Pelvic
Floor Exercises
The
muscles around the vagina have three jobs to do. They:
·
control
the flow of water from the bladder by closing of the neck of the bladder
·
hold
the bladder, womb and lower bowel in place
·
control
your bowel and stop motion leaking out
These muscles are often stretched up at delivery. This often worsens after
the menopause, when all the supporting tissues start to lose their
elasticity as the female hormones that keep things supple start to run out.
-
Being
overweight tends to push
things down and make things worse- take preventive action before it gets
too late!
-
Ditto,
smoker’s get more problems
with wet knickers from their cough
To
keep these muscles strong, and in shape to do their job, you need to keep a regular
habit of keeping these muscles in shape to do their job for you- now, and far into the future. Nobody need know you’re doing them -
but do them you must! - see over
for the exercises........
Every
time you touch a tap (because this is a useful reminder, and you do it
frequently!), do all of the exercises below
1.)
For your muscles at the back, around
your bottom
A
second exercise-
-
imagine
you’ve got a sudden burst of wind up your bottom, waiting to come out-
you’re desperate to stop it coming out!!
-
contract your
muscles around your bottom tightly to imagine preventing this happening
-
Count to ten
slowly.
-
Relax.
Repeat this ten
times.
2.)
For the muscles in the middle, around
your vagina, that support your womb and the walls of your vagina
3.)
For the muscles at the front, that control your bladder outlet
get
to know where the muscles are that stop your flow of water when you’re
weeing.
-
Do this by
practising stopping and starting when you’re sat on the loo (you may
not be able to do this at first- but practise)
-
Get in the
habit of trying to stop and start every time you have a wee
-
do make sure
that you empty your bladder fully, every time!
So
now, every time you touch a tap
Look
down at your tummy muscles when you’re doing any of the above exercises,
from time to time- they shouldn’t move at all. You’re only using the
muscles in your pelvic floor
Do
them sitting, do them standing; do them driving, do them in the queue at
Tescos, watching TV- it
doesn’t matter when- nobody knows- JUST
DO THEM
Do
these exercises now, do them tomorrow, and keep on doing them
for the rest of your life, every day, several times-
and keep your waterworks under control!
