All you need to know about the Pelvic Floor....

Having full knowledge of your body makeup is essential to your health and in continuation of the previous blog where I spoke about C-sections, I would be discussing the pelvic floor. In trying to picture what the pelvic floor looks like, imagine the elasticity of the base of a bouncing castle seen at most children parties, it's ability to stretch when pressure is applied on it by the kids and bounce back up again.

The PF is a broad string of ligaments and sheet-like tissues that stretch from the pubic bones at the front of the body to the base of the spine at the back.  It's ability to bear weights for a long time and still stretch back to its normal position makes it so amazing but over time the muscles and tissues may become over stretched and weakened.

Hey guys, just when you thinking this post is strictly for the ladies, it would please you to know that the pelvic floor supports the bladder, bowel and uterus (womb) and this is what gives you control over when you empty your bowel and bladder. 

For some people with a weak PF, they find out that they accidentally release a little pee when they sneeze, laugh hard ,cough or even exercise. When you have a weak PF it makes it difficult for you to squeeze the sphincters and muscles at the bottom of your bladder.

Women are more prone to a weakened pelvic floor because just being pregnant can weaken the pelvic floor irrespective of if they give birth to the baby through the vagina or through a C-section. Carrying their new born for 9 months and even more especially for women who have not carried out adequate child spacing, may lead to a depressed PF for longer than normal and thus be deprived of enough time to get back to it's normal position. Also, having a big baby, a severe tear, a forceps birth or even having to push your baby for so long could also result in an overstretched PF.

Some women with a weak pelvic floor find sex unsatisfying and feel less sensitivity in their vagina causing issues between themselves and their partners.

It's important that you keep your pelvic floor strong for the rest of your life and so doing just a few pelvic exercises every day will treat every weakened pelvic floor, prolapse symptoms (a condition where there is a possible sag down of the pelvic floor thus pushing against the vaginal walls) and any future problems.

Performing these exercises will help prevent and  treat weakened bladders to avoid accidental leaks, aid in the speedy healing of the vagina after childbirth and improve the circulation of blood to the perineum after a tear or bruising during childbirth. When you begin these exercises you may not see the effect immediately but be rest assured that the healing has begun and with consistency your PF would return to normal.

Begin the exercises as follows: Breathe in and when you have had a measurable amount of air, breathe out slowly and as you do that gentle squeeze your pelvic floor muscles as you would when trying to hold in a pee. Hold the squeeze for about 3 - 5 seconds while you continue breathing in and out. As time goes on try to build-up your squeeze to about 10 - 20 secs while still breathing normally depending on your capability. 
As you master the act, try to do a couple of exercises every hour and as such at the end of the day, you would have done quite a number of squeezes.

Soon you would realize how much your floor has strengthened. You would begin to feel an improvement in bladder control and above all in your sexual performance... *winks*

So  irrespective of your gender, whether you brushing your teeth, sitting at the table for your meal,in the kitchen, driving, taking a bath, exercising or whatever, get the squeeze on!