The Power of Pelvic Floor Exercises

In a world where health and wellness are daily conversations, a crucial component of our body's core strength frequently goes unspoken—the pelvic floor. This set of muscles plays a pivotal role, from maintaining bladder control to supporting sexual health. Yet, for something so essential, it's surprising how little attention is paid to maintaining its strength and functionality.

In this blog, we aim to shed light on the transformative power of pelvic floor exercises and help you incorporate them into your daily life. Together, let's strengthen our core, one exercise at a time.

Key Takeaways

What is the Pelvic Floor? in this part, we describe and show you where your pelvic floor muscles are.
Engaging the Pelvic Floor: some practical tips on how to active your pelvic floor/
Pelvic Floor Exercises: here we provide some easy to follow step-by-step exercises to strengthen your pelvic floor muscles,          
Pregnancy and Pelvic Floor Health:here we discuss the importance of strengthening your pelvic floor before, during and after pregnancy.
Are Pelvic Floor Exercises Important for Men as well? Pelvic floor exercises are beneficial for men of all ages, aiding in issues such as urinary incontinence and erectile dysfunction. 
The Role of the Pelvic Trainer with Apps: In this part show you how to improve pelvic floor functioning in as little as 3 weeks, monitored and controlled through an app on your mobile phone. 

At the core of our body's muscular system lies the pelvic floor—a group of muscles and tissues that form a sling across the pelvis.

What is the Pelvic Floor?

The pelvic floor is an important group of muscles that support various organs within the pelvic region, including the bladder, uterus and rectum. The pelvic floor muscles are located between the tailbone and pubic bone within the pelvis. These muscles play a vital role in maintaining the following:

• Support: The pelvic floor provides support to the pelvic organs, helping to keep them in proper position within the pelvis.
• Continence: These muscles play an important role in controlling urinary and bowel function, helping to prevent leakage and maintain continence.
• Pelvic Stability: The pelvic floor muscles work in conjunction with other muscles of the core and pelvis to provide stability and support for the spine, pelvis and hips, helping to maintain proper posture and movement.
• Sexual Function: These muscles are directly involved in sexual functioning by enhancing blood flow to the genital area.

Engaging Your Pelvic Floor Muscles

Below are two scenarios which can be used to locate pelvic floor muscles:

• Sit or lie down with the muscles of the thighs, buttocks and stomach relaxed. Then, squeeze and tighten the muscle around the anus, as if to try and stop passing wind. Correct activation of the pelvic muscles will result in a tightened and pulling feeling in the vaginal or rectal area.
• Try to stop the stream of urine when at the toilet to empty the bladder – then start urine stream again. When you stop the urine stream, your pelvic floor muscles are activating.

Pelvic Floor Exercises 

Traditional pelvic floor exercises - commonly known as Kegel exercises - involve contracting and relaxing the pelvic floor muscles to relieve muscle tension as well as strengthen the muscles. Strengthening the muscles can help prevent or alleviate any issues with incontinence, pelvic organ prolapse or sexual dysfunction. Here are the steps:

• Identify the pelvic floor muscles: these are the muscles involved to complete pelvic floor muscle training.
• Find a comfortable position: Pelvic floor exercises can be performed sitting, standing or lying down. Find a position comfortable for you and allows you to focus on contracting and relaxing the pelvic floor muscles. 
• Contract and hold the Pelvic Floor Muscles: Once you have identified the muscles, contract and lift them upward and inward, as if you are trying to lift them from the floor. Squeeze the muscles tightly and hold the contraction for up to 8 second. Avoid straining or overexerting the muscles.
• Relax and release: After holding the contraction, slowly and gently the pelvic floor muscles, allowing them to relax completely. 
• Repeat regularly: Aim to perform 10-15 repetitions, 3-4 times per day. As you become more comfortable, gradually increase the duration of the contractions and the number of repetitions. After 4-6 weeks, most people notice some improvement, however it may take up to 3 months to see a major change.

