Tips for Restoring Your Pelvic Floor
During pregnancy and afterwards you may hear people telling you to do your pelvic floor exercises. So what exactly is your pelvic floor and why is important to keep it strong?
Your pelvic floor is a group of muscles which hold up the pelvic organs including your your womb, bowel and bladder. Your may notice weakness in your pelvic floor if you experience urine leaks, difficulty holding in wind or a dragging sensation around the vagina (1).
Fortunately there is lots of support for you if you experience pelvic floor weakness if you know where to look. Here are my top tips:
Start with locating your pelvic floor muscles
Locating your pelvic floor muscles in the first instance can be difficult if you’ve never done it before. You can feel your pelvic floor muscles if you try to imagine stopping yourself peeing and farting (2).
Build pelvic floor exercises into your daily routine
Once you’ve made that pelvic floor connection, incorporate the exercises into your daily routine. The current recommendations are to exercise 3-5 times per day. There are many smartphone apps to aid with this such as the NHS Squeezy App (3).
Find an exercise class with a focus on women’s health
Exercising in general is great for strengthening your pelvic floor but you may get put off standard classes if you start experiencing urine leaks or dragging. Fortunately there are exercise coaches with specific training in women’s health and pelvic floor support. Here is an example of some local and online classes your could try:
Get a referral to a pelvic health physiotherapist
If you’re struggling to locate your pelvic floor muscles, have any signs of prolapse or have on-going urinary incontinence a referral to a specialist physiotherapist can really valuable. A physiotherapist will help you to locate your pelvic floor muscles and assess their strength and tailor exercises to suit your needs. To find out more about what to expect from a specialist pelvic physiotherapist have a look at the link below (4).
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