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Pelvic Floor Exercises

There is no point in exercising a muscle if you are doing it incorrectly. The key to pelvic floor exercises is to the get them right, but many women don’t know how to do them!

Typically the most common way of exercising incorrectly is by contracting the tummy or thigh muscles, or by bearing down as if emptying their bowel.

Some women may not be able do the exercises due to damage that may have occurred to their muscles i.e. during pregnancy and childbirth. Some women are completely unaware of their pelvic floor muscles.

Women need to be aware that doing pelvic floor exercises incorrectly can make their problems worse – so it is vital to get them right from the beginning.

Pelvic floor exercises

These instructions are recommended by the Association of Chartered Physiotherapists in Womens Health (ACPWH). They can be performed lying down, sitting on a chair or standing up.

Imagine you are trying to stop yourself passing wind and at the same time as trying to stop the flow of urine in mid-stream. The feeling is one of ‘squeeze and lift’, closing up the front and back passages.

Continue the lift for as long as you can (up to 10 seconds), release and rest for several seconds. Repeat as many times as you can (up to a maximum of 10 repetitions at a time). This helps you to build endurance of your muscles. Make sure you are not:

• Tightening your buttocks
• Holding your breath
• Squeezing your legs together

Try to practise these exercises six to eight times a day.

Also practise doing these exercises quickly, i.e. squeeze (one second) and relax (one second) for 10-15 times.

You should not regularly stop your flow of urine just to exercise your pelvic floor. Only do this when you are checking the correct muscles to contract.

Regularly stopping your flow of urine may lead to other complications, such as incomplete emptying of your bladder, bladder infections etc...

The knack

Try to tighten your muscles just before and during activities that increase the pressure in your abdomen i.e. coughing, laughing, lifting etc...This will soon help you to do it without even thinking.

Products to help with pelvic floor exercises

Verbal instruction may not be enough for some women to understand how to do their pelvic floor exercises correctly. There are products available to teach you how do them correctly and can also be used to check the progress of the exercises that are performed. Aquaflex cones and the Pelvic Floor Educator are easy to use and provide effective results.

It’s never too late to start doing pelvic floor exercises, so go on, find your inner strength!