Pregnancy and Pelvic Floor Health

Before pregnancy, it is beneficial for women to assess and strengthen their pelvic floor muscles. A strong pelvic floor can help prevent urinary incontinence, pelvis prolapse and other issues during pregnancy and childbirth.

As the baby and belly are growing, the pelvic floor is changing too. Pelvic floor muscles work harder than normal during pregnancy as they are required to support the weight of the baby.

Additionally the act of giving birth places further strain on these muscles due to the stretching and potential tearing that can occur during labour. Consequently, many women experience pelvic floor issues post-pregnancy, such as urinary incontinence or pelvic prolapse.

Are Pelvic Floor Exercises Important for Men as Well?

Pelvic floor exericses are equally important for men - men of all ages may experience pelvic floor issues, such as urinary and fecal incontinence, erectile dysfunction and pelvic pain.This can be due to various factors, such as aging, prostate problems, post-surgery rehabilitation or occupational factors (eg. heavy lifting or prolonged sitting).Men can strengthen the pelvic floor muscles and alleviate these symptoms by incorporating pelvic floor exercises into a regular fitness routine.

The Role of the Pelvic Trainer Devices with Apps

With advancements in technology, pelvic floor trainer devices with accompany apps have emerged as a successful alternative approach to keep up with busy lifestyles of individuals.

They offer a modern and convenient solution for post-pregnancy pelvic floor rehabilitation. These devices are sensor-equipped to detect muscle contraction and urine leakage. The accompanying app provides guided exercises, biofeedback, progress tracking and personalised training programs.

At Bettercaremarket, you'll find the Pelvic Floor Trainer with App - Carinwear. Carinwear Pelvic Floor Trainer and App is a complete set to strengthen your pelvic floor muscles. The pelvic floor exerciser is not invasive, drug-free and helps you recover from urine leaks. Carinwear is an award winning sensor discreetly attached to special underwear, in combination with an app.

The sensor measures and monitors bladder leaks and recommends a customised kegel training program for you to follow to strengthen your pelvic floor. Pelvic floor muscle training helps you master stress incontinence symptoms and overcomes pelvic floor disorders. It can help strengthen the muscles under the uterus, bladder and bowels.

• Personalised pelvic floor exerciser in Australia for women
• Simple and easy to follow exercise videos
• 10 minute a day workouts
• Professional exercises deliver results
• Smart and small wearable technology to track your progress

Benefits of using Pelvic Floor Training Devices

1. Guided Training: The app provides structured, step-by-step verbal and visual instructions for performing pelvic floor exercises correctly, ensuring individuals engage the correct muscles and maximise the effectiveness of their workouts.         

2. Biofeedback Mechanisms: Many pelvic floor trainers offer biofeedback features that provide real-time data on muscle contractions and urine leakages. This real-time data helps individuals track their progress and ensure proper engagement of the pelvic floor muscles.

3. Personalised programs: The app offers personalised training programs tailored to individual needs, goals and fitness levels. Individuals can customised their workouts and progress at their own pace.

4. Convenience: The training device with app allow individuals to perform exercises at home or on-the-go, without the need for specialised equipment or supervision. This flexibility allows individuals to incorporate pelvic floor exercises into their busy schedule, particularly new mothers.

5. Time efficient: Tradition pelvic floor exercises can be time consuming and must be repeated several times a day on a daily basis. With pelvic floor training devices, as little as 10 minutes a day for 3 weeks may yield significant improvements.

Conclusion

Pelvic floor exercises are a simple yet powerful way to improve pelvic floor health and prevent pelvic floor disorders. With advancement in technology, Pelvic Floor Training Devices offer a modern and convenient solution for individuals with busy and active lifestyles.

By incorporating these exercises into your daily routine and performing them correctly and consistently, you can strengthen your pelvic floor muscles, enhance continence, and support overall pelvic health.  

About Bettercaremarket

Bettercaremarket is your leading supplier of healthcare essentials and your #1 destination for quality incontinence supplies, mobility equipment, independent living aids for seniors, disability aids, rehab and therapy products and medical supplies.

We help NDIS-participants, aged care facilities, home care package providers, occupational therapists and allied health providers find the best solutions to solve their need.