Strengthening the pelvic floor
November 7, 2022 10:16 PM Subscribe
In your own words, how do you strengthen the pelvic floor without sex?
I have multiple risk factors for prolapse. I need to do pelvic floor exercises. I have had it explained to me, but I need it explained to me in different ways until I understand.
Female anatomy. I have limited access to expert medical care and this is low on the list. My spouse is asexual.
I have multiple risk factors for prolapse. I need to do pelvic floor exercises. I have had it explained to me, but I need it explained to me in different ways until I understand.
Female anatomy. I have limited access to expert medical care and this is low on the list. My spouse is asexual.
I went to find the absolutely scarring pelvic floor "poem" that lived on the back of our door growing up, and apparently it isn't common and it's just me smol me being informed that "by looking after your pelvic floor / the joys of sex are so much more / With your muscles nice and tight / this will add to your delight".
Anyway, that was just to illustrate its "don't forget to stop and start" component, to keep cutting off mid-stream, not just at the start. You can really feel which muscles are engaged when you cut off mid-stream, to replicate the action later if you need to.
posted by Adifferentbear at 11:22 PM on November 7, 2022 [4 favorites]
Anyway, that was just to illustrate its "don't forget to stop and start" component, to keep cutting off mid-stream, not just at the start. You can really feel which muscles are engaged when you cut off mid-stream, to replicate the action later if you need to.
posted by Adifferentbear at 11:22 PM on November 7, 2022 [4 favorites]
Just a note of warning: stopping your pee should only be used as a method for finding out where those muscles are and how they work. Not as the actual exercise. Stopping your pee regularly can lead to a number of ailments.
When you have found the muscles, do it in the line at the supermarket, or on the bus. Wherever. No one will know, and your life will be better for it.
posted by mumimor at 11:30 PM on November 7, 2022 [13 favorites]
When you have found the muscles, do it in the line at the supermarket, or on the bus. Wherever. No one will know, and your life will be better for it.
posted by mumimor at 11:30 PM on November 7, 2022 [13 favorites]
I went to pelvic floor physical therapy. In addition to the kegels recommended above, I was instructed to do a bridge exercise while exhaling forcefully, which engages the muscles in your lower core which attach to the kegel muscles.
To do this, lie on your back with knees bent, feet as close to your body as possible. Pull your bellybutton in (towards the floor) and tilt your pelvis until you feel the small of your back press into the floor. You should not be able to slide a hand (or magazine) between any part of your back from shoulder blades to pelvis. This is the starting position for the exercise. Then, squeeze your glutes and exhale, pushing your pelvis straight up without arching your back. It is more important to keep your pelvis in position than moving up. When you start you might not even get off the ground. Slowly lower to the ground, keeping your back flat/pelvis in the same position.
The exhalation is to engage the muscles that run down your trunk, if you put your hands below your belly button while doing this you should feel a slight flex. You won't feel anything in the kegel area, still do those exercises too.
Warning, I am not your doctor, this may not be appropriate for your pelvic floor.
posted by Narrow Harbor at 11:50 PM on November 7, 2022 [6 favorites]
To do this, lie on your back with knees bent, feet as close to your body as possible. Pull your bellybutton in (towards the floor) and tilt your pelvis until you feel the small of your back press into the floor. You should not be able to slide a hand (or magazine) between any part of your back from shoulder blades to pelvis. This is the starting position for the exercise. Then, squeeze your glutes and exhale, pushing your pelvis straight up without arching your back. It is more important to keep your pelvis in position than moving up. When you start you might not even get off the ground. Slowly lower to the ground, keeping your back flat/pelvis in the same position.
The exhalation is to engage the muscles that run down your trunk, if you put your hands below your belly button while doing this you should feel a slight flex. You won't feel anything in the kegel area, still do those exercises too.
Warning, I am not your doctor, this may not be appropriate for your pelvic floor.
posted by Narrow Harbor at 11:50 PM on November 7, 2022 [6 favorites]
There was a good video on Instagram (reposted from her TikTok) yesterday explaining how to know if you’re doing the right exercise. She posts “squeezealongs” to songs too.
posted by ellieBOA at 11:53 PM on November 7, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by ellieBOA at 11:53 PM on November 7, 2022 [3 favorites]
I thought I was doing Kegels wrong, but recently went to a physiotherapist due to being pregnant and again post partum. The first appointment, the physio visually confirmed, the second appointment a gloved finger was inserted to feel.
Visualising it, is like lifting the vagina opening up, for me.
They told me there's kind of three regions to think about: your urethra (stopping wees), your vagina, and your anus (clenching, stopping farts)
There's "core floor and restore" on Instagram that some of my mum friends swear by.
posted by freethefeet at 12:48 AM on November 8, 2022
Visualising it, is like lifting the vagina opening up, for me.
