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.

American Women Shy When Discussing Urinary Incontinence

by General Urinary IncontinenceWomen's Healthcare

American women are usually known for their directness, forthrightness, and brashness. We live in a society where sex sells everything from cars to television shows. We climb corporate ladders with ease and are not afraid to challenge corporate glass ceilings. But we American women have one area where we are very shy. According to women’s health experts, American women are very hesitant to discuss urinary incontinence.

Why Urinary Incontinence is Taboo for American Women
According to Caryn Antos of the National Association for Continence (NAFC), our culture is partially responsible for women’s reluctance to discuss urinary incontinence. She says, “The United States is one of the more reserved countries when it comes to this topic. In Europe, tons of organizations band together for educational purposes–and there’s no privacy barrier to break through.” She adds that at trade shows and other educational events, most women are afraid to approach the NAFC booth to pick up brochures, concerned that they’ll be pinned with a “scarlet letter.”

Missy Lavender, executive director of the Women’s Health Foundation, experienced a similar sense of cultural reserve. Having published educational material about women’s urinary incontinence, Missy was asked by the editor of a local women’s magazine: “Why is a nice girl like you talking about things like this?”

If this is the kind of reception being given to advocates of education about women’s urinary incontinence, is it any wonder that the average woman feels shy about asking for help with her bladder control issues?

Additional Reasons Women Don’t Ask for Help
In addition to the general reserve in this country surrounding women’s urinary incontinence, experts point out numerous other reasons that women are hesitant to seek help. Two of the most prominent are age and lack of information.

Age
A large percentage of older women suffer from urinary incontinence, and women in this population are less comfortable than younger women discussing this area of their anatomy. They may also be unaware of the progress that has been in made in the last 30 years in treating urinary incontinence. Finally, they may simply feel that urine leakage is a normal part of aging.

Lack of Information
Some women know that “something is wrong,” but lack knowledge about their own anatomy and feel uncomfortable discussing their problem with a male doctor. This is where seeking help from a female urologist, gynecologist, or physical therapist can help.

Don’t Be Shy–Get Help for Your Urinary Incontinence
Urinary incontinence, while not life-threatening, can definitely affect the quality of your life. It can also be a symptom of other health conditions, so it’s important to raise the issue with your healthcare provider. Read through this blog for more resources to help you get started on the road to recovery … and drier panties!
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.

 

Pelvic Floor Muscles: Exercises That Actually Work

by KegelsPelvic Floor MusclesUrinary Incontinence

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.

Pelvic floor muscles … those mystical muscles we women have “down there,” which we can’t see and which do so much for us. What do our pelvic floor muscles for us? A bunch. Here’s a short list of the important roles they play in our anatomy:

  • support pelvic organs against the effects of gravity
  • prevent urinary leakage and allows urination when needed
  • keep pelvic organs from sagging down and out
  • control the tightening and relaxation of urethra, vagina, and anus as needed
  • contribute to pleasurable sexual sensation

And that’s just the short list of what our pelvic floor muscles do for us every day, all day (and all night). As you might have guessed, keeping these very important muscles fit and toned is important for our quality of life.

Pelvic Floor Muscles: Do Kegels Work?
Surprisingly, many women have heard of the term “Kegel” but don’t really know what it means. Or, a woman might have a vague idea of what a Kegel is, but not really know how to do a Kegel (or how to do a CORRECT Kegel). So what is a Kegel? The word “Kegel” was a term first coined in 1948 by Dr. Arnold Kegel. He introduced the Kegel as an exercise for the pelvic floor muscles, in which these muscles are alternately contracted and relaxed. The goal of doing Kegels is to strengthen and tone the pelvic floor muscles so that they can provide passive support all day long (such as keeping the pelvic organs in place) as well as offer active support (such as keeping urine in the bladder when you sneeze). The term Kegel has become so popular that some people now refer to the pelvic floor muscles collectively as the Kegel muscle.

Now that we’ve answered the question, “What is a Kegel?” the second question is, “Do Kegels work?” The answer is “Yes”–provided that these pelvic floor muscle exercises are done correctly. What do we mean when we say that these exercises must be done correctly? We mean that when you do a pelvic floor muscle contraction, you contract only the pelvic floor muscles without contracting other muscles such as the abdominal, thigh, or buttock muscles.

