Why You Need a Custom Pelvic Floor Exercise Program

by Pelvic Floor MusclesPelvic Floor WeaknessResources and Apps

If you are considering starting a pelvic floor exercise program, we congratulate you! Your pelvic floor muscles, like any other muscles in your body, need exercise on a regular basis. Doing correct exercises for your pelvic floor can help with pelvic conditions like women’s urinary incontinence, pelvic organ prolapse, and decreased sexual sensation.

But did you know that not just any pelvic floor exercise program will do? You actually need a program that is customized to your pelvic floor muscle… more specifically, the level of fitness of your pelvic floor muscles. Here’s why…

Why You Need a Custom Program for Your Pelvic Floor
Not having a customized exercise program is like going to the gym and starting a weight-lifting program… with whatever weights happen to be on the bench press bar. Not having a customized program may mean that you are doing pelvic floor exercises that are either too easy or too difficult for your current level of pelvic floor fitness.

What happens when you do pelvic floor exercises not suitable to your current level of pelvic floor fitness?

1. Too Easy
When you use an exercise program that is too easy for your level of pelvic floor fitness, you will not get much benefit from doing these exercises. Exercise fitness studies indicate that you need to exercise your pelvic floor muscles at maximum intensity for your current level of fitness for a short period of time to gain maximum results. Doing many repetitions at a lower intensity will not yield beneficial results.

2. Too Difficult
On the other hand, if you attempt to do exercises that are too difficult or too intense for your current level of pelvic fitness, you may end up engaging the wrong muscles. Studies show that when women attempt to do pelvic floor contractions too intense for their level of pelvic floor muscle fitness, these women tend to engage their buttock or inner thigh muscles instead of their pelvic floor muscles.

Designing a Program “Just Right for You
Like Goldilocks, having a pelvic floor exercise program that is “just right” for your level of fitness is the key to success. When you exercise your pelvic floor muscles at your current maximum level of intensity, for just 15 minutes per day or less, you will gain the maximum benefit.

How do you know what level of exercise is just right for you? You need to use a program based on these factors:

  • strength of your current pelvic floor muscles contraction
  • length of time you can hold a correct pelvic floor muscle contraction
  • number of repetitions you can do correct pelvic floor muscle contractions

A correct pelvic floor muscle contraction is one that engages only your pelvic floor muscles, not overflow muscles such as your inner thigh or buttock muscles.

To design the perfect at-home pelvic floor exercise program for your current level of fitness, first test your level of fitness, then design a program based on that level of fitness. For complete instructions on how to test yourself and design your custom program, check out our book. We give you complete step-by-step instructions for testing and designing, plus advanced directions on how to integrate these exercises into your daily life easily and with maximum results!

If you enjoyed this post, we invite you to check out our book, leave a comment, contact us, download our free ebook, or interact with us on Twitter and Facebook.

 

11 Reasons to Focus on Your Pelvic Health

by Pelvic Floor MusclesPelvic Floor WeaknessUrge IncontinenceUrge Urinary IncontinenceUrinary IncontinenceWomen's Healthcare

While some women wonder, “What’s the big deal with pelvic health?” other women worry over the question, “What’s up down there?” Women at both ends of the spectrum are wondering whether pelvic health is a problem that should concern them or not. The answer? Yes. Absolutely. Without a doubt.

You may be surprised, but women’s pelvic health isn’t just about women’s pelvic health. Your pelvic health is actually linked to your overall level of health at all levels–physical, mental, and emotional. If you don’t have pelvic health, you are putting your overall health on the line. That is why in this article we give you 11 reasons you might want to focus on your pelvic health. You may be surprised at how much your pelvic health affects the rest of your life!

1. Healthy habits for your pelvic floor make you healthier all over
Surprise, surprise! The habits that lead to pelvic health are also the habits to contribute to your general health. Examples include weight loss, smoking cessation, moderating drinking, and maintaining healthy digestion to avoid constipation.

2. Having pelvic health means you can be social, and studies show that being social is healthy
According to a feature article by WebMD–read the full article HERE, being social is healthy for you:

“Conducted by the Centre for Ageing Studies at Flinders University, the study followed nearly 1,500 older people for 10 years. It found that those who had a large network of friends outlived those with the fewest friends by 22%.”

Yet, if you are afraid to go out with friends because you might experience urinary urgency or a leakage accident, how can you be social? That alone is a good reason to focus on pelvic health!

3. Good pelvic health may mean a return to sex, which is also good for you
A surprisingly large percentage of women with urinary incontinence stop having sex because they leak urine during intimacy. Yet good sex is good for you. Studies show that women with higher sexual satisfaction also report a higher sense of life purpose. Sexually satisfied women are also reported to be happier than unsatisfied women, and women who look for ways to have a better sex life tend to get what they seek. So if good sex is good for you, and good pelvic health leads to good sex, focusing on your pelvic health becomes pretty important, right?

4. Pelvic health isn’t difficult to achieve even if you currently have pelvic issues
The Agency of Healthcare Research and Policy reports that for 8 out of 10 women with urinary incontinence, symptoms can be improved. Clinically, we have seen that many women can even cure their symptoms. While you may find that discussing your symptoms of poor pelvic health is embarrassing, you will probably be surprised at the ease of the solutions your medical professional can offer you. If you take the first step–seeking help–which is the most difficult, you’ll find the rest to be an easy slide!

5. Humiliation isn’t healthy!
This one doesn’t really need an explanation, does it? If you are constantly humiliated by leakage accidents, the fear of a leakage accident, the ever-present search for restrooms, and the bother of urinary urgency, then you’ve got a lot on your mind… none of which is relaxing, healthy, or contributing to your happiness.

6. Insomnia from nocturia (getting up to go at night) isn’t healthy
Getting a solid chunk of sleep each night is important to many factors of health, including memory, longevity, decreased chronic inflammation, and much more (read the full article HERE).

7. There are lots of approaches to try before going “under the knife”
One of the reasons women with urinary incontinence don’t seek help is that they are afraid their doctor will suggest surgery–right away. This simply isn’t true for most women, especially if they seek help as soon as the first symptoms appear. There are many conservative therapies to assist women with symptoms of poor pelvic health, including pelvic floor retraining (at home or with the help of a physical therapist), lifestyle changes such as smoking cessation, diet modification, timed fluid intake, weight loss, acupuncture, and more. Read a full list in THIS BOOK.

8. If you opt for surgery, success rates are high
If you are one of the women for whom surgery is the best option, you will be relieved to hear that most surgeries for women’s pelvic health have a very high success rate, and the majority are minimally-invasive. For a discussion about the most common surgeries related to women’s pelvic health, read the article HERE.

