriving them of oxygen and nutrients.
- There chronic cough smokers causes repeated jerks which put a strain on the perineum.
- THE toxic substances from tobacco alter the quality of muscle tissue.
In the long term, these repeated attacks lead to weakening of the muscles of the perineum, fertile ground for the development ofstress urinary incontinence.
How are smoking and the perineum linked?
Upon entering the lungs, tobacco irritates the bronchi and induces a chronic cough. Repeated coughs act on the perineum, gradually weakening it.
Stopping smoking, in addition to all the other benefits it brings, is one of the health and dietary measures to take to protect your perineum.
In addition to this influence on the lungs, tobacco also irritates the bladder because it is stored there with the urine until the next time you go to the toilet.
Bladder irritation can lead to chronic cystitis which are painful and this can lead to urinary incontinence.
Tobacco and incontinence: a vicious circle
The more weakened the perineum, the more the risks of urinary incontinence increase. And incontinence itself makes the situation worse by putting additional pressure on already weakened muscles.
A real vicious circle then sets in: chronic cough → urinary leakage → efforts to hold back → increased pressure on the perineum 😱
Without forgetting that tobacco directly irritates the bladder, promoting urge incontinence problems (pressing urges).
Fertility and menopause also impacted
Beyond urinary problems, tobacco also harms female fertility by disrupting hormonal production. Smokers therefore have more difficulty conceiving.
There menopause is also advanced by 1 to 2 years in women who have smoked for a long time. THE estrogen deficiency then leads to an acceleration of bone degradation (osteoporosis).
The solution: quit smoking
For preserve your perineum and intimate health, there is no other choice than to quit smoking permanently. Thanks to better vascularization and oxygenation, the muscles will then be able to strengthen themselves.
There perineal rehabilitation (Kegel exercises, postnatal perineal rehabilitation, etc.) will allow to accelerate this muscle recovery process.
Beyond exercises to strengthen the perineum, it is also crucial to adopt a healthy lifestyle to preserve your overall health. Stopping smoking is an important step in this process, not only for the health of the perineum, but also for the general well-being.
For example, the HEYME mutual offers a smoking cessation package to support those who wish stop smoking, an initiative which is also part of a global approach to health and well-being.