They told me there's kind of three regions to think about: your urethra (stopping wees), your vagina, and your anus (clenching, stopping farts)
There's "core floor and restore" on Instagram that some of my mum friends swear by.
posted by freethefeet at 12:48 AM on November 8, 2022
Oh and it's also important to relax fully after each squeeze.
posted by freethefeet at 12:49 AM on November 8, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by freethefeet at 12:49 AM on November 8, 2022 [2 favorites]
This truly is an area where professional assessment is important. Most people think they need to strengthen their pelvic floor and I learned that I am one of the many who needed a lot of help to learn how to relax mine. It was right all the time and strengthening it was making things worse for me instead of better.
Without an assessment nobody can really steer you toward the right exercises for your body.
posted by bilabial at 1:54 AM on November 8, 2022 [11 favorites]
Without an assessment nobody can really steer you toward the right exercises for your body.
posted by bilabial at 1:54 AM on November 8, 2022 [11 favorites]
Because you say that getting medical attention for this is not a possibility or priority, please at least do the full range of pelvic floor exercises and not just the ones focuses on strength.
posted by bilabial at 1:55 AM on November 8, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by bilabial at 1:55 AM on November 8, 2022 [2 favorites]
You might like Perifit - it's a connected device that lets you use your pelvic floor muscles to play games on your phone.
posted by beyond_pink at 5:37 AM on November 8, 2022
posted by beyond_pink at 5:37 AM on November 8, 2022
Be wary of the advice you’re getting to do lots of kegels, or to buy a contraption that encourages lots of kegels. That may be the right approach for some, but not all. If you have a tight pelvic floor to start, you could exacerbate your symptoms by doing lots of kegels.
A consultation with a pelvic floor physiotherapist would be the gold standard here for determine the right exercises for your specific circumstances.
In the absence of professional care, check out Instagram. There are some great pelvic floor PTs out there who post on a wide range of symptoms and conditions. I like @ladybirdpt and @thevaginawhisperer
posted by rodneyaug at 9:40 AM on November 8, 2022 [2 favorites]
A consultation with a pelvic floor physiotherapist would be the gold standard here for determine the right exercises for your specific circumstances.
In the absence of professional care, check out Instagram. There are some great pelvic floor PTs out there who post on a wide range of symptoms and conditions. I like @ladybirdpt and @thevaginawhisperer
posted by rodneyaug at 9:40 AM on November 8, 2022 [2 favorites]
I use the exercises outlined in the book Move Your DNA by Katy Bowman. She also has other books that may help.
posted by fozzie_bear at 3:40 PM on November 8, 2022
posted by fozzie_bear at 3:40 PM on November 8, 2022
You can find videos online with strength exercises that are meant to help people who have given birth heal or strengthen their pelvic floor after that trauma, and the exercises work just as well for people who have never given birth. (I am a Peloton Person--and I say that with the appropriate amount of understanding that it's a lowkey cult--and I like Robin Arzon's "Post-Natal Core" series on that platform, which you can subscribe to for $12 a month and you do not need to buy a $2000 exercise bike.) But there are also lots of free videos on YouTube and similar sites. Key words to look for, in addition to "pelvic floor physical therapy" might be "post-natal core strengthening" and "diastasis recti safe exercises" (diastasis recti is a kind of injury that is common after pregnancy, and the exercises to heal it are the same exercises that stabilize the pelvic floor). Good luck!
posted by decathecting at 7:36 PM on November 8, 2022
posted by decathecting at 7:36 PM on November 8, 2022
MommaStrong, which started as a program for pregnant or postpartum bodies, has a good guide for pelvic exercises (IIRC their program starts with a special section where you learn the exercises and only then do you go on to their regular exercise videos). Membership is free for 14 days and a very low $12/month after that, but you can probably watch the relevant videos and learn the moves in the first 14 days.
Seconding the recommendation to look at diastasis recti exercises. I had it after pregnancy and had to do pelvic floor exercises as a part of my PT.
posted by gakiko at 12:32 AM on November 9, 2022
Seconding the recommendation to look at diastasis recti exercises. I had it after pregnancy and had to do pelvic floor exercises as a part of my PT.
posted by gakiko at 12:32 AM on November 9, 2022
There is a kegel-activated sex toy that may be of interest: Minna kGoal.
posted by quintessence at 5:18 AM on November 9, 2022
posted by quintessence at 5:18 AM on November 9, 2022
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When you are sitting on the toilet about to urinate, don't. Hold your pee for the count of ten, twenty, thirty... but not too long that you lose the urge to pee.
Or, empty your bladder then contract your muscles as if to stop yourself peeing. You can do that move anywhere. I'm doing it now.
posted by Thella at 10:56 PM on November 7, 2022