9. Your pelvic muscles count, too, even if they are out of sight!
The old adage “out of sight, out of mind” is very true when it comes to women’s pelvic health. Because women can’t see their pelvic muscles the way they can see their biceps, they tend to think they are fit all over, even if their pelvic muscles are not! However, you can develop healthy pelvic floor muscles. You just need to get into the Kegel habit. Read about how to gain the necessary knowledge, skill, and desire HERE.

10. Poor pelvic health is not normal at any age
So many women simply accept urinary urgency, leakage, or frequency as they age, thinking, “Oh, it’s just a normal part of aging.” Guess what? It isn’t! Poor pelvic health is not normal at any age. If you experience symptoms of urinary incontinence or other signs of poor pelvic health, get help now. Not sure about the state of your pelvic health? Read these stories to find out more–click HERE.

11. You will be a happier woman
Healthy women are happy women. It is really as simple as that! If poor pelvic health is keeping you from being happy, check out the book that may change your life HERE.

If you enjoyed this post, we invite you to check out our book, leave a comment, contact us, download our free ebook, or interact with us on Twitter and Facebook.

Ladies: Read This if You Wonder What’s Up Down There

by Mixed Urinary IncontinenceOveractive BladderPelvic Floor WeaknessPelvic Organ ProlapsePOPStress Urinary IncontinenceUrge IncontinenceUrge Urinary Incontinence

Sometimes there is nothing like another person’s story to really motivate and empower us to take action for our own health. If you are concerned that you may have women’s urinary incontinence–meaning you have symptoms like urinary urgency, frequency, or leakage–the stories in this article may interest you. These stories may also interest you if you feel like something is falling out “down there”… or if your bedroom encounters have gone from “hot to not”!

If you wonder, “What IS up down there?” then read on… these stories may resonate with you plus motivate you to get the help you need!

Are You Like Jane?
Jane, in her mid-thirties, loves how kickboxing is helping restore her figure after she gave birth to her adorable son. What she doesn’t love is the amount of urine she leaks every time she kicks or boxes. In fact, the leakage happens so often that she is thinking of stopping her exercise program altogether.  Here’s what Jane doesn’t know.  She has stress urinary incontinence (also called stress incontinence), the most common form of urinary incontinence, which affects 26 percent of women over age 18 at some point in their lives. Childbirth is a major cause of stress incontinence. Most women with urine leakage wait more than six years to get help. Yet research shows that urinary incontinence in 8 out of 10 women with the condition can be improved. How long will Jane wait?

Jane solved her problem. Find out how by clicking HERE.

Are You Living Karen’s Story?
Sixty-two-year-old Karen has bathrooms on the brain. She has to urinate 10 to 12 times a day and a few times at night. Sometimes she feels a sudden urge and doesn’t make it to the bathroom in time–she then leaks a large volume of urine. Karen has to carry several changes of clothing with her and buys adult diapers in bulk. Her situation is bad, but her embarrassment about seeking help is worse, so she just keeps coping with the condition by herself.

This is what Karen should know. Karen is suffering from the most severe form of overactive bladder, called urge urinary incontinence. About 17 percent of women in the United States have urge incontinence, especially women 50 and older, but less than half seek help. Getting help is important, because about 60 percent of women with urge urinary incontinence also experience depression (though the two conditions are not always related). Help is also important because 70 percent of women with urge incontinence report symptom improvement with conservative treatments like medication or physical therapy.

Discover how Karen stopped leaking urine by reading her story HERE.

Does Jo’s Story Ring a Bell?
Jo, age 40 and very fit, faces a complex situation: she has the same symptoms as Jane and Karen, meaning she leaks urine when she exercises or laughs as well as because of sudden urges. She’s had symptoms for only 11 months but is definitely going to ask her doctor for help, even though she feels embarrassed. Her symptoms are frequent and serious.  What Jo will learn when she talks to her doctor: Jo’s doctor will tell her that she has mixed urinary incontinence, which is a combination of stress incontinence and urge incontinence or overactive bladder. Women with this mixed form of incontinence are more likely to seek help earlier because their symptoms tend to be worse and more frequent than symptoms of women who experience only stress or urge incontinence / overactive bladder. Mixed incontinence has a much stronger negative effect on quality of life, and women with this condition spend much more on laundry bills and adult diapers.

Jo was able to solve both types of urinary incontinence by using the steps outlined HERE.

Do You Share Susan’s Pain?
At age 68, Susan is suddenly experiencing low-back pain, chronic constipation, and the feeling that she is sitting on a ball. Luckily, she already has an appointment with her ob-gyn in a few weeks. She hopes her doctor will tell her what’s happening in her pelvic region.  What Susan’s ob-gyn will tell her at her appointment: Susan feels like she’s sitting on a ball because her pelvic organs have literally popped out of place. She has pelvic organ prolapse, in which one or more of her pelvic organs have moved out of place and now bulge into her vagina.  Susan’s ob-gyn will tell her that she is among the 3 to 6 percent of women who have severe pelvic organ prolapse, and will most likely need surgery to correct the problem. Surprisingly, between 43 and 76 percent of women have some degree of prolapse without knowing it and should be taking preventive action.

Susan was able to solve her pelvic organ prolapse issues with help from her doctor. Find out what Susan did HERE.

Do You Have “Not So Hot” Bedroom Encounters Like Cherie?
At age 42 Cherie is supposed to be in her sexual prime, at least according to the latest women’s magazines, but she feels far from sexy. With two children and a busy career, she considers sex to be at the bottom of her list. Further, sex with her husband just isn’t very pleasurable anymore because Cherie doesn’t feel much sensation in her sexual organs. She avoids sex as much as possible, but her husband is becoming upset and worried. She knows she needs to do something to resolve the situation, but she doesn’t know what.

How Cherie can solve her sexual problem: More than 40 percent of women are dissatisfied with their sex lives, and many of these women have decreased sexual sensation, which is what Cherie is experiencing. This decrease in sensation is often due to weak pelvic floor muscles, and the good news is that these muscles can easily be strengthened with pelvic floor muscle exercises. Studies show that women who do pelvic floor exercises reach orgasm more easily and experience more sexual desire. Cherie can improve her symptoms by following a simple pelvic floor exercise program, such as one from her physical therapist or the at-home program in chapter 7 in our book.

Cherie changed her bedroom encounters from “not, back to hot”… find out how by reading her story HERE.

