Do You Have a Solid Foundation?

Do You Have a Solid Foundation?

Your pelvic floor is important for both urinary and bowel continence, aids in support of pelvic organs, stabilizes the low back and hips and enhances sexual function. It can be your solid foundation. 

Pelvic floor disorders can look different from person to person.  Approximately 1 in 3 women suffer from pelvic floor dysfunction. Unfortunately, we may be reluctant to talk with our healthcare providers about these symptoms because we don’t realize they are abnormal, are embarrassed, or resigned to “just living with it”.(2) 

Some common symptoms include:

1. A feeling of pelvic heaviness, 

2. Fullness or aching in the vagina that gets worse by the end of the day or is related to a bowel movement,

3. Difficulty starting to urinate or emptying the bladder completely,

4. Leaking with activity or pressure such as coughing, laughing or lifting,

5. Feeling an urgent or frequent need to urinate, and 

6. Leaking stool or gas.(1)

We all know about Kegel exercises, but are you doing them right, or doing them at all? Since you can’t visualize them, it’s hard to know if you are contracting the correct muscles or if you are compensating with every other muscle under the sun.  Many people will compensate with their glutes or their lower abdominals.  Some of these movements can cause more harm than good. (3)

Warroad Physical Therapy has a “foundational” tool for you: the Perifit Kegel Exerciser.  This treatment can be completed in the privacy of your own home in 8 to 10 min a day.  It teaches you appropriate pelvic muscle contraction and relaxation, correct muscle recruiting, and endurance, all while playing video games. It’s actually FUN! You will be able to say with confidence that you are doing your Kegel’s and you are doing them right! (Or you can keep that to yourself-whatever you’re comfortable with.)

The Perifit Kegel Exerciser comes with a Bluetooth app that can be downloaded onto your smart phone. A sensor is inserted vaginally. While you perform Kegels, this biofeedback device coaches you. It has been found to make a significant difference in incontinence and pelvic floor strengthening. You may notice sexual benefits as well.(4) 

Prioritize yourself. Call us for a women’s health evaluation. 

1. Office of Communications (2020) What are the symptoms of pelvic floor disorders (pfds)?, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Available at: https://www.nichd.nih.gov/health/topics/pelvicfloor/conditioninfo/symptoms (Accessed: 22 February 2024). 

2. Pelvic floor disorders (2024) UChicago Medicine. Available at: https://www.uchicagomedicine.org/conditions-services/obgyn/urogynecology/pelvic-floor-disorders (Accessed: 22 February 2024).

3. Levin, P. (2015) How do I know if I’m doing Kegels right?, Pennmedicine.org. Available at: https://www.pennmedicine.org/updates/blogs/womens-health/2015/may/how-to-do-kegel-exercises-correctly (Accessed: 22 February 2024). 

4. Herderschee, R. et al. (2011) ‘Feedback or biofeedback to augment pelvic floor muscle training for urinary incontinence in women’, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews [Preprint]. doi:10.1002/14651858.cd009252.