I would visit another Veterinarian to be on the safe side; stool softeners would help reduce straining and
intra abdominal pressure.
It significantly increases
intra abdominal pressure while providing minimal stability to our individual vertebrae — it is just a pressurized air pocket.
As you work your plank exercises, your Transversus abdominus will be activated, further cinching up your abdominals, redirecting most air and
intra abdominal pressure up under your ribs and to your chest.
If you're not even aware that you have a pelvic floor and you're obsessed with getting a flat belly, you're putting all
this intra abdominal pressure down into your pelvic floor.
This is because the way a crunch is generally performed has the effect of severely increasing
intra abdominal pressure, pushing your organs outwards against or through the gap, and downwards onto the pelvic floor — directions you really don't want your organs forcefully heading.