Read, Plan, Do
Once you have read through these women’s’ stories, you should have a pretty good idea of what is going on with your pelvic health. Then make a plan. Will you call your family doctor for a referral to a urologist or will you visit your ob/gyn? Will you stop in and visit with your family doctor first?

Whatever you plan that takes you closer to solving your pelvic health issues is good. Then you must DO. A plan without action is not a very useful plan. So once you have your plan, do it! Take action for your own pelvic health. You will be surprised how much your quality of life will be affected by improving your pelvic health!

If you enjoyed this post, we invite you to check out our book, leave a comment, contact us, download our free ebook, or interact with us on Twitter and Facebook.

The Importance of Pelvic Floor Health

by KegelsPelvic Floor MusclesPelvic Floor WeaknessPelvic Organ ProlapsePessaryPOPStress Urinary Incontinence

Guest Post by Linda Grayling

A healthy pelvic floor serves as the supporting structure for the pelvic organs, which include the uterus, bladder and rectum. It supports the weight of the baby during pregnancy, and plays a role in core strength and posture. A strong pelvic floor can make childbirth and recovery easier, enhance sexual sensation, and help prevent pelvic floor disorders.

The extra pressure placed on the pelvic floor from supporting the baby throughout pregnancy and the strain of delivery can weaken this support system. This can lead to pain during or the inability to have sex, urinary incontinence, trouble with bowel movements, and prolapsed or displaced pelvic organs.

High-impact activities, heavy lifting, chronic coughing, frequently straining to produce a bowel movement, obesity, and smoking can also contribute to a weakened pelvic floor and increase the chance of developing a pelvic floor disorder.

Stress Urinary Incontinence
Stress urinary incontinence (SUI) is a common pelvic floor disorder that affects at least a third of all women at some point in their lives. It occurs when the stress from normal activities–like exercise, coughing or sneezing, laughing and even sex–triggers accidental urine leakage.

Many women experience minor issues with bladder control every now and then, but when incontinence becomes more frequent or interferes with daily life, they should talk to a doctor. Incontinence is directly related to the strength of the pelvic floor. Weakened pelvic floor muscles increase the odds of developing SUI.

Performing Kegel exercises daily can resolve symptoms of incontinence in just a few weeks. Not only will women stop experiencing embarrassing leakage during sex, but Kegels also heighten sexual sensation and help achieve orgasm.

Pelvic Organ Prolapse
Pelvic organ prolapse occurs when the pelvic floor is no longer strong enough to hold the pelvic organs in their proper place, allowing them to sag against the vaginal walls–and in severe cases, protrude from the vaginal canal. Prolapse occurs in half of all childbearing women, but is frequently without symptoms, making it a non-issue.

For women who do experience symptoms, they can include a pulling feeling or pelvic pressure, low back pain, problems with bowel movements and urinary problems, pain during sex, and unusual spotting or bleeding. Symptoms can worsen over time.

Women should always try conservative treatments before considering surgery. Strengthening the pelvic floor throughout pregnancy and after childbirth is especially important in avoiding pelvic organ prolapse later in life.

Physical therapists can offer personal instruction on locating, isolating and strengthening the pelvic floor, and may employ biofeedback therapy, pelvic massage or the use of vaginal weights. Doctors may also recommend the use of a vaginal pessary to keep pelvic organs in place.

In recent years, many women have had corrective surgical procedures using transvaginal mesh to strengthen the pelvic floor. The complications associated with transvaginal mesh are not always reversible, and include organ perforation, mesh erosion and the need for revision surgery.

These complications have prompted the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to issue a warning stating that most cases of prolapse can be corrected without mesh and that mesh can expose patients to greater risk.

Women should ask their doctors about all of their surgical repair options, which can include using the patient’s own tissues or biologic products.

Linda Grayling writes for Drugwatch.com. Linda has a number of professional interests, including keeping up with the latest developments in the medical field. Join the Drugwatch community on our Facebook page to find out more.

If you enjoyed this post, we invite you to check out our book, leave a comment, contact us, download our free ebook, or interact with us on Twitter and Facebook.

 

 

Weight Loss: A Conservative Therapy for Women’s Urinary Incontinence That Really Works!

by General Urinary IncontinencePelvic Floor MusclesPelvic Floor WeaknessUrinary Incontinence

This blog is part 9 of an 11 article series of 11 New Year’s resolutions that actually work and WILL improve your pelvic health. Get the full list of all 11 New Year’s resolutions HERE.

Weight loss is the number one New Year’s Resolution that people make … and has been for years! And yet, after the first month of the year, only about eight percent of the people who made this (or any other) New Year’s Resolution are still sticking with it. While “falling off the wagon” in terms of New Year’s Resolutions isn’t a big deal for a lot of people, not sticking to a weight loss or weight management program can be a huge deal for women with urinary incontinence. Why? Because weight loss and management is a tried and true conservative therapy that can help alleviate symptoms of women’s urinary incontinence, including urinary urgency, frequency, and leakage.

Why Weight Loss Works for Urinary Urgency and Other Symptoms
For overweight women with urinary urgency and other symptoms of urinary incontinence, every extra pound above the pelvis puts pressure on the bladder and pelvic organ. Since the bladder is shaped like–and acts like–a balloon, all that extra pressure squeezes the bladder, resulting in urine leakage, frequency, and that “urge to go.” That’s the bad news.

Now for the good news: even a slight amount of weight loss can result in a significant reduction of urinary incontinence symptoms. For instance, one study showed that when overweight women lose even eight percent of their body weight, they experienced a 47 percent reduction in leakage accidents. Another study showed that a 5 to 10 percent loss of weight was just as effective as other conservative (non-surgical) therapies. No wonder weight loss is considered “a first line of therapy” for women’s urinary incontinence!

What to Do if Weight Loss Seems Difficult
Women with urinary incontinence find themselves in an odd catch-22 when it comes to weight loss. See if you recognize the following scenario. On the one hand, your doctor has told you that losing weight will reduce urinary urgency, frequency, and leakage accidents. This gives you motivation to eat healthier and exercise so you can lose weight. On the other hand, you leak urine when you exercise, which causes you to feel totally embarrassed. In turn, you tend to avoid exercise since you hate that “wet pants” look every time you try to get moving. Finally, all this contradiction in your life leads to a little bit of depression … so you reach into your fridge and grab that pint of ice cream to help you feel better. The overall result of this vicious cycle? Weight gain rather than weight loss!