If you are not sure whether you know how to do a correct Kegel, you can easily troubleshoot this exercise with our no-cost downloadable ebook, “What’s Up Down There?” Just go HERE to download the ebook.

Pelvic Floor Muscles: Exercising at Your Level of Fitness
Another important note when beginning a pelvic floor muscle retraining program is to ensure that you exercise according to your level of pelvic fitness. In other words, you want to exercise your pelvic floor muscles just enough that you begin to tone and strengthen them, but not so much that you overtire them or actually begin to contract them tightly all the time. If you try to do too many pelvic floor muscle contractions, your muscles will begin to tire and you will start using other muscles (buttock, thigh, or abdominal) to compensate. This will decrease the benefits of your exercise program. The other danger of doing too many contractions for your level of fitness is that you may actually begin to hold your pelvic muscles in a contracted state all the time, which can lead to pelvic pain and other unwanted side effects.

In our practices, we have women test their level of pelvic muscle floor fitness before designing a custom program that matches their level of fitness. If you would like to test yourself and start a home pelvic floor muscle retraining program, check out the detailed step-by-step plan outlined in our book. This program is a definite no-brainer if you are a “do-it-yourself” kind of gal!

Pelvic Floor Muscles: Exercising Them Really Does Work
If you have heard rumors that Kegels are ineffective for improving pelvic health, or if your own experience shows you that pelvic floor muscle exercises don’t work, we urge you to review the research. Studies show that, when done correctly, pelvic floor muscle retraining really does improve women’s pelvic health. These exercises can improve symptoms of all types of urinary incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse. These exercises can also improve your sexual sensation and pleasure. Check out the research in THIS blog post.

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.

 

Women’s Pelvic Health: 11 New Year’s Resolutions That Actually Work!

by Decreased Sexual SensationGeneral Urinary IncontinenceOveractive BladderPelvic Organ ProlapsePOPStress Urinary IncontinenceUrge IncontinenceUrge Urinary IncontinenceWomen's Healthcare
Happy New Year! The New Year is always a great time to give thanks for all the gifts in our lives, and also the perfect time to look at ways in which we could improve certain areas of our lives. Hence the practice of making New Year’s resolutions.
New Year’s resolutions can be great motivators, especially when it comes to life goals or lifestyle changes. Many people look forward to making New Year’s resolutions with joy and hope. But for those whose resolutions have failed to live up to expectations in the past, there can be some anxiety about setting yet another resolution that might not work.
But don’t worry … be happy this New Year, especially if you are a woman and suffer from any symptoms of poor pelvic health! Why? Because in the coming days we are going to give you 11 New Year’s resolutions that actually work and WILL improve your pelvic health. These simple lifestyle changes can improve symptoms of all forms of urinary incontinence, as well as symptoms of pelvic organ prolapse and decreased sexual sensation. Plus, we will help you set yourself up for success with extra tips and techniques for staying focused on your resolutions throughout the year.
Sound good? Then listen up — here are the 11 lifestyle changes that we will be discussing in the next days and weeks:
1. At-Home Pelvic Floor Retraining
2. Pelvic Floor Retraining with a Physical Therapist
3. Keeping a Bladder Diary and Bladder Retraining
4. Smoking Cessation
5. Timed Fluid Intake
6. Diet Modification — Avoiding Certain Foods and Beverages
7. Diet Modification II — How to Avoid Constipation
8. Diet Modification III — What to Do When You Go Off Your Diet Plan
9. Weight Loss and Management
10. Acupuncture as a “Middle of the Road” Solution
11. Percutaneous Nerve Stimulation and Other Conservative Measures
Have a great New Year’s Day and keep your eyes and ears open for blogs and video blogs on these great upcoming New Year’s resolutions!

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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.

