Pelvic floor muscle exercises for women

 

 

Pelvic floor muscles- What are they?

Your pelvic floor muscles form a sling of muscle and fibrous tissue that attach to your pubic bone at the front and your tailbone at the back. They also attach to the side walls of your bony pelvis, literally forming the ‘floor’ of your pelvis.

The pelvic floor muscles help to support your pelvic organs – your bladder, uterus and rectum.

Your pelvic floor muscles also help to close off the outlets of these pelvic organs – the urethra (front passage), vagina and the anus (back passage).

 

What happens if my pelvic floor muscles are weak?

• leaking urine when you cough, sneeze or laugh
• having trouble stopping ‘passing wind’
• feeling like you cant hold on when you need to empty your bladder or bowel
• having to rush to the toilet for fear of having an accident
• feeling heaviness or dragging in the vagina
• reduced sensation during sexual intercourse

 

What can cause the pelvic floor muscles to become weak?

• Stretching of the muscles and fibrous tissues during pregnancy and childbirth
• Heavy lifting
• Straining to go to the toilet – constipation
• Being overweight
• Persistent coughing or sneezing
• Changing hormone levels, during pregnancy or menopause

 

How can we strengthen the pelvic floor muscles?

Imagine that you are trying to stop yourself from passing wind and tighten the muscles around your back passage. Now imagine you are trying to stop the flow of urine, or stop a tampon slipping out, and tighten those muscles. The feeling is a ‘squeeze and lift’. These are your pelvic floor muscles.

Do NOT

• Hold your breath
• Bear down

 

The exercise program

Remember that this is a general program. It can be difficult to understand how to perform pelvic floor muscle exercises reading from a leaflet.

We recommend a consultation with your physiotherapist who specialises in women’s health, who can teach you to activate your muscles correctly and can develop an idividualised home exercise program for you.

1. Squeeze and lift your pelvic floor muscles and hold tight for up to 10 seconds. Hold the contraction strongly as you count.

2. Rest for 5 seconds, then squeeze and lift again. How many can you do without Repeat this 5-10 times. This tells us about the endurance of your pelvic floor muscles. It is also important for our muscles to be able to tighten quickly, when we cough or sneeze.

3. Now do some short, fast contractions. Squeeze and lift, then release. Repeat 10 times.

For further information or individual assessment of your muscles, contact

Chloe Lorback
Physiotherapist
B. Physio (Hons)
Post Grad Cert (Pelvic Floor Rehab)

Fit to Deliver Physiotherapy
103 Cochrane Street, Brighton

Tel: 9596 7400