We see this vicious cycle in our women’s pelvic health practices all the time. If you find yourself caught in this vicious cycle, don’t despair. You can lose weight even if you currently have urinary incontinence. Here are our two best recommendations to help you out:

1. Sign up for a well-known successful weight loss program that is known to work. If you’re not sure which programs work, check with your friends or do some research on the internet. This kind of program will keep your diet healthy and “on track,” so that you can avoid emotional eating.

2. Check out these exercise tips designed especially for women with urinary incontinence. These seven tips will help you avoid urinary urgency, leakage, and frequency while you exercise, and get you on your way to weight loss.

We know that losing weight isn’t the easiest task in the world, especially if you have urinary incontinence. At the same time, we have seen so many women lose weight and maintain a healthy weight, so we know that weight loss is possible. You can do it … we know you can. Just start with the first step, and then never look back!
If you enjoyed this post, we invite you to check out our book, leave a comment, contact us, download our free ebook, or interact with us on Twitter and Facebook.

 

How Much Water Should You Drink if You Have Women’s Urinary Incontinence?

by GeneralGeneral Urinary IncontinencePelvic Floor WeaknessWomen's Healthcare

This blog is part 5 of an 11 article series of 11 New Year’s resolutions that actually work and WILL improve your pelvic health. Get the full list of all 11 New Year’s resolutions HERE.

Good question. The answer? It depends …

Many women with urinary incontinence think that they can decrease urinary leakage by severely cutting back on the amount of water they drink. Sadly, this doesn’t work. In fact, drastically reducing water intake can actually worsen symptoms of urinary incontinence. Drinking too little water leads to dehydration, which can worsen urinary incontinence symptoms for two reasons:

  1. lack of fluid concentrates the urine–this can irritate the bladder
  2. concentrated urine has a stronger odor, making leakage accidents more noticeable

So how much water should you drink to avoid worsening your symptoms? First, don’t operate under the misconception that drinking way less water will improve your urinary incontinence symptoms. Second, avoid drinking excessive amounts of water for the simple reason that “what goes in must come out.” If you already suffer from urinary incontinence, drinking too much water increases your chances of having a urinary leakage accident. Plus, you’ll find yourself perpetually in the bathroom!

How Much Water Should You Drink?
Many women with urinary incontinence are stuck between a rock and hard a place when it comes to the topic of water intake. They have to drink enough water to stay hydrated, yet they also have to avoid drinking too much water. What’s a woman to do?

The truth of the matter is that the “right” amount of water is going to be different for each woman. Most women with urinary incontinence find that their symptoms remain the same if they drink between six and eight cups of water daily. This amount of water keeps them hydrated while preventing too many trips to the bathroom.

If you are either underweight or overweight, you may need to adjust the amount of water you drink accordingly. A good rule of thumb is to drink water in ounces equal to half of your body weight. For instance, if you weigh 110 pounds, drink 55 ounces of water daily.

Another good rule of thumb is to drink enough water so that your urine is light yellow to clear. When it comes to how much water you should drink to avoid irritating your bladder, let the color of your urine be an indicator.

Try Timed Fluid Intake to Get Your Full Day’s Supply of Water
Some women drink the “right” amount of water for their body weight, but still find that their urinary incontinence symptoms are aggravated by their water intake. Timed fluid intake can help. Timed fluid intake simply means that you drink the majority of your water in the morning, and then gradually scale down your intake until about 6 pm. Stop drinking all fluids past 6 pm. This will prevent nocturia, or the urge to get up and urinate during the night, as well as leakage accidents at night. If you feel thirsty later in the day or at night, use sugar-free candies to keep your mouth moist.

It’s Not How Much But What You Drink That Matters
Women with urinary incontinence worry about the amount of water they should drink daily. But these same women often fail to think about what they drink besides water. While water hydrates the body and is actually healthy when taken in the right amounts, other fluids can worsen symptoms of urinary incontinence. Women with urinary leakage should avoid:

  • caffeine: stimulates and irritates the bladder, acts as a diuretic
  • alcohol: causes dehydration, reduces neurological control over the bladder
  • carbonated beverages: irritates the bladder, often also contains caffeine

Hopefully this article has helped you figure out how much water you should drink for you specific situation, as well as which fluids to avoid. In addition, drinking water at the right time of day can have a big impact on the severity of your urinary incontinence symptoms!

If you enjoyed this post, we invite you to check out our book, leave a comment, contact us, download our free ebook, or interact with us on Twitter and Facebook.

 

How to Do a Kegel: Different Positions Can Improve Your Performance

by KegelsPelvic Floor MusclesPelvic Floor Weakness

This blog is an addendum to our 11-part article series of 11 New Year’s resolutions that actually work and WILL improve your pelvic health. We thought it relevant to add this blog post since the first 2 New Year’s Resolutions are all about Kegels and pelvic floor muscle exercises! Get the full list of all 11 New Year’s resolutions HERE.

How to do a Kegel for Newbies
There are tons of articles out there that talk about how you can do Kegels while waiting in line at the grocery store, while driving car, or while sitting at your office desk. Yup, even we have been guilty of writing those types of articles. We talk about doing Kegels in these various places because we want to emphasize the fact that adding Kegels and other exercises for your pelvic floor muscles does NOT have to be difficult, complicated, or impossible. We try to emphasize that Kegels can be done whenever you have a spare minute or two, with the goal of encouraging more women to do Kegels for their pelvic health.

But here’s the thing … for the woman who has never done Kegels or the woman who is not doing a Kegel correctly, trying to do these exercises while sitting in a car or standing in the grocery line is going to be next to impossible. For these women, it is best to start doing Kegels from positions of less resistance, such as lying down or lying on her side. If you think about it, doing Kegels in these positions make sense. After all, in both sitting and standing positions gravity exerts a strong downward pull on everything, including the pelvic floor muscles. Since the goal of Kegels is to pull the pelvic floor muscles upward and inward, any woman in a sitting or standing position has to work against the force of gravity … which is no small force! If a woman has never done Kegels or has difficulty doing Kegels, fighting gravity while doing these exercises just doesn’t make sense!

Best Positions for Pelvic Floor Muscle Exercises
Now that we’ve established that doing pelvic floor muscle exercises, such as Kegels, while sitting or standing is not ideal for beginners or women struggling with these exercises, let’s talk about strong positions for these women. The best positions for these women to start practicing Kegels are supine and side-lying. In regular human words, supine and side-lying mean this:

  • Supine: This just means that you lie on your back with your legs stretched out in a relaxed position (you can do this on your bed or on the floor, whichever is most comfortable for you)
  • Side-Lying: As the name implies, you lie on your side with your legs bent at a relaxed and comfortable angle (again, on the bed or floor)

With either of these positions, feel free to use a pillow to support your neck if necessary (our goal is your pelvic health, not to give you a pain in the neck!). The side-lying position offers the least resistance, but can also be a bit awkward for some women. Try both positions and see which one seems more comfortable for you. In fact, you might try both positions and try to do a Kegel contraction in both. Also remember that if you want to troubleshoot  your Kegels, you’ll need to be able to place one hand between your legs.