 

Pelvic Organ Prolapse – 5 Questions to Ask Yourself

by Pelvic Organ ProlapsePOP

Has something “fallen out” in your pelvic region? Do you feel like something has shifted down there? If so, you may have pelvic organ prolapse, otherwise known as POP. What is POP? POP is the condition in which one or more of your pelvic organs has slipped or fallen out of its original location. Pelvic organs that can prolapse include the bladder, small intestine, rectum or large bowel, and uterus. Each of these types of prolapse has a specific name:

— bladder (cystocele)
— small intestine or bowel (enterocele)
— rectum or large bowel (rectocele)
— uterus (procidentia)

Now that you know about the different types of POP, the next step is to figure out if you have POP, especially if you feel that your pelvic organs have shifted or changed in some way.

5 Questions About POP
If you are unsure about whether you have symptoms of POP, here are 5 questions you should ask yourself:

  1. Do you feel pulling, stretching, or pressure in your low back or groin?
  2. Do you see a bulge pushing out of your vagina or feel as if something is falling out of your vagina? (you may need to use a small hand mirror to answer this question)
  3. Do you experience painful sex?
  4. Do you feel the pressure of pelvic organs pushing into your vagina or do you feel as if you are sitting on a ball?
  5. Do you suffer from constipation or difficult urination that is improved when you press your fingers into your abdomen or vagina?

If you answered “Yes” to two or more of these questions, then you very likely have POP. If so, then you should definitely seek medical help from your urologist or ob/gyn. If you are not currently under the care of a urologist, you may need to get a referral from your family doctor.

Even if you did not answer “Yes” to any of the above questions, you may wish to visit your ob/gyn for a checkup. Between 43% and 76% of women who have POP do not experience any symptoms. The only way these women can be correctly diagnosed with POP is with a pelvic exam from an ob/gyn, urologist, or other medical practitioner specializing in women’s pelvic health. If you have not had a routine pelvic exam recently, now is a great time to schedule one. Why? Because treatments for POP are more effective when started early. So get on the phone and schedule an appointment with your healthcare provider of choice just to check that nothing has “popped” out of place down there. It’s the best holiday gift you can give yourself!

 

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Women’s Pelvic Health: Not Sure What’s Up Down There?

by Decreased Sexual SensationGeneralGeneral Urinary IncontinencePelvic Organ Prolapse

For many women, anatomy “down there” in the pelvic region is a complete mystery. And when something goes wrong down there, these same women have no idea what’s happening … or what to do. If you resemble the women referred to in the last sentence, then here’s a quickie guide to help you get acquainted with your own pelvic anatomy, plus a peek at what might be happening down there.

A Quick Guide to Pelvic Anatomy – Video
http://youtu.be/K1WL6MIq5HA

A Quick Guide to the Female Urinary System – Video
http://youtu.be/aro36vaiWmA

Women’s Poor Pelvic Health: Are You Affected? – Video
http://youtu.be/JEz2JlExShc

3 Types of Women’s Urinary Incontinence – Video
http://youtu.be/UYr8xrvQ48Q

Pelvic Organ Prolapse
http://bit.ly/ZAIja4

Do You Have Decreased Sexual Sensation? – Video
http://youtu.be/Zh5_Bp3s35U

 

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Women’s Urinary Incontinence: Overcoming Your Fear of Surgery

by Find the Right DoctorGeneral Urinary IncontinencePessary

When it comes to women’s urinary incontinence, embarrassment tops the list of reasons that affected women don’t seek help. Another major reason these women don’t seek help is this: fear of surgery. Affected women are afraid that seeking a medical diagnosis from a physician will automatically lead to surgery. Many people, not just women with urinary incontinence, have a fear of surgery. Luckily, these fears are mostly unjustified.

Women’s Urinary Incontinence: Try Conservative Methods First
Do you suffer from women’s urinary incontinence, and are you afraid that your doctor might suggest that you have surgery? If so, then we have good news for you. Unless your condition is very severe, most physicians will suggest that you try the least invasive and most conservative therapies first. These include pelvic floor retraining, lifestyle changes (such as weight loss, diet changes, and smoking cessation), bladder retraining, taking medication, using a pessary, and acupuncture. They may even suggest you try a combination of these therapies until you find what works to relieve your symptoms.

