Pelvic floor check for men over 50

Fourteen quick questions about night trips, your stream, dribbling, firmness and timing. You get your pattern and where a training plan should start.

Start the 2-minute check

What the check looks at

The pelvic floor is the sling of muscle under the bladder and around the base of the penis. It helps hold urine in, push the last drops out and keep blood in an erection. Like any muscle, it can get weak with age, long hours of sitting or surgery. Some men have the opposite problem: a floor that stays tight and needs to learn to relax first.

The questions borrow the ideas behind two questionnaires doctors use, the International Prostate Symptom Score for urinary symptoms and the Sexual Health Inventory for Men for erections, written in plain words. Your result is a pattern to train against. It is not a diagnosis.

What the research supports

In a randomised trial of 55 men with erectile problems, three months of pelvic floor exercises with biofeedback improved erectile function compared with lifestyle advice alone.¹ Pelvic floor training is also a standard first step for leakage after prostate surgery. It does not shrink the prostate, and it does not replace a medical check for new or worsening urinary symptoms.

See a doctor first if you have blood in your urine, burning or pain when you urinate, fever, or cannot pass urine. Those need an examination, not an exercise plan.