We suggest that you try doing Kegels in the supine position first. If you continue to have trouble doing a correct Kegel , then move to the side-lying position and try the contractions again there. If you are new to doing Kegels or are not sure you are doing them correctly, please check this post  to test yourself. If you continue having trouble doing a correct Kegel contraction in either the supine or side-lying positions, then seek the help of a specialist in women’s pelvic health.

If you enjoyed this post, we invite you to check out our book, leave a comment, contact us, download our free ebook, or interact with us on Twitter and Facebook.

 

How to Do a Kegel: Do You Know How?

by KegelsPelvic Floor MusclesPelvic Floor Weakness

This blog is an addendum to our 11-part article series of 11 New Year’s resolutions that actually work and WILL improve your pelvic health. We thought it relevant to add this blog post since the first 2 New Year’s Resolutions are all about Kegels and pelvic floor muscle exercises! Get the full list of all 11 New Year’s resolutions HERE.

Do You Know How to Do a Kegel, Really?
For many women, this sounds like a silly question. Of course women know how to do a Kegel. After all, women are often handed direction sheets on how to do a Kegel–whether post-partum or as an alternative therapy for symptoms such as urinary leakage. Just in case you’re not sure about the vocabulary we are using here, a Kegel is a pelvic floor muscle contraction developed by Dr. Arnold Kegel to help women improve their pelvic floor.

So who doesn’t know how to do a Kegel, right?

Wrong.

It turns out that about 50% of women cannot do a Kegel (or contraction of the pelvic floor muscles) correctly. What do these women do wrong?

  • contract the wrong muscles (such as the thigh or buttock muscles)
  • contract no muscles (including the pelvic floor muscles)
  • forget to release the muscles between contractions
  • push the pelvic floor muscles downward and outward rather than pulling them up and in

And these are just a few of the possible problems that women could encounter when learning how to do a Kegel based on written instructions alone. The negative result is that women who do Kegels incorrectly then assume that Kegels do not work for alleviating symptoms of urinary incontinence, pelvic organ prolapse, or decreased sexual sensation. They could not be more wrong! If you don’t believe us, check out the statistics on how well Kegels work to alleviate these types of symptoms.

How to Do a Kegel Correctly
So if at least 50% of women are doing Kegels incorrectly based on written instructions alone, what should those women do? Simple: troubleshoot the Kegel. This exercise for your pelvic floor muscles is simple to troubleshoot if you can create about 45 minutes of quiet time in your house … alone! Do whatever you have to do to get the kids, hubby, and pets out of the way. Turn off your phone ringers and pager sounds. This may seem like a lot of work just to troubleshoot the Kegel, but you’ll find this small investment of time well worth it!

Once you’ve created an oasis of quiet in your home, follow these steps to troubleshoot your Kegel. Be aware that you will need to be willing to touch yourself in your pelvic region. If you are unwilling to do this, then please refer to our blog post on getting help from a physical therapist specializing in women’s pelvic health.

How to Do a Kegel

  1. To prepare yourself, wash your hands thoroughly, and then remove your pants and underwear (if you feel comfortable doing so). Lie on your bed (or the floor, if you prefer) face up with your legs straight out in a relaxed position. You may want to cover yourself with a light blanket for comfort.
  2. Place two fingertips of one hand between your legs on the perineum, which is the space between your vagina and your anus. You will be using these two fingers to feel whether your pelvic floor muscles pull up and in when you do a Kegel. Place your other hand under your buttock, slightly toward the outside edge. With this hand, you will be testing whether you tighten your buttock muscles when you do a Kegel contraction. Note that you want to avoid tightening your buttock muscles when you do a Kegel.
  3. Now do a Kegel (or pelvic floor muscle contraction). Not sure how to do this? No worries. Just picture that you are in a crowded elevator and you have intestinal gas. To prevent yourself from passing gas, you tighten certain muscles in your pelvic region, right? These are the same muscles you tighten to do a correct Kegel. As you do so, feel whether there is an inward and upward contraction where you have your two fingers (on the perineum). If you are doing a correct Kegel, you should feel this slight “in and up” sensation. At the same time, you should feel NO tightening of your buttock muscles. Now release the contraction. Releasing your muscles between contractions is VERY important because a lack of release can lead to over-tightening of the pelvic floor muscles, as well as pelvic pain and other unwanted side effects.
  4. Now repeat the process, this time moving the hand that was on your buttock to your inner thigh. Keep your other hand on your perineum, between your legs. Do another Kegel contraction, checking again that the perineum has a slight inward and upward pull, while your thigh muscle remains relaxed. Release the contraction.
  5. Finally, move your hand from your inner thigh to your abdomen. Repeat the process and ensure that your abdominal muscles do not push outwards as you do your Kegel. Again release the contraction.

If you were able to follow these instructions on how to do a Kegel without tightening your thigh or buttock muscles, and without pushing out your abdominal muscles, during each contraction, then you DO know how to do a Kegel. If, on the other hand you felt your thigh or buttock muscles tightening (or your abdominals pushing outward), you need to slow down and retrain yourself how to do a Kegel.

Taking Your Time Doing Pelvic Floor Muscle Exercises
If you found yourself doing your Kegels incorrectly based on the above instructions, then you have two options: you can retrain yourself to do a correct Kegel or you can get help from a specialist in women’s pelvic health. If you want to try to retrain your pelvic floor muscles yourself, simply follow the instructions given above. As you do each Kegel, consciously focus on contracting your pelvic floor muscles while keeping your thigh and buttock muscles relaxed. If you tend to push your abdominal muscles outward, focus on using them to help you pull your pelvic floor muscles inward and upward.

Take your time practicing these contractions. You may need to move your hand from thigh to buttock to abdominal muscles. Touching these muscles can help you consciously relax them even as you tighten your pelvic muscles. At first it may take you up to 10 slow practice contractions to do a correct Kegel. Don’t worry. Be patient with yourself. Remember that you don’t spend a lot of time thinking about your pelvic floor muscles, so it may take a while for your brain and body to make the proper connections necessary to do a correct Kegel.

