If you answered a resounding “yes,” you’re in good company. According to a study conducted by the National Institutes of Health, almost 25 percent of women suffer from pelvic floor disorders. Problems include urinary incontinence, fecal incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse.
Thankfully, there are actually exercises that can actually strengthen those pesky pelvic floor muscles – and improve the quality of life.
"A stronger pelvic floor will help reduce your risk of incontinence, improve your sexual health, and boost your core strength and stability," says Amy Stein, founder of Beyond Basics Physical Therapy in New York City and author of “Heal Pelvic Pain”. It is estimated that 70 percent of women who did pelvic exercises daily showed varying degrees of improvement. Also, the risk of pelvic prolapsed is greatly decreased with strong pelvic muscles.
So before we delve into the specific strategies to deal with a weak pelvic floor, we first have to know what a pelvic floor is.
The Pelvic Floor
The pelvic floor basically acts like a sling, holding the bladder, uterus, vagina and rectum in their proper places. It stretches from the back tailbone to the front of the pelvic girdle.
Let’s face it, this body area doesn’t hold any fascination for us until there is a problem like muscle weakness that results in incontinence. Because nerves, ligaments and tissues, as well as the muscles, are in a weakened condition, it affects the healthiness of the bladder, uterus, vagina and rectum. These organs don’t work at top efficiency because they are “out of shape”.