Pelvic Floor Health

Everyone has a pelvic floor, it's a very important area for so many reasons and it's never too late (or early) to strengthen yours!

So, let's start with the basics... What is the pelvic floor?

Here is an excellent video which gives a great overview of the female pelvic floor and what it does.

Obviously we cannot see our pelvic floor muscles, but in order to strengthen them I believe it helps if we are able to visualise the area as best we can. The video below may help you to do this. Helpfully for some, it also shows the male pelvis anatomy.

 So, now we have refamiliarised ourselves with what the pelvic floor is let's look at why it's so important for our health.

Incontinence

This is the first thing that comes to most peoples mind when thinking about the pelvic floor isn't it? Incontinence.Rarely spoken about but so very common.

A lot of people struggle with incontinence to some degree in their life. This can be a result of pregnancy, labour, illness, obesity, age or genetics.

The muscles of the pelvic floor are those that help to prevent incontinence of bladder and bowel. If they did nothing else then this alone would be a good enough reason to keep these muscles strong!

Sexual function

The pelvic floor muscles are also very important for sexual function. Another thing rarely mentioned in polite company but very relevant to many people's lives is that healthy pelvic floor muscles play an important role in orgasms.

Pelvic floor disorders can lead to painful intercourse for women. The same goes for making tampon insertion, and gynecological exams difficult and painful.

As you can imagine any level of pain or discomfort here can soon lead to a lack of sexual desire which can go on to affect your relationships with partners and your overall mental health.

Prolapse

Pelvic organ prolapse (POP) occurs when the muscles and ligaments in the pelvic floor weaken, causing the pelvic organs to drop down. This can lead to pain, pressure, and (you guessed it) bladder problems.

So, what can we do to build up these vital muscles?

You've likely heard of kegels, where we repeatedly contract then relax the muscles of the pelvic floor. These can be done by both women and men. These are great exercises to do for the majority of people. However, do your research! As with any exercises, these aren't for everyone and if you find that kegels aren't working for you there are other options.

How to do pelvic floor exercises

It's important to do these exercises properly and include short squeezes and long squeezes.

You can feel your pelvic floor muscles if you try to imagine stopping yourself peeing and farting.

1. Squeeze your pelvic floor muscles quickly – try not to pull your tummy in.

2. Hold the squeeze for 2 seconds.

3. Relax the muscles.

4. Repeat 10 times.

Breathe normally and do your best to relax while you’re doing these exercises. Aim to gradually increase the hold to 10 seconds with each squeeze.

Have patience! You may have to do pelvic floor exercises for a few months before you see any benefits.

Other resources that may help

Dr. Bri has a brilliant YouTube channel that covers everything pelvic floor related! If you have questions or specific issues with your pelvic floor, chances are the answer can be found here.

I have also found the video below very helpful. This is a longer session and can be really helpful in getting you to focus on the pelvic floor area. If you are struggling to really 'get' kegels then I'd recommend trying this video first.

There are also aids that you can buy that may help you to build up for floor. If you are struggling to visualise the area, or unsure if you are doing the exercises correctly, you may find an aid helpful. Sometimes having a physical aid may give you the motivation to maintain a daily practice.

As always the price range for such things varies greatly so it's worth having a look around to see what you feel would work for you before investing in something.

There are Kegel weights which work on both the slow twitch and fast twitch muscles of the pelvic floor. This means that you can improve the length of time between going to the toilet AND help to stop those little accidents caused by coughing or sneezing.

You can also buy electronic devices that will show you on a little screen how much your pelvic strength is improving.

If this seems a little boring to you, then you can strengthen your pelvic floor while playing a little game on your phone. Using your pelvic floor muscles to get a bird to fly or collect diamonds. It's amazing what your pelvic floor can do!

Men shouldn't feel left out as there are devices for you too! These can help with incontinence as well as helping to maintain erections and combating premature ejaculation. These can be recommended as part of rehab after prostate & pelvic surgery.

This article has really only touched the surface of pelvic floor health and how it can improve your life.

I hope that you can see that this is an important topic for everyone. Young and old. Female and male. We all have a pelvic floor and it's never too late to show it some love! The rewards are endless.

The pelvic floor muscles are a part of our core muscles. These play a big part in our overall health and wellbeing. Our balance, posture, reduction in pain are all improved with strong, healthy core muscles.

A few minutes a day is all it takes!