If you try to retrain your pelvic muscles yourself but are unsuccessful, we suggest you seek the help of a women’s pelvic health specialist  right away. Not only will this save you a lot of frustration, but getting help means that you will have far less to “unlearn” than if you keep trying to troubleshoot the Kegel by yourself.

Don’t worry! Learning how to do a kegel isn’t rocket science … sometimes you just need to take a little time to learn how to do it right or get some help. Either option is perfectly wonderful, and we applaud you for your focus on your pelvic health!

If you enjoyed this post, we invite you to check out our book, leave a comment, contact us, download our free ebook, or interact with us on Twitter and Facebook.

 

Pelvic Floor Exercises: How a Physical Therapist Can Help Improve Your Results

by KegelsPelvic Floor MusclesPelvic Floor Weakness

This blog is part of an 11 article series of 11 New Year’s resolutions that actually work and WILL improve your pelvic health. Get the full list of all 11 New Year’s resolutions HERE.

Get this: 50% of women cannot identify or contract the appropriate muscles to do pelvic floor exercises correctly by following only written results.

That’s right … we said 50%! No wonder there are so many women out there who think that pelvic floor exercises (also called Kegels) don’t work. Chances are that at least 50% of these women are not contracting their pelvic floor muscles properly, or not even contracting their pelvic floor muscles at all. In fact, women commonly contract other muscles–such as thigh or buttock muscles–instead of pelvic floor muscles. The result is that their thighs and buttocks are nicely toned, but their pelvic floor muscles remain neglected and out-of-shape! The other result is that if you have a New Year’s resolution to improve your pelvic health, you won’t achieve your goal if you are exercising your pelvic floor muscles incorrectly.

Do You Know How to Do a Kegel?
This might be a difficult question for you to answer. After all, if you are following written instructions on how to do a Kegel, you might THINK you are doing the exercise correctly, but how do you really know? One of the best ways to find out whether you are exercising your pelvic floor muscles correctly is to have a specialist test you.

Examples of specialists include physical therapists specializing in women’s pelvic health, urologists, and ob/gyns. All of these medical professionals will test the strength and correctness of your Kegel by asking you to tighten your pelvic floor muscles around a finger inserted into your vagina. While this does not sound like the most fun experience in the world, this test WILL help you determine whether you have been properly exercising your pelvic floor muscles … or just wasting your time!

If you have been wasting your time, the good news is that your specialist can either help you correct the way you do your Kegels, or recommend someone who can work with you. For instance, many women who cannot do a correct Kegel are referred to physical therapists who specialize in women’s pelvic health.

Do You Need a Physical Therapist to Help You Correctly Exercise Your Pelvic Floor Muscles?
Physical therapists specializing in women’s pelvic health work with women over a number of sessions to locate and properly contract the correct pelvic floor muscles. What can a physical therapist do for you that you can’t do for yourself? A physical therapist can help you in many ways.

First, the therapist will most likely take a “hands on” approach, which means that they will put their hands in various areas of your pelvic region to help you “feel” when you contract the correct pelvic floor muscles, as well as helping you “feel” when you are contracting the wrong muscles, such as your buttock or thigh muscles. Just having the sensation of a therapist’s hands in your pelvic region can help your brain make the connection to the correct pelvic floor muscles for a Kegel.

Second, your specialist has tools that you don’t that can help further help you identify and contract the right pelvic floor muscles. Two commonly used tools include biofeedback machines and electrical stimulation devices. Biofeedback machines are simple devices that give you either visual or auditory feedback when you contract the right muscles. This additional feedback helps you learn to contract the right muscles more quickly. The electrical stimulation device involves placing electrodes in your vagina or rectum for short periods of time. The device delivers very mild electrical stimulation, which actually lightly contracts and tones the correct pelvic floor muscles. This form of stimulation is especially useful for women who have little or no sensation in their pelvic floor muscles, and are thus unable to contract those muscles. Your specialist may also have you use vaginal weights, which are weighted plastic cones inserted into the vagina for short periods of time. As you hold the weights inside your vagina to prevent them from dropping out, you tighten and tone your pelvic floor muscles. As your muscles become stronger, your specialist will increase the weight until you can hold heavier weights.

The third way your specialist can help you is by designing a pelvic floor muscle exercise program customized to your current level of pelvic fitness. This prevents you from exercising your pelvic muscles too little or too much. Too much exercise can lead to excessive tightening of your pelvic floor muscles, which can result in pelvic pain and other unwanted side effects. Doing too few contractions means that your pelvic floor muscles won’t get toned, and you won’t get the results that you want.

By working with a custom program, you exercise your pelvic muscles at just the right level. As your muscles get stronger and have more stamina, your specialist will change your program to match by increasing the number of contractions or the length that you hold each contraction. With this kind of customized support, you are much more likely to achieve the results you want, whether that means alleviating symptoms of urine leakage, reducing signs of pelvic organ prolapse, or improving your sexual sensation.

Women’s Pelvic Health and Your New Year’s Resolution
Is women’s pelvic health still a New Year’s Resolution? If so, good for you! And, if you have are having difficulty achieving the results you want by doing pelvic floor muscle exercises at your home, it may be time to get help from a specialist. A women’s pelvic health specialist can teach you how to do a Kegel correctly, can design a custom program just for you, and has a wide range of tools that can help you achieve lasting results. You may need to get a referral for this kind of specialist from your family doctor, urologist, or ob/gyn, so we encourage you to call for an appointment to get the ball rolling right away!

If you enjoyed this post, we invite you to check out our book, leave a comment, contact us, download our free ebook, or interact with us on Twitter and Facebook.

 

Women’s Pelvic Health: The Best Gift You Can Give Yourself!

by Decreased Sexual SensationGeneral Urinary IncontinencePelvic Floor MusclesPelvic Floor WeaknessPelvic Organ ProlapsePOPWomen's Healthcare

When it comes to women’s health, pelvic health is often a matter of “out of sight, out of mind”! Unlike saggy underarms, facial wrinkles, or body fat, our pelvic organs do not act as visible motivators for us to change our lifestyles to improve our health. But women’s pelvic health does matter–a lot! This is especially true since poor pelvic health can lead to women’s urinary incontinence, pelvic organ prolapse, or decreased sexual sensation.

The fact of the matter is that you may have poor pelvic health and not even know it until symptoms show up suddenly in your life!

Women’s Pelvic Health: Treat Yourself Right This Holiday
In our fast-paced world, we are often advised to “treat ourselves right” by meditating, getting a massage, or reading a good book. In other words, we need periods of time in which we slow down and smell the roses if we want to stay healthy and fit. These are considered little gifts that we give to ourselves so that we can remain vibrant and healthy in our lives.