An interesting note about these conservative therapies is that they are more effective when used early on–that is, as soon as you notice the first signs of pelvic floor weakness. These therapies are effective for relieving symptoms of all three types of women’s urinary incontinence, as well as alleviating symptoms of pelvic organ prolapse and decreased sexual sensation. This information should definitely motivate you to seek medical help as soon as you begin experiencing problems with your pelvic health.

Overcoming Your Fear of Surgery
But what happens if conservative therapies are not effective for relieving your symptoms? In that case, you may need surgery to address the problem. If your condition is severe, such as when one or more of your pelvic organs have significantly shifted out of position (prolapsed), your physician may recommend surgery as the first step towards curing your condition. Or you may find that conservative therapies are effective for many years, but cease to work over time. This can occur because of aging, menopause, and the continued downward pull of gravity on your pelvic organs. In this case, you may also need surgery to alleviate symptoms that were formerly relieved by conservative therapies.

If your physician does recommend surgery, don’t hit the panic button just yet. We have some statistics about women’s pelvic surgeries that should help you breathe a sigh of relief, especially if you have a fear of surgery. We have categorized the different types of surgeries according to the condition treated, and we describe the level of invasiveness for each procedure as well as the success rate. Minimally-invasive surgeries are usually done as outpatient procedures, and you often go home the same day. Surgical procedures with a moderate level of invasiveness may require a short stay in the hospital.

Surgeries for Stress Urinary Incontinence
Number of Procedures: 6
Names: Transobturator tape, single-incision transobturator tape, tension-free vaginal tape, pubovaginal sling, Burch procedure, Marshall-Marchetti-Krantz procedure
Invasiveness: The first three procedures are minimally invasive, the last three are considered moderate.
Success Rates: No procedure has less than a 66% success rates, and most have success rates between 70% and 95%.

Surgeries for Overactive Bladder, Urge Urinary Incontinence, Urge-Dominant Mixed Incontinence, and Urinary Retention
Number of Procedures: 1
Name: Sacral neuro-modulation
Invasiveness: Minimal
Success Rates: 31% to 65%

Surgeries for Pelvic Organ Prolapse
Number of Procedures: 4
Names: Cystocele repair (bladder hernia), rectocele repair (large intestine hernia), enterocele repair (small intestine hernia), sacral colpopexy (vaginal vault prolapse)
Invasiveness: All are considered moderate
Success Rates: 80% to 96%

As you can see, almost all the surgeries have a very high success rate, and the majority are minimally-invasive. This list of women’s pelvic surgeries should give you a starting point for discussing your surgical options with your physician. If you have a significant fear of surgery or simply want to avoid surgery for any reason, you may wish to seek a second opinion from another specialist. Additionally, you may want to ask your physician whether a different type or a different combination of conservative therapies would be useful to try before having surgery. For many women, the first few conservative therapies tried are not completely successful at relieving symptoms. The women who have the most success with conservative therapies are those willing to try multiple approaches or multiple combinations of therapies until they find something that works. Persistence is often the key to success when working with conservative therapies.

If you ultimately decide to undergo surgery for your pelvic health condition, rest assured that success rates are high and most procedures pose a fairly low risk. Be sure to discuss any questions or concerns with your physician until you feel completely comfortable with any proposed surgery. In this case, educating yourself about your condition and your options is the best medicine!

 

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The Doctor Is In: Women’s Pelvic Health, Fact or Fiction?

by GeneralKegelsPelvic Floor MusclesPelvic Organ Prolapse

1. Urinary incontinence (an indicator of poor pelvic health) is a normal sign of aging.

Fiction: Urinary incontinence or leakage is not normal at any age. Acceptance of this health condition as a normal sign of aging is the second most common reason women don’t seek help from a physician. Embarrassment about talking to a doctor about urine leakage tops the list, followed by women thinking that urinary incontinence “wasn’t enough of a problem.” As a result, less than 50% of women with urinary incontinence seek medical help, and those who do get help wait almost seven years. The good news for women who do seek help is that urinary incontinence can be improved in 8 out of 10 cases according to the Agency of Healthcare Research and Policy.

