Why and how to do pelvic floor exerciseWhen you first hear the word pelvic floor exercises, the first thing that pops up in your mind is probably that this something you do after you have had a child. But let me tell you this, there is a lot more to it. It is not only women who has a pelvic floor, men has, too. But in this article I'll focus on women (and I promise I'll write another article about men and their pelvic floor later on).
The pelvic floor are the muscles located around the anus, vagina and urethra. They attach to the tail bone, the pubic bone and the tuber isciadicus (sit bones ), thereby stretching out like a Hammock. They act as an anatomical sling to support your internal pelvic organs such as bladder, vagina/uterus and rectum/intestines. They play a very important role in helping you to stay continent by closing the anus and the urethra and probably they also help stabilizing the pelvis and the lower back , thereby preventing lower back pain. Having a well functioning pelvic floor also improves your sex life. Strong pelvic floor muscles can contribute to stronger and longer orgasms. Perhaps both to your and your partner's joy.
The closing mechanism of the pelvic floor will in a normal functioning pelvic floor happen as a reflex. Normally you don't have to think about contracting the pelvic floor muscles when you laugh, sneeze, cough and so on. It happens automatically.But if the muscles are weak, they might not be able to contract well enough. You might have problems supporting your internal organs and/or suffer from urine and/or fecal incontinence.
What causes the muscle weakness? During a lifetime there are a lot of strain on the pelvic floor. One of the major ones is of course pregnancy and giving birth. Other factors are:
Luckily very often you can do something with your pelvic floormuscles if they for one reason or the other has become weak. You can start exercising them! If you don't use it, you'll loose it, and this goes for the pelvic floor muscles too. No matter how old you are, whether you have problems with your pelvicfloor or not, I advise you to start exercising the muscles. It is never too late or to soon to improve the muscles. How many times and for how long you have to exercise the muscles isindividual, but in general you should go for quality as opposed to quantity.
When you contract the pelvic floor muscles, you should start the contraction from behind (the anus) as if you were trying to hold back a fart. You might get the sensation that the contraction is spreading towards the vagina and the urethra, closing the three openings and that you are lifting the muscles a little bit upwards. Since the muscles are only about one centimeter thick, it cannot be felt as a very strong contraction. Some people say that it is like pressing your lips together just in the opposite end. Hold the contraction for a few seconds in the beginning, let go and repeat it again, as many times as you have a good feeling of a good contraction. Avoid contracting the buttocks, the thighs and the abdominals. Focus on the pelvic floor muscles in the beginning, and then when you get stronger, you can start doing something else while you are contracting the muscles, for instance abdominal exercises, other kinds of exercise or just daily activities such as ironing, peeling potatoes, and so on.
It is a good idea to test yourself. Are you doing it correct, are you using the right muscles? You can test yourself in different ways:
If you have a problem with your pelvic floor, for instance a feeling of heaviness, pain, incontinence, a feeling of something hanging out or actually something hanging out, I strongly advice you to consult your doctor, gynecologist or a physiotherapist with special interest in this field to get some help. In most cases it is possible to do something about the problem one way or the other.
It is also a good idea to see a physiotherapist (who's a specialist in this field) if you just want to make sure you are exercising correctly .
As they say: hold the squeeze till after the sneeze.
Copyright Mette Hansen Mette Hansen is a physiotherapist who specializes in the pelvic floor. She is also a certified Stott Pilates instructor.
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