Pelvic Floor Muscles: Out of Sight, Out of Mind?

Did you know that at least 50% of women cannot do a correct pelvic floor muscle contraction, also known as a Kegel, by following only written instructions? One of the reasons that women have such difficulty doing a correct Kegel is because the pelvic floor muscles are internal to the body. With external muscles, such as the ones in your leg for example, it is easy for you to not only touch but also see when you are engaging the correct muscles. This is not the case with pelvic floor muscles.With pelvic floor muscles, “Out of sight” often means out of mind. In other words women trying to get relief from their symptoms of urinary incontinence, pelvic organ prolapse, or decreased sexual sensation with Kegels will often have difficulty. Not only will they tend to engage the wrong muscles, but they often forget to do their Kegels. Since women cannot see their pelvic floor muscles when they look in the mirror they have no visual reminder to do their pelvic floor exercise program.The Goal of Pelvic Floor Muscle Exercise Programs
The goal of just about any pelvic floor muscle exercise program is to increase the tone of the pelvic floor muscles when those muscles are at rest. Muscles that are toned when at rest support the body on a continual basis.If you are not sure what it means to have strong resting muscle tone just look at your leg muscles. Without flexing your leg muscles, observe how they look. Do they look strong and toned or do they look a bit flabby and soft? Leg muscles with strong resting muscle tone will look firm and well shaped when you are not making a conscious effort to flex them. If your leg muscles are bit flabby and soft you can certainly make them look toned by flexing them. However the goal is to achieve that firm look without actively engaging any muscles, or when those muscles are at rest.

Pelvic floor exercise programs are geared to help you achieve that same kind of resting muscle tone, even though you cannot see your pelvic floor muscles. Pelvic floor muscles with strong resting tone support the bladder and other pelvic organs at all times, which prevents problems like urinary leakage or pelvic organ prolapse (in which one or more of the pelvic organs has moved out of the correct position).

Pelvic floor muscles that are toned are also easier to engage when you need extra muscle power, such as when you cough or sneeze and when you exercise. In other words, when intra-abdominal pressure increases for any reason toned pelvic floor muscles will automatically engage to prevent urinary leakage and other symptoms of pelvic floor weakness. Toned pelvic floor muscles will also provide a more pleasurable experience in the bedroom.

Tip: Just because you can’t see your pelvic floor muscles does not mean that you don’t need to exercise them on a regular basis to keep them toned and fit. Do whatever it takes to remind yourself to do your pelvic floor muscle exercises. Whether this means putting sticky notes up all over your house or setting an alarm on your smart phone, you will find that you are more likely to remember to do your exercise program. Don’t let your pelvic floor muscles become a matter of “out of sight and out of mind”!

 

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