2. Kegels and similar pelvic floor exercises can improve a woman’s pelvic health.

Fact: Studies show that pelvic floor exercises, when done correctly and according to a woman’s state of pelvic muscle fitness, can relieve symptoms of all three types of urinary incontinence (stress, overactive bladder/urge, and mixed), pelvic organ prolapse, decreased sexual sensation or response, and general pelvic floor weakness. Women often feel that pelvic floor exercises such as Kegels are ineffective because these women are not doing the exercises properly. In fact, studies show that almost 50% of women cannot do a correct pelvic floor muscle contraction with only basic written instructions for guidance. Incorrectly done, these muscle contractions are indeed ineffective and may even worsen some symptoms of poor pelvic health.

3. Conservative therapies for poor pelvic health (urinary incontinence, pelvic organ prolapse, and decreased sexual sensation) are not effective.

Fiction (with some fact): While it is true that not every conservative approach for relieving symptoms will work for every woman, it is also true that most women will be able to find relief with one or more of these approaches. Some women are able to reduce symptoms by using a combination of conservative therapies, such as taking medication plus stopping smoking and losing weight. Other women find success by trying multiple different therapies until they find an effective approach. Persistence is often the key to success. Some women, however, may have such an advanced condition (as with severe pelvic organ prolapse) that surgery is a better option. Research indicates that conservative therapies are more effective when used as soon as the first symptoms occur.

4. Childbirth does not put women at risk for poor pelvic health.

Fiction: Childbirth is a major risk factor for urinary incontinence, pelvic organ prolapse, and decreased sexual sensation. In fact, giving birth is a major reason that women are twice as likely to suffer from urinary incontinence as men. Despite recent controversy over the subject, studies indicate that the method of delivery–vaginal versus Caesarian–has little effect on whether a mother will have urine leakage symptoms post-partum.

5. A woman will know if she has poor pelvic health.

Fiction: Research indicates that between 43 and 76 percent of women have some degree of pelvic organ prolapse (in which one or more pelvic organs have “fallen” out of position). At the same time, many of these women are not aware that they have this condition because they have no apparent symptoms. Some women may experience symptoms of prolapse, such as low back pain or chronic constipation, but not know the cause. Similarly, many women with naturally weak pelvic floor muscles, another form of poor pelvic health, may not be aware that they are not having the best possible sexual experience.

6. Most women can benefit from doing a pelvic floor muscle exercise program.

Fact: Pelvic floor muscles are like any other muscle in the body: they benefit from regular exercise. Because pelvic muscles are not visible, most women tend to forget about exercising them, even if they have engaged in a pelvic muscle exercise program in the past. The phrase “Out of sight, out of mind” is very applicable to pelvic floor muscles, as is the phrase, “Use ’em or lose ’em!” (especially after menopause). Women who should not start a pelvic muscle exercise program on their own include women who are under a physician’s care for a medical condition, women who have hyper-toned pelvic muscles, or women whose pelvic floor muscles are too weak to do a proper Kegel-type contraction. If you are not sure whether you should proceed with a self-guided program, check in with your doctor first and seek help from a physical therapist specializing in women’s pelvic health.

7. Surgeries to alleviate symptoms of poor pelvic health conditions are risky.

Fiction: While all surgery carries a certain amount of risk, most surgical procedures for urinary incontinence (the most common form of poor pelvic health) are minimally-invasive, low-risk, and can be done on an outpatient basis. Surgeries for pelvic organ prolapse and some forms of urinary incontinence can be more complex, but have a high rate of success and few complications. As with all types of surgery, you will get the most effective treatment by researching and finding the surgeon who best understands and can accommodate your needs. In addition, pelvic surgery, like conservative therapies, is more effective when performed sooner rather than later. This means that you should seek medical attention the moment you become aware that you may have one or more symptoms of poor pelvic health.

Elizabeth E. Houser, M.D., a board-certified urologist in private practice for many years, is now a consultant in the field of women’s pelvic health. Stephanie Riley Hahn, P.T. is a physical therapist specializing in women’s pelvic health. Their book, A Woman’s Guide to Pelvic Health: Expert Advice for Women of All Ages, is now available for pre-order from the JHU Press.

You can also see this blog post as well as other terrific content on the John Hopkin’s University Press blog.

 

 

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