All of these are great gifts, and we would like to suggest one more to consider: get a pelvic exam!

While shoving one’s legs into those metal stirrups for a pelvic exam does not SEEM like a great gift to yourself (who actually enjoys that kind of experience?), this kind of preventative exam can really be a gift that keeps on giving. A pelvic exam can determine whether all of your pelvic organs are still in place or whether they have “fallen” or prolapsed. This kind of exam can also determine what type of urinary incontinence you have if you have started experiencing some urinary leakage on occasion. If your sex life isn’t what you want it to be, a pelvic exam can also reveal whether your pelvic floor muscles are weak, thus decreasing sexual sensation and enjoyment.

“But I don’t have any problems down there!” you wail, hating the thought of those cold stirrups. The truth is that you may or may not know about problems in your pelvic area. Only a thorough pelvic exam can reveal the state of your pelvic health. For instance, a high percentage of women (some experts estimate more than 70%) have prolapsed organs and don’t even know it. Other women experience less-than-pleasurable sex because their pelvic floor muscles lack tone and strength. But these women would not KNOW that they had a problem without a pelvic exam.

Women’s Pelvic Health: The Gift That Keeps on Giving
If you really want to treat yourself right this holiday season, give yourself the gift of pelvic health. Call your ob/gyn or urologist to schedule a pelvic exam for the first of the year. The exam, uncomfortable as it might be, will tell you what you need to know about the state of your pelvic organs. Depending on what is revealed, the exam can also inspire you to set some worthy New Year’s Resolutions that will benefit not only your pelvic health, but your whole life. Examples include weight loss, smoking cessation, avoiding certain foods or beverages, and getting toned and fit all over (inside and out).

If you are still not convinced that a pelvic exam is a great gift for yourself, consider these benefits. A pelvic exam can:

  • open the door for you and your doctor to have an honest discussion about your pelvic health
  • reveal any potential problems with your pelvic organs
  • help you handle any potential problems before symptoms, such as urinary leakage or serious prolapse, occur
  • inspire you to exercise your pelvic floor muscles, which can improve your experience in the bedroom
  • assist you in resolving any symptoms of poor pelvic health that may have already appeared (such as light urinary leakage)
  • give you a baseline against which you and your doctor can compare future exams, ensuring your future pelvic health
  • motivate you to live a healthier lifestyle

Those are seven great reasons to make an appointment for a pelvic exam. These seven great gifts will keep your pelvic organs healthy as you move through many more holidays, especially as you experience life changes such as pregnancy, aging, travel, getting serious about exercise, and so forth.

So have yourself a happy holiday and give yourself the gift of pelvic health (or at least an appointment to check your health) before the New Year arrives … that way you will definitely have something to celebrate when you ring in the New Year!

If you enjoyed this post, we invite you to leave a comment, contact us, download our free ebook, or interact with us on Twitter and Facebook.

 

woman lifting monitor

Pelvic Organ Prolapse: What’s With All the Heavy Lifting?

by Pelvic Floor WeaknessPelvic Organ ProlapsePOPUrinary Incontinence

woman lifting monitorIf you have been diagnosed with pelvic organ prolapse (POP) and you lead an active lifestyle or have a physically-demanding job, chances are good that your lifestyle and/or your job may have contributed to your condition.

Pelvic organ prolapse describes the condition in which one or more of your pelvic organs sags downward, or “falls” out of place. Pelvic organs that can prolapse include the bladder, small intestine, large intestine, or uterus. How many women have POP? Between 43% and 76% of women have POP, but don’t experience any symptoms. Less than 10% of women with POP notice symptoms, such as feeling pressure on the vaginal wall, feeling as if one is sitting on a ball, seeing a bulge falling out of the vagina, urinary incontinence, difficulty urinating, being constipated, low back pain, or feeling pain during sex.

POP and Heavy Lifting
While there are many risk factors for POP, a surprising number of those risk factors are associated with heavy lifting of one sort or another. Pregnancy and childbirth (either vaginal or Cesarean) top the list of factors. If you think about it, pregnancy is one of the most vigorous kinds of heavy lifting a woman can do. Plus, this form of heavy lifting is long-term–about nine continuous months!

Another kind of heavy lifting that can contribute to POP is work-related. If your job requires you to lift, move, or otherwise handle heavy objects on a regular basis, your work may be a big contributing factor to POP. All of this lifting puts pressure and strain on the pelvic organs and their supporting tendons, ligaments, and muscles. When the strain becomes too much, one or more pelvic organs will literally slip out of place, causing the symptoms described above.

Constipation causes straining similar to that of frequently lifting heavy objects. If you suffer from chronic constipation, then you are putting pressure on your pelvic organs several times per day. That’s a lot of heavy lifting for your pelvic organ support system.

Finally, your weight is a consideration. When it comes to your pelvic floor muscles, every pound of weight you carry about your pelvic region exerts a strong downward push. That means your pelvic floor support system has to do “heavy lifting” whenever you are sitting or standing. This is doubly true if you have an active or athletic lifestyle. Bouncing around in an aerobics class adds heavy impact into the equation, more than doubling the strain on your pelvic floor.

Lifestyle Changes to Reduce the Risk of POP
If you are at risk for POP because of any of the reasons listed above, it’s not too late to make some lifestyle changes. Simple changes that will help can include:

  • lose weight
  • change jobs to avoid lifting heavy objects
  • increase fiber intake to reduce constipation
  • switch from high-impact exercise to low-impact exercise (such as swimming or walking)
  • start doing pelvic floor exercises (like Kegels), especially if you have had children
  • consider using a pessary to temporarily increase support for your pelvic organs

These are all simple conservative measures that can prevent further sagging of your pelvic organs, and can often relieve symptoms of POP. These measures have almost no side effects, and studies have shown them to be quite effective. POP doesn’t have to consign you to being an armchair athlete. Instead, try these conservative approaches and see just how active you can be. You will be surprised!

Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/76029035@N02/6829303627/

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Feel Like You are Sitting on a Ball?

by Pelvic Floor MusclesPelvic Floor WeaknessPelvic Organ ProlapsePOP
If you feel like you are sitting on a ball sometimes (even though you are not!) or maybe just feel like you parts are “falling out down there,” then chances are that you have pelvic organ prolapse, also called POP.With POP, your parts down south are literally succumbing to gravity. Talk about the “fallout” associated with aging-as if wrinkles and that hard-to-get-rid-of underarm fat aren’t enough!

