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”.
Childbirth is another common reason for a weak pelvic floor. If you do pelvic strengthening exercises soon after childbirth, it may prevent stress incontinence later.
Other reasons for a weakened pelvic floor involve constipation, inactivity, coughing that goes on for too long, and growing old.
Strong pelvic muscles will go a long way. For starters, they can eliminate incontinence. This leads to higher satisfaction with sexual activity. These muscles also stabilize connecting joints and act as a blood and lymphatic pump for the pelvis.
Strategies for a Stronger Pelvic Floor
One of the most basic, primary things you can do is learn to isolate your pelvic floor muscles. The Kegel exercises became known by gynecologist Arnold Kegel, MD in 1948. They are a good way to learn to isolate the important pelvic muscles.
Kegel Exercise
The easiest way to get a sense of what muscles are involved in doing pelvic floor exercises is through the Kegel technique. It involves stopping and starting your urine flow to feel which muscles you should be focusing on. Ideally, each rep should last about ten seconds. Keep in mind this is difficult to accomplish this at first. So do what you can, hold your urine for three or four seconds and over time, increase your hold time. Do this three or more times daily and you will feel a confidence in your muscle shape.
Another way to practice is to imagine squeezing and holding a pebble in your vagina. There are also small weights or cone-shaped weights you insert into your vagina. The object is to hold and squeeze these weights for the prescribed time.
Other Exercises for the Pelvic Floor
The Kegel isn’t the sole pelvic exercise out there. Others include:
Lie flat on your back with your knees bent so your feet are about shoulder width apart. Now with your pelvis, lift up to make a straight line from your shoulder to your knees. Hold for 10 seconds, then relax in the first position. You should be able to feel your abdomen stretch with the associated muscles tightening.
Then there’s the old wall squat. Stand against a wall with your shoulder-width feet out about a foot. Slowly lower yourself against the wall until you look like you are sitting in a chair. You will feel the agony of working muscles if you do this one right. Hold for up to 10 seconds and then rise to a standing position. Do you feel the burn? Good, you are supposed to.
One exercise is a two-parter but well worth the extra time. Sit in a chair with your legs slightly apart. Pretend that you are trying to stop from passing gas from your anus. Squeeze the muscle right above the entrance to the anus. Don’t move your butt or legs. Then relax. Did you feel some little movement in that muscle? If not, try it again but focus on the feel of the muscles moving.
Second part, this is for the vagina. Now think about having to urinate. Imagine how it feels to stop the stream. You will feel slightly different muscles involved with this exercise. The muscles you are working should be in front of the muscles you used to stop passing gas. If you are not sure you are using the correct muscles, insert two fingers into your vagina and squeeze. You should feel a gentle squeezing of your fingers. These are the right muscles.
These exercises should be done daily, multiple times, and with conviction. A few hard grabs by the vagina is worth more than ten half-hearted efforts. If there isn’t improvement within three to six months, see your doctor. He or she should be able to further advise you for your pelvic floor health.
Other Strategies to Tighten that Muscle
Biofeedback is very useful for those who have a difficult time isolating the correct pelvic floor muscles. A device is inserted into the vagina and the patient concentrates on squeezing the correct muscles. When she is successful in moving the right muscles, a tone or some kind of indicator sounds. After time, muscle memory will kick in and the patient will be confident in her muscle manipulation.
There’s another technique to stimulate the correct muscles. It is electrical stimulation of the pelvic floor muscles to contract and release the muscles so they get a workout. The patient can learn to feel which muscles are contracting and relaxing and which ones are supposed to be involved with the exercise.
As you can see, pelvic floor exercises are not easy or particularly fun but they do play an important role in your lower abdominal health. And for women who just birthed a child, you will get in sexual shape faster if you do these exercises.