But here’s the thing-you are not alone and the condition is definitely treatable. One in five U.S. women is affected by POP, and 30% of U.S. women over 50 have this condition. And of course, the condition becomes more common the older we get-no big surprise there!

Almost 50% of women who have had vaginal births will develop some form of POP in their lifetime. The uterus, bladder, intestines, and rectum are all located around the vagina. Because of their close proximity, it is possible for them to “herniate” or bulge into the vagina. Such bulges are called pelvic floor prolapse and present as a feeling of pelvic pressure or heaviness. Who is at risk? Moms, heavy-lifters, and smokers are susceptible. POP can be brought on by chronic coughing, chronic constipation, menopause, normal aging, previous pelvic surgery (hysterectomy), or genetics.

Symptoms of prolapse include:
– A bulge in your vagina that ranges in size from that of small egg to that of a grapefruit
– Discomfort or pressure in your pelvis or vagina
– Difficulty having a bowel movement
– Difficulty emptying your bladder (can cause overflow incontinence) or your rectum/bowel
– Loss of urinary control with coughing, laughing or sneezing (stress urinary incontinence)
– Pain during intercourse
– Lower back pain
– Increased discomfort with long periods of standing
– Recurrent bladder infections

If you experience any of these symptoms, then you are definitely overdue for a visit with your urologist or gynecologist. You can explore both conservative and surgical options with your healthcare provider, which will relieve you of the feeling that stuff is “falling out” down south!

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Have Pelvic Organ Prolapse? Consider Using a Pessary

by Pelvic Floor WeaknessPelvic Organ ProlapsePessaryPOPWomen's Healthcare
Are things “popping” out down there? If you suffer from pelvic organ prolapse, otherwise known as POP, then chances are that you are far from comfortable. Women with POP can experience symptoms such as a falling sensation in the pelvis, backaches, painful intercourse and more.

Click HERE for a more complete list of POP symptoms.

There are four common types of POP: cystocele (bladder prolapse), rectocele (prolapse of the rectum or large bowel), enterocele (prolapse of the small bowel), and uterine prolapse.

Luckily, there is a conservative solution for women suffering from POP.

It’s called a pessary.

“A pessa-what?” you ask. A pessary-and it’s not as weird as it sounds. A pessary is a plastic or rubber ring-like device that is placed in the vagina to support the bladder, uterus, or rectum. In other words, it’s an artificial support for those internal structures that are a bit saggy because of childbirth, gravity, or aging.

Some women find that wearing a pessary helps alleviate the discomfort caused by POP and helps empty the bladder. A gynecologist can fit you with a pessary in the office. If you have a pessary, once a month you need to remove the pessary or have your physician remove it to have it cleaned and re-inserted. Pessaries rarely cause problems but can increase the chance of developing vaginal irritation or infection. It’s important to have a pessary that fits properly.

The use of a pessary is a great non-surgical treatment for POP and is useful for women who either don’t want surgery or still want to have more children. Plus, pessaries are very effective. Studies show that women with POP find improvement with a pessary and for some women symptoms go away completely.

Sound good? Check in with your healthcare provider to see if a pessary is the perfect solution for your POP problems!

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Ladies: If Sex Has Gone from Hot to Not, Strengthen Your Love Muscle

by Decreased Sexual SensationPelvic Floor WeaknessWomen's Healthcare
Every woman has a love muscle, believe it or not. Or, more accurately, women have a set of love muscles, called the pubococcygeus. And if sex is more “not” than “hot” for you, chances are good that your love muscles “down there” need a workout. This workout has a name with which you are probably familiar:Kegels.

Also called pelvic floor muscle contractions, Kegels help you strengthen your muscles down below. Believe it or not, a lot of women would benefit from a regular Kegel workout.

Sex and Statistics: What You May Not Know
Here’s what you may not know about sex and statistics: a lot of women could be having a lot more fun in the bedroom than they do. Consider this:

– About 10% of women have never experienced an orgasm (WebMD)
– Only 30% of women achieve orgasm through intercourse (The Medical Center for Female Sexuality)
– Among British women, 46% never or rarely achieve orgasm (Fox Business)

Here’s what else you might want to know:

The Journal of the American Medical Association reported in 1999 that 43% of American women experienced sexual difficulties, with one-third of the women reporting lack of interest or desire for sex. Another one-fourth of women did not experience orgasm during sex, and one-fifth did not find sex pleasurable.

Pretty unbelievable, right?

What You Can Do about Decreased Sexual Sensation
Luckily, women who experience decreased sexual sensation or lack of orgasm can improve their sexual experience by exercising their pelvic floor muscles by doing a variety of Kegel-type exercises.

To find out whether pelvic floor exercises will help you out, check out our free ebook. The ebook not only offers two simple tests that help you assess the tone of your pelvic floor muscles, but also gives you detailed instructions on how to do a correct pelvic floor contraction.

Check out the ebook here and enjoy!

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Women’s Urinary Incontinence and Pelvic Floor Stimulation

by General Urinary IncontinencePelvic Floor WeaknessStress Urinary IncontinenceWomen's Healthcare
In our last blog post we talked about the use of biofeedback as a way to resolve symptoms of women’s urinary incontinence. In this blog post, we discuss another similar kind of therapy called pelvic floor stimulation.

As the name implies, pelvic floor stimulation involves the use of very light electrical impulses to stimulate the pelvic floor muscles into contracting. Before you freak out, know that the stimulation is neither painful nor scary. It is effective for many women who have weakened pelvic floor muscles.

How Pelvic Floor Stimulation Works
As with biofeedback, the stimulation is delivered through either a tampon-like device inserted into the vagina, or stick-on electrodes placed around the anus. The electrodes are then connected to a machine that delivers a very controlled amount of electrical stimulation.

Many women describe the sensation of pelvic floor stimulation as a tightening and lifting of the pelvic floor muscles. Others find the sensation more like a tingling or tapping sensation, and it is never painful.

Pelvic floor stimulation is an effective conservative therapy for women’s urinary incontinence, andstress urinary incontinence in particular. This therapy treats the nerves which control the pelvic floor muscles, and can help women strengthen these muscles. While home pelvic floor stimulation machines are available, for the most part this therapy is done under the supervision of a physical therapist, nurse specialist, or physician specializing in urinary incontinence.

If you feel that this kind of therapy would help you resolve your urinary incontinence issues, ask your physician or urologist. If they are not knowledgeable about this kind of therapy, chances are that they can refer you to a specialist who can help you.

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